This article deals with the "Romusha" described in history textbooks used in junior and senior high schools in Indonesia from 1984 to 1993 and analyses the meanings and images evoked by these descriptions. The results of an analysis of the "Romusha" in 9 junior high school history textbooks and 5 senior high textbooks can be summarized as follows; "Romusha" is the most symbolic word used to repres