C03SwC, Sylvia Leiser ‘87, Chen Suzue, Grandmother, Hong Kong, Manchuria, Korea, Yamaguchi
In May 1986, I interviewed my grandmother about her experiences during World War II. Her name is Suzue Chen. My grandmother was Japanese, but after she married my grandfather from Taiwan, she became a Chinese citizen.
Q: Where were you when the war broke out?
A: I was living in Hong Kong then. That is where your mother was born, during the war. But when she was still a baby, the Japanese government ordered that all Japanese women and children must return to Japan.
Q: What route did you take to go back to Japan?
A: From Hong Kong, we went to Manchuria by ship. The ship was almost bombed several times. To avoid bombs, the ship had to travel along the coastline to remain inconspicuous. Then from Manchuria, we rode a train to Pusan, in southeastern Korea. Then we went to Shimonoseki [Yamaguchi], again by ship.
Q: How long was the journey, and what was it like?
A: It took three weeks in total to get from Hong Kong to Shimonoseki, since we had been stopping at many places. The trip was very difficult and awful. At night, we had to turn off all the lights, but since there were many babies on the ship, it was very hard to maintain silence.
Q: What were the other problems? Did you have enough food?
A: No, we had very little food supply. Many people suffered from malnutrition, and one baby died. It was very sad. Your mother was about the same age as the dead baby, so I was very worried about her. I thought to myself that I had to take my daughter to Japan safely.