Rantsoen halen (Getting rations)

The women and children of Camp Karees, Bandoeng, are queued up ready to receive their rations. The rice is dispensed from the 44 gallon drums that were used for cooking. The woman in the green jumper and the woman dressed in yellow both look rather angry about the meals they are being given. The women working in the kitchen often had to endure angry outbursts from fellow internees who were dissatisfied with the food they were given, the lack of meat and the small portions. Some internees were very suspicious of the women working in the kitchens believing that they kept the best food for themselves. This is one of 28 drawings created by internees of Camp Karees and presented to Mrs Frederika Hessels Van Zalm as a token of appreciation for her tireless work running the camp's kitchen. Mrs Hessels Van Zalm was detained in Camp Karees with her two daughters Hanny and Dicki, who was nicknamed Ponny, her youngest son Dirk, nicknamed Bully, and her father Dirk. Her eldest son Fred was sent to a men's camp. Camp Karees was one of many internment camps created in Indonesia, by the Japanese, for the detainment of Dutch residents in the Second World War. Camp Karees was created for the detainment of women and children. A number of elderly men were also detained at Camp Karees. The camp held 6000 internees and private cooking was forbidden. All meals were provided form a central kitchen and trading for food from outside the camp was severely punished. 'Karees was a collection of houses in the poorer section of Bandoeng, fenced off with gedek (plaited bamboo sheets) topped with barbed wire.' Shirlie Fenton Huie, 1992.