Early Life
Nasution was born in the village of Hutapungkut in the Tapanuli region of North Sumatra on 3 December 1918 into a Batak Muslim family.. He was the second child of his parents and the oldest son. His father was a trader who sold textiles, rubber and coffee, and was a member of the Sarekat Islam organization. His father, who was very religious, wanted his son to study at a religious school, while his mother wanted him to study medicine in Batavia. However, after graduating from school in 1932, Nasution received a scholarship to study teaching at Bukitinggi.
In 1935 Nasution moved to Bandung to continue his studies, where he remained for three years. His desire to be a teacher gradually faded as his interest in politics grew. He secretly bought books written by the Indonesian nationalist Sukarno and read them with his friends. Following his graduation in 1937, Nasution returned to Sumatra and taught in Bengkulu, living near the house where Sukarno lived in exile. He occasionally spoke with Sukarno, and heard him give speeches. A year later Nasution moved to Tanjungpraja, near Palembang, where he continued to teach, but became more and more interested in politics and the military.
In 1940, Nazi Germany occupied the Netherlands and the Dutch colonial authorities established an officer reserve corps which admitted Indonesians. Nasution applied to join, as this was the only way to obtain military training. Along with a few other Indonesians, he was sent to the Bandung Military Academy for training. In September 1940 he was promoted to corporal, then three months later to sergeant. He subsequently became an officer in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL). In 1942 the Japanese invaded and occupied Indonesia. At the time, Nasution was in Surabaya, having been posted there to defend the port. Nasution then found his way back to Bandung and went into hiding, as he was afraid of being arrested by the Japanese. However, he later assisted the PETA militia set up by the Japanese occupiers by carrying messages, but did not actually become a member.
Read more about this topic: Abdul Haris Nasution
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