Memorial for the Aileu massacre in 1942

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Entrance to the memorial
The platform
The center

The memorial for the massacre in Aileu 1942 ( Portuguese Memorial aos Massacrados de Aileu 1942 ) commemorates victims of an attack on what is now the East Timorese city ​​of Aileu (then Vila General Carmona ) on August 31, 1942, during the Japanese occupation of Portuguese Timor in World War II .

Historical background

Japan had occupied the colony, which actually belonged to neutral Portugal, in 1942 and was engaged in a bitter battle with Australian guerrilla units. The Australians were also supported by local Portuguese and Timorese. On the side of the Japanese, Timorese fought, known as the Colunas Negras ( the black pillars ). On August 31, 1942, the Colunas Negras murdered five Portuguese soldiers and four other Portuguese soldiers, officials and missionaries in the city of Aileu. The Japanese blamed "a group of West Timorese" for the attack, who wanted to settle in the east and were mistreated by the Portuguese. After the end of the war, the monument to commemorate the victims was erected in Aileu.

The monument

The memorial is located opposite the building of the former colonial administration of Aileu. An archway with the coat of arms of Portugal forms the entrance to the memorial. In the middle of a raised platform is a memorial stone with the inscription “Aos massacrados de Aileu 1942”, which stands on a surface with the cross of the Order of Christ . The graves of the victims are positioned around the memorial stone. The memorial was renovated in 2019.

Web links

Commons : Memorial to the Aileu massacre in 1942  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Peter Dennis, et al: The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, Second. Edition, Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand, p. 530, Melbourne 2008, ISBN 978-0-19-551784-2 .
  2. ^ L. Klemen: The Fighting on the Portuguese East Timor Island, 1942 . 2000. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  3. ^ Geoffrey C. Gunn: History of Timor. ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Technical University of Lisbon (PDF; 805 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / pascal.iseg.utl.pt
  4. Kisho Tsuchiya: Indigenization of the Pacific War in Timor Island: A Multi-language Study of its Contexts and Impact , p. 13, Journal War & Society, Vol. 38, No. February 1, 2018.
  5. RTP: Monumento a vítimas portuguesas da 2ª Guerra Mundial em Timor-Leste em recuperação , July 8, 2019 , accessed on July 10, 2019.

Coordinates: 8 ° 43 '52.7 "  S , 125 ° 34' 2.3"  O