At the beginning of 1935 my father, Dr N C H Wijngaards, became headmaster of two RC schools in Surabaia, one Dutch-speaking, the other Malay-speaking.
Locations in East Java, in the former Dutch East Indies, in which we lived from 1933 - 1945.
Father and mother were also very active in the local parish. Here father stands next to the parish priest, surrounded by parishioners.
Father posing with a group of teachers.
My mother, L C M Wijngaards - van Hoesel, in Surabaia.
Mother poses with girls of the Malay-speaking school. My mother was representative of the Melania Guild in the Netherlands which supported the school.
My brother Carel in the nursery school in Surabaia. He sits second row, fifth from the right.
Overview map of central Surabaya. Our house in the Ketabang quarter is indicated in red.
Map of the Ketabang quarter in Surabaya in which we lived. The address was the Ketupa Street 10.
View of the front of our house in the Ketupa Street around 1935. Carel stands before the gate.
View of the Ketupa Street in 2001 when Jackie and I visited Surabaya. The houses are now fenced in and had been extended.
On the 30th of September 1935 I was born in Surabaia. Here mother with Carel and myself on the verandah of our house in the Ketupa Street no 10.
Mother and me.
The four of us in a photographer's studio.
Myself and Carel.
The two of us again.
Another shot of the four of us. These photographs were made to be sent to my parents' parents in the Netherlands. That is also the reason why they have been preserved, because we ourselves lost all our photographs during the war.
Another scene.
My mother and me.
The quality of these photogrpahs is amazing for the time. They were made by a professional.
Me discovering my toes!
Mrs Offringa and myself. Mr and Mrs Offringa looked after me for some weeks when my mother was seriously ill, recovering from malaria.
Myself and Carel in the back garden of our house in Surabaia.
Myself in the back garden.
Carel and me just before we left on furlough to the Netherlands in 1940.
The two of us again.
Carel and I on walk about.
Mother and father with Carel (left) and me in the mountains at Nongkajajar where they went on short holidays during the hot season.
Another Nongkajajar scene.
Niek was born in July 1939 in Surabaia. Here we are seen with father at Nongkajajar, drinking beer!
Again father with the three of us: Carel, Niek junior on father's arm and me.
