J. S. Broers was a Dutch plantation inspector (inspecteur) of the Société Financière des Caoutchoucs (Soc. Fin. d. C.) who served in Sumatra for over three decades. He arrived in Deli in 1919 and entered the service of the Société Financière on 1 April 1920. Before the war he was transferred as inspector to the West Coast of Atjeh (Westkust van Atjeh). After the Japanese occupation and internment, he served from early 1946 in Medan as inspector until his repatriation to the Netherlands on 30 August 1952 aboard the Willem Ruys.
Career
Broers’ career with the Société Financière des Caoutchoucs spanned more than thirty years and took him to various parts of eastern and northern Sumatra. As an administrator (administrateur), he was posted to the company’s enterprises in Tamiang and Asahan before being transferred to the West Coast of Atjeh as inspector. This pre-war posting to Atjeh placed him within the sphere of the Atjeh War aftermath and the colonial administration of what had been one of the most contested regions of the Netherlands Indies.
During the Japanese occupation he was interned. Following the capitulation of Japan, he resumed his duties in Medan from early 1946 as inspector, a position he held until his departure for the Netherlands.
Source
Oostkust van Sumatra-Instituut Mededeling No. 37: Deli-Figuren uit de jaren 1950 t/m 1952, compiled by Ir. F. J. J. Dootjes (Amsterdam, 1953).