On 18 September 1944, a Japanese freighter was torpedoed by the British off the coast of Sumatra.
The "cargo" of this ship turned out to consist of prisoners of the Japanese.
Based on various sites on the internet, it would be 4,200 Indonesian forced laborers and about 2,500 prisoners of war, mostly Dutch.
On the site of the War Graves Foundation, 1391 people can be found who lost their lives on the Junyo Maru.
An incomplete list of victims can be found on the net. I have taken the liberty of checking whether there are persons within this list who, in my opinion, belong within the website Joods Monument. I have done this based on surname and/or first name and for those who have a municipality in the Netherlands as their place of birth. It is impossible to find out whether people who were born in the former Dutch East Indies have a Jewish background (I think so).
Nevertheless, I hope that this will make the disaster with the Junyo Maru, said to be one of the worst shipping disasters ever, more widely known. Hardly anywhere have more people died at sea than on the Junyo Maru. Among them, in addition to my own relatives, there have also been Dutch people with a Jewish background. These have been added to the Joods Monument. I myself am aware of the fact that I am sketching an incomplete picture, because I have only looked at names.
If you have any additions or corrections, please let me know. That we must not forget.
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