Unplanned Odyssey

About the Book

Elisabeth, known as Liesje , was born in Indonesia when it was a Dutch colony. She came of age at the beginning of World War II, and when the Japanese invaded she was interned. She escaped from the Japanese concentration camp, a decision that put her into survival mode for the next five years.

This is her account of her youth, of her life as a concentration camp escapee under the Japanese occupation, of her clandestine union with a noble Japanese military officer - a Samurai, of her subsequent journey to war-devastated Japan, and her life there after wards.

About the Author

A child of Dutch parents, I grew up in Indonesia when it was the Netherlands East Indies. At the beginning of World War II, I was interned by the Japanese, escaped and was on the run through 1944. I was captured, imprisoned & tortured by the Kempei-tai secret police, married a Japanese nobleman, moved to Japan, and then divorced in 1948. I remarried in 1950, moved to the United States in 1952, and have lived here ever since with my husband of 58 years, a man now retired from United States military, and civil service. We have three children, nine surviving grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, and live quietly in a small town on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Since arriving in the U.S. in 1952, we have lived in 15 cities, and 7 states, as my husband followed his career. We’ve traveled a lot, been in all 50 states, and according to my husband, we’ve stayed overnight, or longer in 35 sates, or more.