The road to merdeka
From 1942-1945, Sofia and her family endured the cruelty of the Japanese concentration
camps on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. G. Pauline Kok-Schurgers’ first memoir, The
Remains of War, chronicles this internment, this persecution. And when the war ends, despite years of torture and abuse, of starvation and disease, and of separation from her father, Sofia survives. And so does her family. This war ends, but the struggle is not over.
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The Road to Merdeka tells Sofia’s story of what comes after.
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Though the British have liberated the Dutch from the clutches of the Japanese Army,
another war has broken out in Indonesia, later known as the “Bersiap,” or Indonesian
National Revolution. As the island of Sumatra becomes increasingly dangerous for Sofia’s
family, they must flee to Holland, leaving behind the only home Sofia has ever known. Thus begins Sofia’s journey to build a new home, to repair a broken family, and to find love within herself. This is Sofia’s road to freedom. This is The Road to Merdeka.
