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B.C. internment survivor marks anniversary of end of WW2 in Asia

On August 15, 1945, an Allied aircraft dropped leaflets over the Aek Pamienke camp in the Dutch East Indies, announcing to the 4,700 women and children interned there that the conflict had ended and they were now liberated.
This event followed three-and-a-half years of harsh internment after the Japanese overran the islands in early 1942, leading to severe food shortages and brutal treatment in camps.
Miriam Zwaan-Van Veen, interned as a young child, recalls limited rations, her mother's drastic weight loss from 140 to 70 pounds, and the execution of a compassionate Japanese officer called "Papa."
She described receiving half a carrot for lunch and a handful of rice for supper, and noted the irony that the war's end was largely due to atomic bombings; she asked, "Are we going to learn?"
Zwaan-Van Veen marked the anniversary alone at the White Rock cenotaph, reflecting on the fading memory of these events and emphasizing the need for Pacific War history to be taught in schools.

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