The Number of Casualties in the Indonesian War of Independence, 1945-1950

According to Gert Oostindie in his work, Dutch Soldiers in Indonesia 1945-1950: War Testimony from the Wrong Side of History, thousands of people died during the Indonesian war of independence (1945-1950).

Casualties of the war fell on both the Dutch and Indonesian sides. Oostindie's study found that approximately 100,000 Indonesians died.

"Almost half of them died after the second police action (Military Aggression II, 1948-1949)," Oostindie states in his work.

Meanwhile, the number of Dutch casualties was 4,751. 2,526 died in combat, and 2,225 died in other circumstances.

Beyond this data, Oostindie mentions approximately 200-300 additional deaths between December 1949 and 1951.

He also notes that the Dutch casualties do not include those from auxiliary services, the Red Cross, police officers, and similar groups.

According to him, other data from the Dutch East Indies National Monument in Roermond, Netherlands, lists the number of Dutch casualties as 6,226.

A different version of the casualty figures for the Indonesian War of Independence is presented by Marjolein van Pagee, a Dutch journalist and historian.

According to Marjolein's research, Indonesian casualties reached 150,000, mostly civilians. Dutch casualties, according to her research, numbered 15,000.

Of those 15,000, 6,000 were soldiers, and the remainder were considered to be affiliated with the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA).