He was increasingly unhappy with the haughty and contemptuous attitude of fellow soldiers to the local population, and he was present at some bloody incidents which greatly increased his disaffection. As he many years later explained, "An adolescence under Nazi rule and two years in German imprisonment has directed my life and made me fight against cruelty. I thought the Indonesians were right. I thought they should be the ones to decide their own future. (...) I was disgusted with the Dutch killing people I admired”.