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) Weifang delegation |
WEIFANG DELEGATION visits Assemblywoman Mary Previte at the New Jersey State Capitol, May 2005, to discuss plans for the celebration of 60th anniversary of the liberation of Weihsien Concentration Camp. From left: Sui Shude, Director of Department of Translation and Interpretation, Weifang Foreign Affairs Office; Li Yue Jin, Deputy Director Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Weifang People’s Government; New Jersey Assemblywoman Mary T. Previte; Li Xiao Ming, Assistant to the Mayor of Weifang Municipal Government; Han Zi Fu, Shandong deputy to the National People's congress and Vice director of Weifang TV station. |
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) Weihsien Exhibit Hall |
COLLECTING MEMENTOS FOR THE WEIHSIEN EXHIBIT HALL: Deputy Director Li Yue Jin of Weifang Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and Assemblywoman Mary Previte examine photographs and mementos from Mary’s collection. In visits across the United States and Canada in May, 2005, the Weifang delegation reproduced and collected hundreds of photographs and exhibits for the Weihsien Exhibit Hall and the memory book they presented to guests at the 60 anniversary celebration. | |
) Warm Welcome |
Approaching the opening ceremony, internees were welcomed by Grand March from Aida and with children waving red banners and tinseled pink and silver circles. | |
) #34 [click on the thumbnail] |
Weihsien’s 60th Anniversary celebration;
Former internee, James H. Taylor of Hong Kong, greets Mr. Zang, son of
one of the Chinese workers who smuggled messages and news into Weihsien
Civilian Assembly Center when he entered the camp to empty the cesspools.
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--- Weihsien’s 60 anniversary reunion was a time for tears and a time
for joy. Former internee Mary Previte from USA weeps on the shoulder of
her brother, Dr. James H. Taylor of Hong Kong. |
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) 36 |
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) 37 |
--- #37 Opening ceremonies:
Children opened the 60th Anniversary Celebration with song and dance. Block 23-front, center-featured prominently throughout the celebration. |
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) 38 |
--- #38 The Wall:
James Taylor and Mary Taylor Previte find their names engraved in marble on the monument wall. |
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) 39 |
--- #39 Weihsieners Arrive ;
Mary Previte, Estella Cliff Horne, Peter Bazire, Marian Bevan Lauchlan, and Douglas Sadler-all from the Chefoo School-are welcomed to Weifang. |
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) 40 |
--- # 40 Media Blitz:
Former internee, Peter Bazire from U.K., is interviewed after opening
ceremonies. An estimated 100 representatives TV, radio, and print media
covered the 60th anniversary celebration. |
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) 41 |
--- #41 Honoring Eric Liddell
Mary T. Previte and James H. Taylor stand at the new Eric Liddell monument. The monument is located in a spacious park behind the hospital. |
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) 42 |
--- #42 Stephen Metcalf speaks:
Stephen Metcalf speaks at the Eric Liddell monument with a call for reconciliation.
Liddell was a mentor to Metcalf in the camp and taught Metcalf not to
hate the Japanese. Shortly before he died, Liddell gave Metcalf his running
shoes. Metcalf later dedicated his life to service as a missionary to
Japan. Metcalf’s book on reconciliation has sold out in Japan. |
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) 43 |
--- #43 Lower School Dormitory (LSD):
Mary T. Previte visits her Lower School Dormitory that housed 13 young girls in the second floor of the hospital. From this room, on August 17, 1945, Mary saw American heroes parachuting from a low-flying B-24 bomber into gaoliang fields beyond the barrier wall. Mary says she saw no bedbugs or rats on this visit to her dormitory. |
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) 44 |
--- Weihsien church:
The church at Weishien’s Le Dao Yuan compound before Japanese forces
turned it into an internment camp for Allied internees. Pulitzer prize-winning
author, Pearl Buck, and American publishing magnate, Henry Luce, once
lived on this Presbyterian missionary compound. |
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) 45 |
--- Block 23
Before World War II, Block 23 was a school building on the Presbyterian
missionary compound called Le Dao Yuan, Courtyard of the Happy Way, in
Weihsien. |
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) 46 |
--- Welcoming toast:
Former internee, Mary Previte, and Han Zi Fu offer toasts at the welcome banquet that launched the 60th anniversary celebration at Weifang. Mr. Han, a noted artist, was one of the co-ordiator of the event. He is Shangdong deputy to the National People’s Congress and Weifang vice director of the television station. |
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) 47 |
--- Monument to Heroes:
The front page of the Weifang Ribao, August 18, 2005, shows crowds swarming the monument to American liberators in the memorial park located near the hospital on the former concentration camp grounds. Names of 1, 500 former prisoners are engraved in marble at the base of this monument. |
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) 48 |
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 ©From-DonMenzi |
[click here] --- SPEECH
by Mary T. PreviteWeihsien Concentration Camp Liberation, 60th Anniversary Celebration August 17, 2005 --- |
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| Office of Assemblywoman Mary T. Previte Chair, Family, Women and Children's Services Committee Sixth Legislative District 320 N. Haddon Avenue Suite 4 Haddonfield, NJ 08033 Phone - 856.857.0777 Fax - 856.857.9887 |
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