Unique footage of the Tanah Abang market just after World War II. This is part of the so-called 'News From Indonesia' section of the Dutch Polygoon Journaal, a cinema newsreel very popular in The Netherlands in the pre-TV era. It was a wonderful opportunity for people in Holland to get to know about world news, and in this case life in Indonesia. Not a surprise that during the bersiap period in Indonesia (1945-1949) the news broadcasts were used to paint a somewhat too positive picture of how life had normalized under Dutch control, which to a certain extent was indeed the case in Batavia/Djakarta. Due to hunger and starvation during the Japanese occupation (1942-1945) there was little to no trade at Pasar Tanah Abang for nearly two years and the market buildings were used as a shelter for the homeless. By early 1946 trade was more less back to normal and farmers again started to supply fruit and vegetables to the market. Because of the relative safety in the city, many Indonesians from the countryside moved to Batavia/Djakarta, which kept causing pressure and led to ongoing shortages of food during these bersiap years. This Polygoon footage from 23 September 1946 is in Dutch but we have added subtitles in English. It's pleasing to see that with funding of the Dutch government, the Institute Of Sound And Vision in The Netherlands is digitizing and publishing all of the Polygoon Journaal news editions from 1919 onwards online.
