Disguised: A Wartime Memoir

Disguised: A Wartime Memoir

Clercq Zubli, Rita la Fontaine de, -- 1929- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Dutch. World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Indonesian. World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, Japanese. World War, 1939-1945 -- Children -- Indonesia -- Biography. Male impersonators -- Indonesia -- Biography. Teenage girls -- Indonesia -- Biography. Passing (Identity) -- Biography. World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons. Teenage girls.

With the Japanese army poised to invade their Indonesian island in 1942, Rita la Fontaine's family knew that they and the other Dutch and Dutch-Indonesian residents would soon become prisoners of war. Fearing that twelve-year-old Rita would be forced to act as a "comfort woman" for the Japanese soldiers, the family launched a desperate plan to turn Rita into "Rick," cutting her hair short and dressing her in boy's clothes. Rita's aptitude for languages earned her a position as translator for the commandant of the prisoner camp, and for the next three years she played a dangerous game of disguise while advocating against poor conditions, injustice, and torture. Sixty-five years later, Rita describes a war experience like no other--a remarkable tale of integrity, fortitude, and honor.

Clercq Zubli, Rita la Fontaine de

Candlewick Press

2007

D811.5 .C53

2003.500.2871