Toespraak door Ruud O. Spangenberg op 26 augustus 2006 tijdens de Siam Birma reünie te Bronbeek in Arnhem
Geachte aanwezigen,
Het is voor mij een bijzondere eer en geluk dat ik op mijn 84 jarige leeftijd na een meest ellendige tijd te hebben meegemaakt aan de doden spoorweg Siam Birma van oktober 1942 tot augustus 1945 tot u het woord kan richten.




















































thats funny my mother last name is Postma and lived in indonesia wuhaha this is gila… but now we life in the netherlands
Robin,
I’ve made this topic:
http://indisch4ever.web-log.nl/indisch4ever/2007/01/han_samethini.html
I suppose Wim Kan wasn’t in Chungkai untill the liberation, but he wrote a diary in his birma-siamyears:
http://www.krates.nl/dagboek/dagboekDetail.php?ID=5
I did found this website:
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/2180/NF1926.htm
” de Drie Rubati’s” did some of the music in the movie ‘ de wondere wereld van Willem Parel’
Willem Parel was played by Wim Sonneveld, also a wellknown dutch cabaretier.
—
And this:
http://zeeuwsebabbelaar.web-log.nl/zeeuwsebabbelaar/2004/09/vandaag_de_dag__15.html
de Rubatis 1959 Circus van Beveren at Vlissingen
Han Samethini and Wim Kan worked together in Bangkok (1945-1946) to provide entertainment for liberated POWs, active duty British troops, etc. I have an original show poster of Kan’s production “Mystery in Budapest” (November 1945) where Kan played a character called The Great Detective Stetson, and Samethini (“wizard of the screech box”) and His Boys provided the musical accompaniment. I assume they worked together in the Burma Spoorweg prison camp shows also.
It seems Kan and Samethini also worked together in Java during the Indonesian War of Independence. The program for the cabaret show “Lente Overal” (August 1946) lists a performance called “Repertoire Wim Kan.”
After 1947 it seems Samethini toured with Wim Kan and Lou Bandy all over Holland, but I don’t yet have any documentation for this. Do you know if Kan ever performed with the Rubatis (a famous clown trio)? Samethini was part of that trio.
Robin,
I wonder if your grandfather ever met Wim Kan.. He was also on the railroad and did some cabaretshows.
Wim Kan is a famous cabaretier in the Netherlands..
In 1936 he founded a cabaretgroupe with the name ABC-Cabaret.. (similarity in the name?)
In 1939 the groupe went to the Dutch Indies for a tournee, but in may 1940 they couldnt return due the german occupation
Yes, I am still writing Opa’s biography and looking for people who remember him. Thank you for posting the links to my web sites.
Hi Robin,
For those who are interessed, this is your website about your grandfather:
http://hansamethini.blogspot.com/
and Joop Postma
http://jooppostma.blogspot.com/
Are you still writing grandfathers biography and looking for people who knew him ?
My Opa Han Samethini (Sammy) was a KNIL soldier from Surabaya, and a prisoner of war on the Burmaspoorweg 1942-1945. He played the accordion for the Postma Showgroep in Chungkai camp. Opa Han died in 1992, but I am glad to see the old veterans are still getting together at the Birma Reunie.
I notice the small Gadja Merah (Rooie Olifant?) statue in the photo. Opa Han entertained soldiers of the Bali-Lombok Brigade in 1946 with his cabaret “A to Z Cabaret.”
Sorry I don’t speak Dutch. I was born in Bodegraven but raised in the USA.
Terimah kasih!
Robin Kalhorn
Houston, Texas