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The story of Eduardine Geers (Ibu Ditty)
interviewed by Annegriet Wietsma, story written by Inge Manoch
 In 2011 Ditty receives a birthday card from her aunt. Finally, finally, she sees for the first time a picture of the man who is her biological father, the Dutch military Eddy Geers. Why all this secrecy, why has it taken so long before Ditty cameto see this picture?
Ditty is 2 years old when her mother, Charlotte Salomon, remarries a Menadonese man, Joachim Andries. Because Ditty's mother has Dutch blood - Ditty's grandfather has a Dutch name, Koos Pieter Salomon - and this new husband of her mothers, due to his Menadonese roots, also has a light skin, people do not wonder why Ditty has a lighter skin colour than the rest of the family.
 Ditty doesn't know better than that Joachim Andries is her biological father.
Mother Charlotte - she was named Lot - got five children with her new husband, the oldest of which, unfortunately, died as a baby. Ditty became the oldest sister in a family with one more sister and three brothers. Her childhood is carefree. Her father loves her and does everything for her.
 He even takes care that Ditty is brought to school and taken back during the riots in 1962, when Indonesia and the Netherlands got a fierce conflict over New Guinea and light colored people were hit hard in Indonesia.
During the interview Ditty repeats several times that her stepfather, no, her dad, because her biological father is a stranger to her - was so good for her. She thought all fathers were like that. And she was not even his own child! But Ditty was not aware of that yet. Unfortunately, her dad died when Ditty was 12 years old.
The secret
Her aunt Dee, a sister of her mother, also married a Dutch soldier, Piet. Aunt Dee and uncle Piet moved to the Netherlands after their wedding. Aunt Dee aften asked mother Lot if Ditty could come and live in the Netherlands. Aunt Dee has never explained why she so badly wanted this. Isn’t that strange? Aunt Dee had children herself...
Mother Lot has told Ditty on her deathbed that Ditty is not the child of Joachim Andries. Ditty is over 35 years then. She is shocked, but does not dare to ask for more information; mommy is sick and Ditty does not want to blame her for anything. Ditty's dad Joachim, after all, was a good, dear father!
Due to the last bits and pieces of information Ditty gets from her mother, it is clear that aunt Dee knows much more than she admits. Aunt Dee married uncle Piet, who was from the same batch as Ditty's biological father Eddy Geers. Moreover, aunt Dee also knows that Eddy Geers was in the Military Police.
Ditty regularly begs aunt Dee if she, please, would tell her more about her biological father. The years are beginning to count for Ditty - no one knows when our time on earth is over. And when Ditty's time has come, in accordance with Islamic custom, in their prayers her children should call her by her real names: Eduardine binti Eddy Geers. Eduardine, daughter of Eddy Geers.
Only since two years Ditty's half-sister and -brothers know Ditty has a different father. A photo Ditty's son-in-law edited digitally, was taken home by one of the nephews of Ditty with the intent to make a large print and hang it at his home. If this nephew then proudly tells: this is grandpa Jo, grandfather Joachim Andries, he is corrected by a relative from Semarang: No dude, that's Eddy Geers! And so a well kept secret is simply revealed.
A shame
 Ditty decides with her husband that their own children, three daughters, must be informed too. When asked why Ditty concealed it so long for her own children, it is silent. Finally she answers: 'In Indonesia, not having a father is still a shame, or at least something that people would rather not talk about. When daddy Joachim died, mother Lot had a very difficult time; six small children and no breadwinner anymore. One of my grothers ended a while in the orphanage, but eventually came back home. And aunt Dee asked again if it would not be better for me to come to the Netherlands. My mother refused again.
When I met my husband, and despite the fact that I had no father, he accepted me and I became part of his family. Because of him I became a Muslim.'
Ditty does not know much about her biological father and has few leads besides some photographs. There seems to be a picture of Eddy Geers where her mother in her own handwriting wrote the name Eddy Geers on the back. Eddy even seems to have been aware of the fact that Lot was pregnant from him. He might even have had his child Ditty in his arms. Aunt Dee kept this picture hidden for a long time, but at last, in 2011, she sent a copy of it to Ditty in Indonesia. Aunt Dee says Eddy Geers deceased in 2006. It hurts Ditty, heartache she calls it, that her aunt Dee has never played open card. Ditty and her husband still do not know why aunt Dee did not want to tell more about Eddy Geers. Was it because Eddy Geers was maybe married with another wife? Or were Eddy Geers, aunt Dee or uncle Piet afraid Ditty would claim an inheritance or would require an other (financial) remedy ? Until today it is unclear.
The mystery remains
Why? Why doing so mysterious? And if Ditty requires information, aunt Dee invariably bounces the question: Why are you searching for your father only now, Ditty, why not earlier? I know nothing of him anymore! I even haven’t his army number anymore.
Since Ditty knows she has a different biological father, she has saved a tidy sum to be able to visit her father if he would be found in the Netherlands. But when aunt Dee said Eddy Geers has deceased in 2006, Ditty became sad, because she'd never meet her biological father. But Ditty really likes to know if there are any half-brothers or sisters. Who knows what they can tell Ditty about her unknown father, Eddy Geers.
Contact information of Ibu Ditty is known by the editor |
The documentary
