 On 22 October 1947, he was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment for desertion, but he was returned to active service after four months at the Tjisaroea Prison Camp, the remainder being suspended.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.