User:Creatxiiv

Gedung Setan aka Spookhius - Haunted House is a heritage building that has provided many Chinese victims a place of safety during the violence that took place in Indonesia against Chinese ethnic groups in the early period of the Indonesian history. It is located in the famous Javanese city Surabaya to the east of the island. Since the earliest times it has played a prominent role in the lives of many Chinese descendants who lived in Indonesia. Though there are many stories about the origin of Gedung Setan, people mostly believe that the founder or the original owner of the place was from the Dutch East India Company who held a position similar to a governor nowadays. Later the ownership was taken over by a Chinese doctor named Teng Khoen Gwan. Initially he had plans of using the building as a business place that gathered the dead bodies of the Chinese who were victims of the violence at the time before they were cremated or buried. According to the sources it was an ideal place for this purpose due the availability of a Chinese traditional cemetery, a Bong. Later, the place was given to the Chinese people to hide during the conflicts that arose after the independence of Indonesia which has continued to provide shelter for the many Chinese descendants until the present day.