Song of Survival: Women Interned

I have not yet read the book, certainly plan on reading it. I have however attended aplay this past Friday evening. A local Community Theatre presented it and I was in great awe of their performance. They did great justice to the story line and I am so pleased to have been present. At the end I so wanted to stand up with/for them as they closed with The Captive's Hymn. The message of strength, courage, and spirit were felt by all in attendance. Such strength these women had, makes me proud of my female sisters!

It wasn't long ago that America watched "Paradise Road" in movie theaters across the country. Audiences were captivated with the story of a young girl and her family's struggle to survive imprisonment by the Japanese. Like many moviegoers today, the audience may not have read the inspirational work behind the motion picture. Helen Colijn's Song of Survival is a real story. The experiences that Coljin documents in her work are real. The author gives her readers a glimpse of her life, and that of the other women imprisoned in Southeast Asia by the Japanese during World War II. Readers follow Colijn through the experiences of a shipwreck, being captured, and being imprisoned for three-and-a-half years.Based on her original manuscript written just after her imprisonment, Colijn's story is one of hope and perseverance. Many other books written by soldiers and survivors of World War II are laden with hardship and sadness especially those books detailing the accounts of brutality of the Japanese during their quest to expand their empire westward through Asia such as The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. Colijn's story is unique in that it details true survival of not just the body of the imprisoned, but the soul as well. The women of the camp in which Colijn was imprisoned used music to life their spirits and "free their souls" from detainment.Reading a book such as Song of Survival can open up a new door to the way in which we learn about prisoners of war. Colijn describes disease and starvation leading to the deaths of more than one-third of the population of the camp (Colijn 159-169). "Before our internment was over, twenty-six Dutch children lost their mothers," she says (Colijn 162). But all the while, the women kept their spirits from breaking entirely through singing classical songs and even performing vocal concerts among themselves (Colijn129-146). Colijn gives her readers an idea of the sisterhood within her camp among the prisoners. This feeling of family is often discussed within the realm of the formation of a brotherhood-such as is seen in Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose--of soldiers, but is rarely seen in accounts of imprisonment. The work is so poignant because Colijn is able to draw from true personal experiences.The author teaches her readers that even during imprisonment, with just a little faith and a little music, souls will have the ability to wander free. By using an effective autobiographical format, Colijn tells her story from a very personal perspective. She recalls the events so vividly that it is impossible for readers not to feel the same emotions that the prisoners felt. Colijn's work is so well crafted that even her feelings of optimism shine through the seemingly unpromising situation. As trite as it may seem, Colijn notes that several women even made "liberation dresses" to wear for the day that their camp was liberated by the Allied forces (Colijn 129).A book such as Colijn's is an important element

Song of Survival was read, with other texts, as research for a forthcoming production The Shoe-Horn Sonata, by Australian John Misto, and added immeasurably to the background knowledge of director and cast. What remarkable women!! How beautifully Helen tells her own story and that of the thousands of women and children prisoners of the Japanese in what we now call Indonesia. That so many died does not surprise when you learn of the conditions in which they lived; that so many survived is testament to true strength; that they can tell their story is true courage. Thank you Helen. I also noted from the review by Leslie Terwilliger that there is a play version of Song of Survival and I would be very interested learning more about it. Please contact me at [email protected].

I too was a POW of the Japanese and as I read Helen's story, I had tears in my eyes for I could feel the things she and the others were going through. The sickness, starvation, no medical supplies and rain and mud, cold wet quarters and back breaking work from dawn to dusk; and for what? A cup of watery rice; and in the end death. It is a story of survival and the music helped the POWs. The music the two ladies were able to recreate, and the choir gave the prisoners a brief respite from the daily grind of their prison drudgery and misery, and the uncertainty of what could happen at any time at the hands of the unpredictable Japanese soldier. All he had to do was account for a body. And all that mattered to the camp commander was a body--dead or alive..

I am related to Helen Colijn and so glad she wrote this true story. The experiences that she, her sisters and parents, my folks, etc have passed onto us have been amazing. I am now 40 with 4 kids of my own. I retell this story that she wrote to help my kids, and myself, relate to the true meaning of life. I hope we can raise future generations to have the dignity and stamina to sing through both the prosperous, as well as the survival, times. (There is also a PBS documentary video (same title) and then a full movie called Paradise Road, by the same director of Driving Miss Daisy, based partly on this book.) Thanks Helen!