Lagniappe Series
Wartime Letters
The excerpts translated below come from a letter written by Sister M. Engelmunda van Orten, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George, while she was imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp in Sumatra. At the time, the region formed part of the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia).
Written in Dutch and dated October 17, 1942, the letter was addressed to Mother Beda and the sisters at the congregation’s Motherhouse in Germany. It offers a rare firsthand account of the wartime imprisonment of women religious, describing daily life inside a Japanese concentration camp where the sisters were confined for three and a half years.
Writing under conditions of extreme deprivation, Sr. Engelmunda records both profound loss—the deaths of Mother Arnolde, Sr. Adelia, and Sr. Symphorosa—and moments of hope, including her joyful reunion with fellow sisters after the camp’s liberation.
Sr. Engelmunda was among the first four sisters of her congregation sent to Indonesia in 1932, situating her experience within the broader history of Catholic missionary expansion, colonial entanglement in Southeast Asia, and global conflict.
Original Dutch Letter
Translation
From the Archives:
This photo of the interred sisters was accompanied by the following anonymously-authored description:
“Under the Japanese Occupation
Dutch sisters in internment in Tanjungkarang camp (now Xaverius Tanjungkarang complex). Some were transferred to Palembang, Muntok (women’s concentration camp), and Belalau.
The funeral had to be conducted by five of her co-sisters: Sister M. Ludana, Sister M. Engelmunda, Sister M. Adeline, Sister M. Engelberti. With what energy they had left and with swollen feet they dug the grave, carried the body and buried it. Using only their hands and no tools they closed the grave together.
Sister M. Adelia Grace was among the second group of missionaries to arrive in Pringsewu, Indonesia, in 1933. She ministered in the health sector in Pringsewu and was later transferred to Metro.”
Conversations with the Archivist
Sr. M. Ancilla Matter, archivist of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George (Alton, IL), recently discovered this letter in the congregation’s archives. Though the letter does not describe sisters from the Alton community itself, it was circulated by the Reverend Mother to daughterhouses across the congregation and carefully preserved.
Encountering this personal wartime testimony, Sr. Ancilla found it deeply moving and wanted to share it with a wider audience.