In Muntok, Bangka-Belitung, there is an old colonial-style building with an Indonesian flag waving out front. Set in a modest neighborhood, the building is clean, reasonably well-maintained, but quite unremarkable. Inside, you’ll find a few framed photos of Sukarno, the country’s first president.

Those photos are the only indication of the building’s historical significance. For five months, from Feb. 6 to July 2, 1949, the building housed Sukarno, along with other founding figures of the nation, including Foreign Minister Haji Agus Salim and Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir, after they had been exiled by the Dutch colonial government, on the eve of Indonesia’s independence.

It was in this building that the leaders of the newly formed Indonesian republic hammered out the agreement that would lead to complete freedom from the Dutch — the freedom they had fought so hard for