The story of volunteer Harry Soeteman

Curious about what motivates volunteers who work for the information center? Harry Soeteman explains:”In both roles, I'm really trying to make contact with our guests”

When and how did you get involved with the information center?

In October 2013, I signed up as a volunteer. A month later, I played my first service as a host with Harry Dul. We always work in pairs and show visitors how to find their way. In the beginning, I was assigned to experienced volunteers. Now I'm the experienced guy myself. In 2015, I was also asked to become a guide. Fun and exciting at the same time. I wanted to read up carefully and was also taken in that role by guides who had been around for some years. In both roles, I really try to make contact with our guests. What drives them to come here? What are their experiences and personal stories. There are regularly gems among them. People are vulnerable and also share their sorrow. I appreciate that.

What is your biggest challenge?

I find school tours quite challenging. What do students already know about WWII and how do you strike the right nerve as a guide and engage them? Sometimes a guided tour is part of an activity program or school camp. Especially then, the tension curve is somewhat shorter. At the same time, it is important that we keep telling stories, especially to the youth who grow up in freedom.

What is your motive?

My father was a prisoner of war in the Japanese camp in Thailand (work on the Burma Railway) and Southern Japan (Fokuoka Fuk 8B open coal mine). He experienced some miserable things there, but didn't talk about it. Only from the age of eighty did he talk about it sparingly. Mostly rational. About transporting a cargo ship from Thailand to Japan at night, the call for dinner. Not about what the gruesome experiences did to him. My mother had to survive the war alone with her son, my oldest brother. She wasn't European, but she wasn't a full-blooded Javanese either. Fortunately, he did not have to go to the women's camp, but was looked down on by the natives. It wasn't until later that I realized how special it is that my parents gave their six children a stable upbringing, despite all the traumas they had experienced.

Why do people need to visit the information center?

To be aware of the sacrifices others made for our freedom. They lost their lives or lived on with very bad experiences. In my opinion, a moment of appreciation and respect is appropriate here.