From Mary Previte,
Susan Strange is preparing a World War II display in the Smithsonian
Institute's
working on a display about Weihsien. ( The
best information.
From Susan,
Leopold: This is a wonderful web
site that you are putting together with lots of interesting information.
I was able to print out a camp map and locate Block/Building 18 where the Roches lived. It is so useful to have a
list of all the internees by block, so I can read the names of the Roches' neighbors. I
can hardly believe that three days ago I had never heard of Weihsien and now I
know so much about it!
I am especially interested in artwork
done at the camp that shows the living situations and the people. Perhaps
Norman Cliff or Donald Menzi have
watercolors or drawings showing "every day"
life at Wiehsien.
I hope to give Mrs. Small a report on my
findings next week, and I'm sure she will find your website very interesting
(including its archives). Your website is a wonderful resource;
thank you for making it available to the world. Susan
From Susan,
Dear
Leopold: Norman Cliff has some wonderful (and different) images on
his section of your website. Thank you for telling me to watch his
section of the website for new material. I printed several images and
shared them with the exhibit designers, and they have selected two for use in
the exhibit. But of course, I have to contact Norman Cliff for
permission! Can you provide me with his email address or a way for me to
contact him? Incidentally, the images selected are a sketch entitled
"The Gateway to Freedom" and the "Allied Prisoner"
flier. Again, Leopold, thank you for being so helpful.
Susan
From
Leopold,
Dear Susan,
Indeed, the aquarelles are wonderful. If you need a
better definition for your exhibit, I can send you a *.tif
file on a CD --- with Norman Cliff's permission of course.
All the best,
Léopold.
From Susan,
Thank you, Leopold, for responding so
quickly to my request. We are hoping that Dr. Cliff may be kind enough to
lend us the original of the "Gateway to Freedom" sketch for the
period of about one year. Of course, he may not wish to lend the drawing,
in which case I will contact you for a high resolution scan. Regarding
the "Allied Prisoners" flier, we will use a reproduction, not the
original, so you may be able to help us with a scan.
But first, I will contact Dr. Cliff to see if he is willing to lend the drawing. I know how precious it is to him, so I will understand if he prefers that we use a
scan.
Thank you for your offer, and I may be taking you up on your offer. I
will let you know what Dr. Cliff says. Susan
From Susan,
Dear Dr. Cliff: Leopold Pander has
been kind enough to provide me with your email address. As you may have
read in the email that Leopold copied to you, I work at the Smithsonian
Institution's National Museum of American History in
One of the objects that will be on display in this case is a baby bonnet worn
by Sandra Roche, who was born in Weihsien in January 1945. My task has
been to search for materials that will complement the bonnet, and I was
delighted when I found Leopold's web site. While there are many
interesting images on the website, our exhibit designers selected only two -
both belonging to you. These images are
"The Gateway to Freedom" sketch and the "Allied Prisoners"
flier. We plan to use a reproduction of the "Allied Prisoners"
flier, and perhaps Leopold can provide us with the high-resolution scan we will
require, if this is agreeable to you.
I realize that "The Gateway to Freedom" is a one-of-a-kind piece of
art which has tremendous sentimental value to you and others who were in
Weihsien. I, therefore, hesitate to ask, but might you be willing to lend
the original to the Smithsonian until late 2005? We expect tens of
thousands of visitors to the exhibit during its first year, and it would be so
nice to have the original on display. I realize this request has
"come out of the blue," so please feel free to think about it for a
few days. I, of course, would be happy to answer any questions you
may have before you make your decision.
Thank you so much for considering our requests. Sincerely yours, Susan
Strange
Reference Archivist, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
From Norman Cliff
Dear
Susan,
I have just received your welcome
e-mail. Please feel free to do whatever you wish with the material in
question.
I have also written a book on Temple Hill
& Weihsien camps entitled "Courtyard of the
No doubt Leopold Pander will draw your
attention to various letters and souvenirs which are in the scrap books which I
have loaned to him.
With greetings, Norman Cliff
From
Susan,
This is very good news; THANK YOU!
I am a bit confused as to where the original artwork for the "Gateway for
Freedom" is located. Do you have it? Is it included in the
scrapbooks that you have loaned to Leopold? If Leopold has the original
artwork, may he send the artwork to me?
Yes, I have heard of your book "Courtyard of the
Again, thank you so much for your generosity, and I will look forward to
hearing from you (and perhaps Leopold) about the whereabouts of the original
artwork. Susan
From Norman Cliff,
Dear
Susan,
As far as I can recall the sketch was done
by Barbara Hulse, a teenage girl of the
None of the pictures which Leopold has is
an original, just a copy of a copy.
I hope that I have answered your question.
All success in your
collecting of archival material.
Yours, Norman
From
Leopold,
Dear Norman,
All this is fantastic.
Sixty years after, !!!
May I send the "original" of the "Gateway to freedom" to the
Smithsonian by
post (by registered mail)?
All the best
Léopold
From
Certainly,
Dear
Susan,
Perhaps I should mention that Weihsien is
not the name used today. It is WEIFANG. Two villages were merged -
Weihsien and Fangtze - and became Weifang.
Some well known people were brought up in
the Presbyterian mission in and around Weifang - Pearl Buck and
Henry Luce of Time magazine.
Yours, Norman
From Janette,
also, John Hersey, who wrote "
je suppose que ceci est une question pour
Norman!
well, bonne continuation!
Janette
From Susan,
Thank you for this information; I'll get
in touch with Leopold once I know exactly what we'll need. Incidentally,
do you remember what book you saw the sketch in? Perhaps it might
include additional information about Barbara Hulse.
Do you either of you, by chance, know whether Ms. Hulse is still alive or where I might locate her?
I'm sorry for the never-ending series of
questions; thank you for your patience. Susan
From
Yes,
I am sure that you are right about John Hersey.
He must also have been interned in
Weihsien briefly, for he describes the camp conditions in detail in his The
Call. Groete,
Norman
From
Susan,
Greetings Norman and Leopold: I
have not heard from either of you in a couple of days and am wondering if you
have been able to locate any information on the woman who drew "The
Gateway to Freedom." We are a bit hesitant to use the image
without consent from the artist, someone from her family, or the current owner
of the original sketch.
Do either of you know whether Barbara Hulse is still alive? Or who might own the
original?
As always, thank you both for you
assistance. Susan
From
It
was not Barbara Hulse but Mrs. Eileen Bazire. The only member of the family still alive is
her son: Peter Bazire,
Susan, I am sorry I did not mention that the picture is at
the front of a small book
IN WHOSE HANDS - A STORY OF INTERNMENT IN CHINA by George A Scott, published by
the China Inland Mission.
From Susan,
Thank
you,
From Susan,
Hello Cliff and Leopold. While I
was at lunch today, Peter Bazire called and left a
message that the sketch of "The Gateway to Freedom" was NOT drawn by
his mother! He said that he does have some of her original artwork and
that he would send me copies (photocopies?) for me to look at. Anyway, it
seems we are looking for an original sketch whose whereabouts is unknown.
Leopold, it seems that it is now time to
take you up on your kind offer of high resolution scans of two
images: the "Gateway to Freedom" drawing and the
"Allied Prisoner" flier, both from
---
From
Leopold,
Hello Susan,
I'll get the CD ready for you asap and send it by post.
--- all the best,
Leopold
From Susan,
---
Now for another question (I always have
another question!). Do either of you know what percentage of the
approximately 1,400 internees rescued from Weihsien were
Americans? I believe I got this 1,400 number from
Gentlemen, as always thank you for being
so responsive to my seemingly endless request! Susan
From Leopold,
Dear Ron,
Hello,
Before answering to Susan's
question --- I'd rather you check first ---
From the *.xls-listing you
sent to me, ---
line 4: escaped =1
line 5 to 89: evacuated = 85
line 90 to 174: transfered = 85
line 175 to 178: died = 4
line 179 to 357 : were liberated 17th August 1945 = 179
happy folks!
All the best,
Léopold
From
Dear
Susan,
Peter Bazire was
on the phone today. He says the picture with the soldier and bayonet was
not his mother's work, and will try to find out who painted it. He also
says that any picture which you may have of his mother's feel free to use.
Greetings,
From
Susan,
Thanks,
From
Ron,
I make it 178 from counting on the orginal lists
However there are the following 20
in addition who were married to Americans or were children of Americans who
were classified as "Chinese"(2)
Polish 1
Finnish 1
Chinese 3
Tartar 1
Brtiish 3
Canaadian 1
French 1
Russian 9
Also total liberated from my records
is 1384 which includes the "escapees" Hummel and Tipton
who were not allowed to leave by the US Army after they came back.
Rgds
Ron
From Susan,
Wow, thank you. I'm really
surprised at how few Americans (less than 15%) were liberated by American
forces that August day. Please tell
From Susan,
Hello Leopold: The CD arrived late
yesterday and the .tifs opened perfectly, so All Is
Well. Alleluia!!
You can cross this job of your to-do list.
From Susan,
Hello: This is, I hope, my final
request--the two of you granting permission for the Smithsonian to use the
two images (sketch of gate and the "Allied Prisoners" leaflet) in the
exhibit and possibly on the web site. Attached is a PDF document with the
standard permission language. Please print out two copies, sign, and mail
both to me; I'll sign and return one to you for your records. If either
of you has trouble opening the attached, please let me know and I'll mail you
the form (
I thought the "credit line"
would read "Courtesy of Norman Cliff and Leopold Pander." Do
you both agree with this wording?
The exhibit process moves slowly. I
was hoping to meet with former Weihsien internee Mary Taylor Previte this Friday when she was to be in
Leopold, I hope you got my email saying
that the CD arrived safely. Hooray!
With a bit of luck, the signing of the
form will be the Last Thing I ask of you two! As always, I so appreciate
your help. Susan
From Leopold,
Hello from
I did get your previous message and was happy that the CD arrived at
the museum. In fact, all the images come from Norman Cliff alone. I am just the
intermediary link doing the technical work of building up the Weihsien Picture
Gallery web-site --- the best I can.
When I ask Father Hanquet to tell me stories about Weihsien,
I feel like the little boy of four (as I was in 1945) questioning his
elder brother --- !
--- And now, thanks to Norman Cliff I am adding more and more info
on "our" web-site.
It is just a little piece of our recent history and after seeing all
the commemorations of the 60th anniversary of D-Day in
Best regards,
Léopold
From Susan,
Hello Leopold: I just checked your website, and there is
the photo of Sandra Roche! Wow, that was fast.
I have a couple of minor corrections. Sandra's bonnet that will be on display
has signatures of two (not all seven) of the liberators. The two who signed
were Major Stanley A. Staiger and Sgt. Tadash Nagaki. Incidentally, the bonnet
in the photograph is NOT the bonnet that will be on display; we could tell
because the shape of the brim in the photo is not the same as the one we have.
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