In the closing days of WWII, the Soviet Union attacked and occupied Japanese controlled northern China, then called Manchuria. Immediately, misery and death from cold, hunger, disease, and brutality descended upon the Japanese civilian residents at the hands of the Soviet Army and revenge seeking mobs and bandits. Nearly 2,500 Japanese, mostly the elderly and children, died daily. Three courageous Japanese men embarked on a secret mission and escaped to Japan to eventually bring an end to the Manchurian nightmare. In the riveting story, Escape from Manchuria, the son of one of the three courageous men narrates a compelling tale of the rescue and repatriation of nearly 1.7 million noncombatant Japanese that commenced almost a year after the surrender of Japan. Escape from Manchuria describes the indispensable role that General Douglas MacArthur and his staff played in the repatriation. It also discloses the vital role played by the Catholic Church in Manchuria and in Japan in assisting the three men to achieve this monumental success. The heroics of the three men have hardly been recognized, even in Japan, because they took on the mission of rescue as private citizens, without the consent or knowledge of the then utterly helpless Japanese government. This is the true story of their courage, determination, and sacrifice to save the lives of their fellow Japanese.
In the closing days of WWII, the Soviet Union attacked and occupied Japanese controlled northern China, then called Manchuria. Immediately, misery and death from cold, hunger, disease, and brutality descended upon the Japanese civilian residents at the hands of the Soviet Army and revenge seeking mobs and bandits. Nearly 2,500 Japanese, mostly the elderly and children, died daily. Three courageous Japanese men embarked on a secret mission and escaped to Japan to eventually bring an end to the Manchurian nightmare. In the riveting story, Escape from Manchuria, the son of one of the three courageous men narrates a compelling tale of the rescue and repatriation of nearly 1.7 million noncombatant Japanese that commenced almost a year after the surrender of Japan. Escape from Manchuria describes the indispensable role that General Douglas MacArthur and his staff played in the repatriation. It also discloses the vital role played by the Catholic Church in Manchuria and in Japan in assisting the three men to achieve this monumental success. The heroics of the three men have hardly been recognized, even in Japan, because they took on the mission of rescue as private citizens, without the consent or knowledge of the then utterly helpless Japanese government. This is the true story of their courage, determination, and sacrifice to save the lives of their fellow Japanese.
In the closing days of WWII, the Soviet Union attacked and occupied Japanese-controlled northern China, then called Manchuria. Immediately, misery and death from cold, hunger, disease, and brutality descended on the Japanese civilians at the hands of the Soviet Army and revenge-seeking mobs and bandits. Nearly 2,500 Japanese, mostly the elderly and children, died daily. Three courageous Japanese men embarked on a secret mission and escaped to Japan to eventually bring about an end to the Manchurian nightmare. In a riveting story, a son of the leader of the three courageous men narrates to readers a compelling tale of the rescue and repatriation of nearly 1.7 million abandoned non-combatant Japanese that began almost a year after Japan's surrender. The book describes the indispensable part that General Douglas MacArthur played in the repatriation and discloses the role played by the Catholic Church in Manchuria and Japan in assisting the three men to achieve success. The heroics of the three men have not been fully recognized, even in Japan, because they took on the mission of rescue as private citizens, without the consent or knowledge of the then-utterly helpless Japanese government.
In the closing days of WWII, the Soviet Union attacked and occupied Japanese-controlled northern China, then called Manchuria. Immediately, misery and death from cold, hunger, disease, and brutality descended on the Japanese civilians at the hands of the Soviet Army and revenge-seeking mobs and bandits. Nearly 2,500 Japanese, mostly the elderly and children, died daily. Three courageous Japanese men embarked on a secret mission and escaped to Japan to eventually bring about an end to the Manchurian nightmare. In a riveting story, a son of the leader of the three courageous men narrates to readers a compelling tale of the rescue and repatriation of nearly 1.7 million abandoned non-combatant Japanese that began almost a year after Japan's surrender. The book describes the indispensable part that General Douglas MacArthur played in the repatriation and discloses the role played by the Catholic Church in Manchuria and Japan in assisting the three men to achieve success. The heroics of the three men have not been fully recognized, even in Japan, because they took on the mission of rescue as private citizens, without the consent or knowledge of the then-utterly helpless Japanese government.
In 1939, to escape Nazi persecution and genocide, Margarethe (now Margalit) and her family flee Germany to travel halfway round the world, firstly to Shanghai, where stateless people were admitted without visa or passport, and then on to Manchuria.
Manchuria is a historical region, which roughly corresponds to Northeast China. The Manchu people, who established the last dynasty of Imperial China (the Qing, 1644–1911) originated there, and it has been the stage of turbulent events during the twentieth century: the Russo-Japanese war, Japanese occupation and establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, Soviet invasion, and Chinese civil war. This innovative and accessible historical survey both introduces Manchuria to students and general readers and contributes to the emerging regional perspective in the study of China.
SYNOPSIS OF BOOK FOR WEBSITE: Night Train From Manchuria is a complex fictional story woven over little known compelling history of World War II in the Pacific. The story is plot driven and character driven. Army Major John Anders, an agent of the U.S. Office of Strategic Services and Army G 2 intelligence, works at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. In the 1941 attack on the Philippines, Japanese soldiers raped and murdered Anders wife. His young son was either killed or lost in the jungle. His hatred for the Japanese is unbounded and threatens his sanity. Captured, he escapes from the Bataan Death March and flees to Manchuria with the Chinese resistance leader, Han Yu Chi; he fights with the resistance and eventually returns to the OSS in Washington where, as chief of the China/Japan Desk, he follows Japans progress in its war with China and biological warfare preparations. The Japanese ability to wage biological and chemical warfare increased with their development of clay bombs to deliver live plague bacteria. A plague attack on the west coast of the U.S. using balloons on the Jet Stream from Northern Japan and mini submarines is imminent. (Factual) Major Anders begins manipulations to be assigned to a reconnaissance team and return to Manchuria to work with an old friend, who leads the resistance, to destroy the plague bacteria and clay bombs. The OSS assigns two Japanese/American officers to the team. Anders obsessive bias becomes a serious obstacle to his leadership and he is denied the mission command, but allowed to head the reconnaissance team. The reconnaissance teams mission is to identify in which facility at Unit 731 the plague bacteria and bombs are stored and pass on the information to a larger special operations military team to follow. At the rendezvous in Manchuria, the OSS special operations team of paratroopers is thwarted by betrayal and has to return to base. Anders, his team and members of the resistance, including his old friend, Han Yu Chi, are captured and imprisoned at Unit 731. Major Anders begins immediately to plan their escape and the destruction of the plague bacteria and bombs which are on the same grounds where they are imprisoned. At the prison Anders bonds with the Japanese/American officers and with Hans young daughter (also Japanese/English) He bonds as well with a victim of the Japanese experiments, a young boy two years older than Anders son when he was lost. Together the group makes plans to escape Unit 731 prison. Night Train From Manchuria is filled with-little known compelling history of World War II in the Pacific, and with historical figures, including Hideki Tojo, Prime Minster of Japan, Dr. Shiro Ishii, Director of Japans biological warfare program, Manuel Quezon, President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, and Emperor Pu Yi, puppet of the Japanese as head of the Empire of Manchukuo, formerly Manchuria. Holding true to the known characters of the historical figures, history is dramatized and brought to life by the fictional story. The story is rich in drama, action, suspense, intrigue, triumph over adversity, redemption, friendship, and sacrifice. It moves from Manila to Tokyo, to Washington, D.C. and culminates in Manchuria.
Making sense of nature in one of the world’s most contested borderlands. According to Chinese government reports, hundreds of plague-infected rodents fell from the skies over Gannan county on an April night in 1952. Chinese scientists determined that these flying voles were not native to the region, but were vectors of germ warfare, dispatched over the border by agents of imperialism. Mastery of biology had become a way to claim political mastery over a remote frontier. Beginning with this bizarre incident from the Korean War, Knowing Manchuria places the creation of knowledge about nature at the center of our understanding of a little-known but historically important Asian landscape. At the intersection of China, Russia, Korea, and Mongolia, Manchuria is known as a site of war and environmental extremes, where projects of political control intersected with projects designed to make sense of Manchuria’s multiple environments. Covering more than 500,000 square miles, Manchuria’s landscapes include temperate rainforests, deserts, prairies, cultivated plains, wetlands, and Siberian taiga. With analysis spanning the seventeenth century to the present day, Ruth Rogaski reveals how an array of historical actors—Chinese poets, Manchu shamans, Russian botanists, Korean mathematicians, Japanese bacteriologists, American paleontologists, and indigenous hunters—made sense of the Manchurian frontier. She uncovers how natural knowledge, and thus the nature of Manchuria itself, changed over time, from a sacred “land where the dragon arose” to a global epicenter of contagious disease; from a tragic “wasteland” to an abundant granary that nurtured the hope of a nation.
In Murder in Manchuria, Scott D. Seligman explores an unsolved murder set amid the chaos that reigned in China in the run-up to World War II. The story unfolds against the backdrop of a three-country struggle for control of Manchuria—an area some called China’s “Wild East”—and an explosive mixture of nationalities, religions, and ideologies. Semyon Kaspé, a young Jewish musician, is kidnapped, tortured, and ultimately murdered by disaffected, antisemitic White Russians, secretly acting on the orders of Japanese military overlords who covet his father’s wealth. When local authorities deliberately slow-walk the search for the kidnappers, a young French diplomat takes over and launches his own investigation. Part cold-case thriller and part social history, the true, tragic saga of Kaspé is told in the context of the larger, improbable story of the lives of the twenty thousand Jews who called Harbin home at the beginning of the twentieth century. Scott D. Seligman recounts the events that led to their arrival and their hasty exodus—and solves a crime that has puzzled historians for decades.
