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Helen Colijn
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Song of Survival: Women Interned Paperback – November 1, 1995

by Helen Colijn (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 73 ratings
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Thrown into the whirlwind of dark forces unleashed with the onset of World War II, a young woman, Helen Colijn, her sisters, and father flee the oncoming Japanese army. Helen Colijn's account of her wartime experiences is a window into a largely overlooked dimension of World War II — the imprisonment of women and children in Southeast Asia by the Japanese and how these prisoners of war responded to their dire circumstances. The conditions were terrible. Food was scarce; medicine unavailable. Held in captivity for three and a half years, more that a third of the women in Helen's camp died of disease or starvation. Yet their courage, faith, resiliency, ingenuity, and camaraderie provide us with enduring lessons on living. Though the prisoners had no musical instruments, they had their voices, and from memory scored classical works for symphony and piano. The music that helped sustain them while in captivity is a lasting and precious gift of these women to a world that has witnessed far too much war.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    216 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    White Cloud Press
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 1995
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9781883991142
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1883991142
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Helen Colijn was a 20-year-old Dutch woman living with her parents on a small island near Borneo when the Japanese invaded in 1941. Shipwrecked, she and her two younger sisters were captured by Japanese soldiers and shuffled from concentration camp to concentration camp for the duration of World War II. This book chronicles their personal travails and the horrible sufferings of the British and Dutch women with whom they were interned. Perhaps more significantly, it tells the remarkable story of Margaret Dryburgh, a Presbyterian missionary who gave her fellow prisoners a means to survive spiritually: the vocal orchestra. Working from memory, she reconstructed the "Largo" from Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, and works by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Ravel, and Grainger--and taught them to a chorus of prisoners. Even the often-brutal Japanese guards were moved by the concerts, Colijn reports. Although this book often glosses over the horrors, it is a moving account of some remarkable women and the music that sustained them.

Review

"Her account grips the reader from the very first pages." -- Library Journal

. . . engrossing and inspiring story. -- Parade

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1883991145
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ White Cloud Press; Revised edition (November 1, 1995)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 216 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781883991142
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1883991142
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 73 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
73 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Hilde Pretorius
5.0 out of 5 stars Happy customer from halfway round the world
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2022
Verified Purchase
I am very pleased with this second hand copy of a wonderful and rare book in good condition. It arrived in a timely manner and in good order from halfway around the world.
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ashdash
4.0 out of 5 stars The MP3 format was unexpected, so had to find the software to play it....
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2013
Verified Purchase
Otherwise the sale and book were great! There is an interesting history here: the grandfather of the author was prime minister of the Netherlands, and before that he had been assigned jobs in Indonesia: where he oppressed, interred, and killed men, women, and children. What goes around comes around, and the lesson is: it can happen to you or your family no matter who you are.
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Heavenly Days
5.0 out of 5 stars Magic of Music
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2012
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Stories of internment camps during WWII always remind us that the human spirit will not be killed, even though the body is put through privation and humiliation. Song of Survival tells of Helen Colijn's internment in South East Asia. She tells of valiant women who kept living on even as those around them became ill or died. One woman, Margaret Dryburgh, recalled from memory music from Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Chopin and others; she wrote down the music, including the harmonies, and then formed a choir of the women she called a vocal orchestra. So great was the effect of the music, it's beauty and the tranquility of the women singing it, that even the Japanese guards stopped to listen and were charmed. Such is the power of music. Years later the scores were found and given to Stanford University. From there, many women's choirs began singing these songs again. The story was made into a movie, Paradise Road. The movie and CD of the music can be found on line.
2 people found this helpful
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loren
5.0 out of 5 stars amazing
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2011
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it is amazing to me that someone could recall large pieces of difficult classical pieces and than transcribe it into vocal form from instruments. i watched the movie paradise road and then read this book and i didn't appreciate the feat that they accomplished musically until in the book it talked about some modern vocal groups that have replicated the music vocally and that there is a challenge vocally to emulate instruments, especially when holding a note for several bars, not really knowing where in the counting one is...hope i am describing this correctly...and that you get what i am saying. it is amazing to conceive. i think that it is incredable that here is some technical music that this woman first of all flawlessly recalled and then taught it to some women who had little to no musical background and then years later when it was taken to a music dept at a university, people who are well versed in music found it challenging.
2 people found this helpful
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Oma
5.0 out of 5 stars A story of how women from various countries were imprisoned ...
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2017
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A story of how women from various countries were imprisoned by the Japanese in Indonesia for 3 1/2 years, and in spite of the horror, found a voice that through music hope can come from despair. "The Captive's Hymn", written by one of the women, is a "must read or hear". It's in the book, can also be found found online and the song can also be purchased via Amazon for MP3. It's worth every penny of the 99¢.
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mawnie
4.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2014
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This is a very touching, sad story of families torn apart and held in captivity by the
Japanese in World War ll. Written by a survivor. In spite of the horrible, sub-human
conditions they still were able to sustain themselves through their faith and remembered
music.
One person found this helpful
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Elena Mastroianni
5.0 out of 5 stars Personal Account about Japanese Internment
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2013
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I read this book after seeing the movie "Paradise Road". Courage, perseverance, and caring for one another was the glue that helped internees to survive, though many died due to the brutal living conditions under Japanese incarceration. The woman who chose not to work, get out of bed, or spied for the Japanese to get extra cigarettes still received food rations and medical help from those woman who DID work. Makes me wonder if I could be so generous to another group of individuals who didn't pull their weight under awful conditions.
2 people found this helpful
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sbowl
5.0 out of 5 stars The power of music and the power of women
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2013
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Following 3 1/2 years of internment, Helen Colijn wrote the notes for this book. Whatever bitterness she and the other women must have felt at the time does not appear in this account, written some 40 yrs. later. The suffering was unbelievable but the story of the vocal orchestra and the determination of the women to rise above their demeaning circumstances is an inspiration.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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pamela smith
5.0 out of 5 stars A true account of the journey and ordeals
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 4, 2021
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Only halfway through the book but very good up to now very readable account before the capture
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Nelson Jr
5.0 out of 5 stars História contada de forma agradável
Reviewed in Brazil on September 24, 2019
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O relato foi feito de uma forma que, apesar da história ser pesada e difícil para aqueles que a vivenciaram, foi relatada com uma suavidade que torna a leitura prazerosa.
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Anzac
4.0 out of 5 stars "The Captives"
Reviewed in Australia on October 30, 2016
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I read this book as I had read On Radji Beach by Ian W. Shaw just recently. That was a factual account of the Australian army nurses interned after the fall of Singapore so I wanted to read a first hand account of some of those events and Helen Colijn"s account was perfect. She was a Dutch civilian, however knew the Australian nurses as they were prisoners of war together.
It is a well written book, telling of their hardships and the resilience of the women. However that deteriorated as the full effects of a poor diet and insanitary conditions of the camps took their toll. In the end some 37% of the internees perished.
I must also mention the hope that they always felt as evidenced by the performances of the vocal orchestra music as put together by the English missionary Margaret Dryburgh. The women found much pleasure in that and they remembered in particular the hymn "The Captives". It was quoted that "One wishes that Miss Dryburgh could have known how many people, long after the camp, would be touched by her hymn". For me that says it all.
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JDYbrook
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on September 6, 2015
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worth reading... the women were so courageous... very little is said about them...
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Sonja Edgar
4.0 out of 5 stars A review of the book 'Song of Survival'
Reviewed in Canada on November 3, 2013
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The reason I chose this rating is for the content. I was greatly disturbed by it. The writing was very good as Ms Colijn did not linger on the morbid but stated the facts honestly. I was born in Rotterdam in 1938 and remember vague images of the adults showing such incredible fear.(the walls have ears) My Dad was taken to a working camp in Hamburg and praise be he came back to us. Until recently I was in a very good church choir and therefore could relate to the 'sounds' of the chorister's choir to which Ms Colijn refers in the book. It is a story that needs to be told over & over again to let people know of the horrors of war.
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