A. Schönmann: The jeweller from the Dutch East Indies
A lost treasure from the Dutch Indies dating back to the 1920’s. It’s a minute repeater pocket watch with a dial signed A. Schönmann Soerabaia.
Arno Schönmann
What a huge suffering can hide behind a beautiful advertisement like the one on the right. The jeweler Arno Schönmann from Surabaya was imprisoned on Java with Germans and NSB-members in 1940 after the capitulation of the Netherlands. Many of them had nothing to do with the Nazis, but the Dutch-Indies made no distinction. Not even for the Jewish jeweler Arno Schönmann who had just fled Hitler in Germany.
When the Japanese are on their way in early 1942, the jeweler from Surabaya is one of the refugees to be evacuated with the ship Van Imhoff. Werner Stauder writes in a response to an article about the Van Imhoff on the website Java Post, September 18, 2013, what happened to Arno Schönmann:
'19 January 1942 the “Van Imhoff” was attacked by a Japanese fighter-bomber. One of the bombs tore open the side of the ship below the water line, allowing so much water to pour in that it slowly began to sink. When the ship started to hit about one o'clock, Captain Hoeksema was ordered to take the motor sloop and lower the five lifeboats and throw all the life rafts into the water. [...]
Furthermore, orders were given to keep the German and Jewish prisoners in their bunks calm and, if necessary, restrained so that the Dutch crew and the guard detachment could leave the ship unopposed and take their places in the motor sloop and lifeboats. Only when all the Dutch had disembarked did the last soldiers throw down nippers and keys before they left the ship. The other passangers were left to fend for themselves in the hold. [...]
The few survivors in both boats and on rafts, who were observed the next morning by the K.P.M. ship “Boelongan”, were not allowed to be rescued by order of the Commander of the Navy. That is why the captain refused to provide humanitarian aid to the drowning people and, under the loud resistance of the crew. The captain gave the order to leave drowning people to their fate without water and food. For his actions he relied on a secret order from Admiral Helfrich.
'One of the drowning people, the German Jew Arno Schönmann from Surabaya. He jumped from a raft into the water and swam after the ship. The crewmen, showing pity, threw down a rope ladder. Schönmann tried to climb up to it, but was mercilessly knocked down again by Dutch crew members and drowned.'
In the version of Het Parool of April 16, 1965, things are slightly different. This article states that a line has been thrown out, and that Schönmann is then called out to not come on board and to swim back to the raft. The outcome is the same: he drowns.
Facebookpage on the Imhoff scandal: Facebook "Het "Van Imhoff"-schandaal"
The Repeater from A. Schönmann
A. Schönmann was known for making watches with big bold numerals on the dial and a weird mix of black hands. No other brand known would feature a Louis style hour hand with a Breguet minute hand, topping it of with a stick second hand.
The Repeater movement is a Brevet 13244 movement.