When the Germans invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, Hans Goedkoop's grandfather was on extended leave in The Hague. He refuses to sign a German declaration of loyalty and is taken to the German prisoner of war camp Colditz. As a result, he has little experience of what happens in his native Dutch East Indies, where life under the Japanese occupation changes completely in a few years. The Dutch population disappears into camps or performs forced labor. Indonesians also have to deal with forced labor and hunger. Yet Indonesians also derive hope from the Japanese. Is colonial rule in the country coming to an end for good?