End the Silence

End the Silence is a powerful and moving story in the truest sense. It is told by Ilse Evelijn Veere Smit, who takes the reader through her experience in what is now called Indonesia during World War II and after, starting as a young girl. Her experiences are on one hand horrendous and inspiring on the other. The story starts at the time war breaks out and the Japanese invade the Dutch East Indies. Ilse's family goes from togetherness in a privileged life to separation and a desperate struggle to survive in a Japanese concentration camp, where anything that crawled was food. It is here that one marvels at the courage, love and resourcefulness of Ilse and her mother. Together they work to keep themselves and the other three children alive under the cruel and vicious rule of the Japanese. The children survive, but Ilse's mother doesn't. Things change when the war with Japan ends, but not necessarily for the better, for civil war now reigns. Ilse's aunt, Tante Zus Doyer, finds the children and leads them on a dangerous and difficult trek to find relatives in the mountains, trying to avoid the rebels who want to eradicate all things Dutch. They do find the relatives, but the relief is short lived as the civil war reaches the mountains too and the family must flee again. They are finally rescued by a prominent member of the family, who is in the military and eventually the children are reunited with their father. This reunion, however, is provides little solace for Ilse and she is subjected to more pain and suffering. As a young woman, Ilse falls in love and marries a good man. She finally is able to live the life she has always wanted. That life eventually leads her to America. Though the story is told by Ilse, it is written by Dorothy Read. She does a magnificent job of making the reader feel one is simply having an intimate conversation with Ilse as she tells the story. This truly makes the story come to life. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

I was so moved by the story. I had never learned about this history of Indonesia, so I found this incredibly interesting. It was very powerful to get an intimate view of how these historical events shaped the life of a little girl and her family. Tragic and yet hopeful, an amazing account of the human spirit and will to carry on together. Excellent writing. I am impressed by the bravery of Ilse sharing her story, I hope sharing has helped her to find peace and comfort.

This memoir, in the girl’s voice of the narrator is written in a wonderful spare style. I was unable to put it down. Having just visited Amsterdam 60 days ago, her eventual repatriation seemed like a happy high point in the life of a child to young adult growing up in a Japanese concentration camp on Java. More interesting tales follow.

This story is often difficult to read because of the heart-wrenching experiences undergone by a young girl in what is now Indonesia, during WWII. However, her courage and resilience, skillfully depicted by the author, shine through on every page. Meticulous attention to detail and terrific character portrayals make this a hard book to put down because you always want to know what happens next.

End of Silence is a story that needed to be told. At times it was so difficult to read that I had to put it down and wait a day to continue--such terrible treatment of innocent women and children is impossible to understand. Ilse is an amazing young girl and triumphs over tragedy. I was privileged to meet her and the author today at a book club meeting and to hear about her life and the life she made for herself as an adult. This is a book that will add to your awareness of the tragedy of war, the impact of a mother's love, and the resiliency of children.

Beautiful story. Worth telling. As a child of immigrant parents who left their homeland, I can relate to the sense of loss & lack of roots. Even when we create a life again.....

Well and elegantly portrayed in this book, the authors brought a horrific and transformational journey to pages in need of large audience. As an author who wrote about great love during and around the Holocaust, I value the courage it took Evelijn Veere Smit to put aside her pain and tell the story of her family and ultimately her story.

Excellent book of Dutch children being prisoners of the Japanese and then after the Japanese were defeated, almost killed by Sukano's Indonesian nationalists who never did like the Dutch who had lorded it over the Indonesian before the Japanese even showed up.

This was an unforgettable read. Thank you for sharing your experience!