I visited the now abandoned building known as Lawang Sewu, meaning 1,000 doors. This once grand building was the former Dutch administration center; it was then used as military headquarters by Japanese forces from 1942-45; and then became Indonesia’s military administrative headquarters for the Bojonegoro Division until 1998. After President Suharto fell from power, TNI moved out, and the building has been empty since.
The building is home to thousands of ghosts. Indonesians take superstitions about ghosts seriously, and large numbers of Indonesians claim to have personal experience seeing ghosts in specific places. Many people died here during WWII. Bullet holes still mark several walls. Also, hundreds of workers died in the effort to lift the 5 ton water tank to the top of the water tower. It fell several times, crushing many beneath it. Their ghosts reportedly haunt the building. In dark corridors, I was invited to snap 2 pictures with my camera. The first shot was clear. The second showed specks. These specks were “obviously” ghosts, and my picture was considered proof. I’ll let you decide (=