Silas Papare

Silas Ayari Donrai Papare (18 December 1918 – 7 March 1978) was a Papuan–Indonesian politician and guerilla leader who is a National Hero of Indonesia.

Originating from the Yapen Islands, Papare trained and worked as a nurse prior to the Second World War, during which he organized local resistance and gathered intelligence against occupying Japanese forces.

While he initially held pro-Dutch views after the war, this shifted after he was involved in pro-Indonesian rebellion and resulted in not being delegated to the Malino Conference, later on he was influenced by Sam Ratulangi into founding the pro-Indonesian Indonesian Irian Independence Party.

Papare was born in the town of Serui, in the Yapen Islands, on 18 December 1918, from father Musa Papare and mother Dorkas Papare.

At the time, Serui was one of the most open parts of Papua to external influences and ideas.

He enrolled at the local village school (Volkschool) at the age of nine and graduated in 1930, working at his parents' farm for a year before pursuing further education at a nurse school in Serui starting in 1931.

After he completed school in 1935, Papare worked in Serui for some time before moving to work at the Dutch oil firm, Nederlandsche Nieuw Guinea Petroleum Maatschappij company hospital at Sorong in 1936, where he was a head nurse.

Since 1939, a Koreri movement was started by Angganita Manufandu from Sowak, this movement was formed in opposition to foreign occupation and Christianity which was replacing local religion centering on Biak.

When Japanese forces arrived in New Guinea, Angganita was captured which resulted in a second iteration led by Stefanus Simioparef.

Due to personnel shortages in Serui, Papare was reassigned there in 1940.

Open fighting against the Japanese forces started on 10 October 1942, on Manswan Beach South Biak, which resulted in about 2000 local casualties.

This resulted in another Koreri rebellions in Yapen-Waropen, centering in East Yapen.

During this time Papare as intelligence operative of NEFIS, made contacts with former Koreri rebels in the jungle.

During the Pacific War, Papare became known as a middleman between Allied authorities and Papuans, and he sided with the Allies throughout the conflict.

He organized local resistance against Japanese forces around the Cenderawasih Bay area and provided intelligence to allied forces there, particularly after the Battle of Hollandia.

Papare was among some of the first to be educated in the Dutch civil servant schools in Papua, which were established in 1944.

According to his diary, on 1 May 1944, an allied plane landed on Nau island, he swam toward it and was given map of American position as well as an American flag, which was important symbol for local cargo cult movement, as well as sign for allied planes of the area.

On 1 June 1944, he was entrusted to lead a re-organised local guerilla forces against Japanese forces.

He sent three papuans, Otniel Papare, Abiatur, and Yehuda from Manokwari to allied position in Hollandia to report on Japanese position in Nabire and Manokwari.

While Silas Papare and Eliezer Jan Bonai returned to their base in Nau island awaiting allied forces.

Based on Papare reports, allied forces were able to sink Daito Maru, Japanese supply ship heading to Serui.

Afterward local forces led by him were able to take over weapons from Japanese forces.

Papare headed back to Nau from Serui in torpedo boat to scout Japanese position in Warenai and Sorong and supervised the construction of local defense in 13 days.

From 1 to 14 August 1944, Papare was part of an operation to find and rescue the four man crew of a crashed American B-25 bomber.

A 20-man Dutch-Australian-American rescue team led by Dutch 2nd lieutenant Louis Rapmund (who was an officer with NICA) was dropped off by a Catalina flying boat at the mouth of the Kais River and went upstream to find the crashed bomber in the swamps.

After fighting off Japanese troops near Baru, the team found the crew and brought them back to Biak.

Later in September and October, Papare went with Louis Rapmund to Roemberpon Island to rescue a thousand or more people who were left by the Japanese to starve on the island.

Amongst them, prisoners of war, Heiho auxiliaries of the Japanese and Rōmusha forced labourers.

Helped by US Navy PT boats, food was supplied and the people brought to Biak.

On October 5, Papare went with a combat team of Alamo_Scouts led by Lt Tom Rousavill and Lt Louis Rapmund to attack a Japanese internment camp at Oransbari to liberate the civilians held there.

After a short fight, the Japanese guards were defeated and 66 people liberated and brought to Biak.

Attack by allied forces began on 10 August 1944, based on his report, they were able to bomb Japanese position, furthermore he was involved in an attack on Japanese forces in Mugim, on 17 August 1944.

He was also involved in the preparation of the last attack on leftover Japanese position in Cendrawasih Bay, in Post Mowari and Manokwari.

The attack was initiated on 22 September 1944, at 4 am.

In this attack, Markus Kaisiepo and Frans Kaisiepo were freed, even though they were members of Kenpeitai Auxiliary Forces.

With the success of these attack, all Japanese forces in Cendrawasih Bay surrendered to Allied forces.

Following a failed uprising against the Dutch, he was imprisoned before he left Papua in 1949, only once returning in 1950.

He became a legislator between 1954 and 1960 and had participated in the Round Table Conference and the New York Agreement.

Papare then began criticizing the Indonesian government's actions in Papua throughout the 1960s and was briefly arrested, though he later returned to the legislative body.

He died in 1979, and was made a National Hero in 1993.