Second-generation Migrants

By Nonja Peters


Yesterday I accepted the first copy of Jan Fels book Je neemt jezelf mee overzee. It was a great pleasure and I wish to congratulate Jan on a job well done.

To write an autobiography is a great undertaking at any time. To write one that is also partly based on primary resource material is an even greater undertaking.

Jan’s book makes an important contribution to the lesser-known experiences of children who accompanied their parents from the Netherlands to Australia in the post-war period.  The majority of books to-date concern the migration experiences of the first generation.  I have a plethora of them – 300 at least - in my research collection. 

Let me add that by second-generation migrant, I refer to children of Dutch parents born in the Netherlands or in Australia who completed most of their schooling in Australia. Their experience differs markedly from that of their parents.  Jan and I are second generation migrants born here educated there.

‘Aanpassen’

When interviewed about their migration experiences – second generation Dutch-Australian migrants most often expressed response is: “were never given a say in the matter”.  We were sent into the Australian community with the imperative – aanpassen.  Assimilation policy reigned supreme at that time, and Dutch parents expected their children’s resettlement to be seamless. It was often not so – but most parent’s were unaware of the challenges that faced their children as their heritage was firmly rooted in the homeland culture - ours was not.
Jan’s migration experience stands out as different again, from most second generation Dutch Australians, in that he was thrown immediately into an Australian environment during the day and at night, whereas most of us went to Australian schools and Dutch homes. Jan received a ‘double whammy’ of Australian culture and cuisine and formed strong network relationships with Australians as a result.
In many ways this engendered Jan’s second migration as an adult. Second migrations are not isolated experiences. Although return migration was very high among the Dutch – many then began a rollercoaster life – then in homeland then in host-land.
In term of sense of place, identity and belonging – Dutch kids, like me, often explain how they never feel like they completely ‘fit’ in either country. They live between two worlds - always the ‘other’! This feeling will, I fear, die with me.
I hope Jan’s achievement will prompt others to also write down their experience. We need today’s policy makers to more fully appreciate the experience of Dutch and other migrant children.
***
Prof.dr. Nonja Peter is an anthropologist, historian, museum curator, social researcher and public speaker, whose interests include the transnational movement of people (forced and voluntary), ethnicity, class, gender, racism, sense of place, identity and belonging; immigrant entrepreneurship, and the digital preservation of immigrants’ cultural heritage. She has a special interest in Dutch maritime, military, migration and mercantile connections with Australia and the South East Asian and Pacific Regions.






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