WR Lynch WW II Diary re Japanese Take-Over in Shanghai China. Days 81 and 82

Will Lynch comments on the fact that Shanghai is very different now.   Also has some words for American "pacifists".  After the war he married a retired teacher from America he had met when she was touring with other teachers.  Was this her??  Roselyn


February 26, 1942.  Thursday.  81st Day.
Cloudy and chilly, but February is about finished so there'll likely be no more long cold periods.
     No good news yet.  Radio and local papers claim Axis Powers, including Japanese, continue winning.
     Beat Brookhart 3-0 at rummy.  J.B.S. won 1-0.
     This old town sure has slowed down.  Very few motor cars.   Travel is by foot, bicycle or trams.  Gasoline is "few".  No foreign shipping.  Japs have taken over about all Settlement Municipal jobs;  also Customs job.  
     Hey Ho.  Wot a mess!


February 27, 1942.  Friday.  82nd Day.
     Sunny and warmer.
     News is not good.  Seems Los Angeles had enemy airplane scare.  Wonder what the Isolationists and Pacifists think now, especially a certain teacher tourist, who in 1938 told me I should return to U.S.A. and "get in touch" when I told her, when viewing devastated Shanghai, that "If you Pacifists had your way, we in the U.S.A. would be herded, as were the Chinese here". 
     Had tea with Pauline Meyers.  She has a husband in U.S.A.
     Beat Mr. Groves 4-1 at cribbage.  Lost acey-deucy 2-0 to Mr. Lockhart.  Tied rummy 1-1 with J.B.S.
     No news re repatriation.  

WR Lynch WW II Diary re Japanese Take-Over in Shanghai China. Days 79 and 80.

Will Lynch writes that the weather is cold and room is chilly.  Continues to play card games, etc. to pass the time.  He also hears that California has been bombed.   Roselyn


February 24, 1942.  Tuesday.  79th Day.
     Colder. Cloudy.
     Bad luck at cards.  Brookhart won running 4-0.  J.B.S. 1-0 and at checkers 2-3.
     War news continues bad.  Looks like British might give way in North Africa.  No further news re repatriation.
     My tummy operation is a bit sensitive.  I must reduce my food intake.
     I find by filling my tub with hot water, I can keep my room warm, even after the heat "goes off" at 9:00 p,m.


February 25, 1942.  Wednesday.  80th Day.
     Wet, cloudy, nasty and chilly.  
     Mr. Calder threw a cocktail party in his room.  'Twas a success.
     War news continues bad.  Looks like F.D.R. (President Franklin Roosevelt) and his New Dealers will have a job on their hands.
     Shanghai Times is sending me 4 copies, the Consulate's subscriptions paid to June 30, 1942.  Have asked Evening Post to do the same.
     Seems California coast got bombed.  Local radio features.
     Local FFZ--French radio here, put a WERTHER--Massenet--9:30-11:00 p.m.  Excellent.  

WW War II Japanese American Relocation Camps. By Roselyn

    As you have been reading this diary written by Will Lynch during his captivity by the Japanese as an American diplomatic prisoner in Shanghai, China, you will have noticed he sometimes refers to the Japanese as "Japs".  This was very common during World War II, as Americans expressed a fear and mistrust of both the Japanese and the Germans.  And of course, he is very unhappy and somewhat fearful to be kept a captive, awaiting repatriation and the exchange of the diplomats between Japan and the United States.  
     After the Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, there was much suspicion in America of the Japanese Americans.  It was felt that they could pose a danger to America, though they may have been model citizens who had never done anything to cause suspicion. 
      The sad result was "in February, 1942, President Roosevelt signed an executive order, authorizing the federal government to relocate all people of Japanese ancestry who were living on the West Coast.  At great financial and emotional sacrifice, more than 100,000 people, many of them native-born Americans, were uprooted and sent to ten desolate inland camps.  Some 10,000 went through the gates of Amache, located near Granada, Colorado."  (Sandra Dallas in her book Tallgrass).
     It should also be noted that many of these Japanese American men volunteered and served in the armed services for America and some lost their lives in that service.     
     So, all the time Will Lynch was a captive in Shanghai, Americans of Japanese descent were also held captive in "camps" in several parts of the middle of America.  
     There have been many scholarly books and reports written about the Japanese relocation.  The book Tallgrass, by Sandra Dallas, is an excellent and very readable historical novel based on research about Camp Amache, (which she renames Tallgrass), the setting for this book.  It is told from the perspective of a local girl who lives on a nearby farm.  
     Another easily read book is Hotel On The Corner of Bitter and Sweet by James Ford.  This book, also historical fiction, is set in Seattle, Washington, and gives the point of view from Japanese Americans in that area.

WR Lynch WW II Diary re Japanese Take-Over in Shanghai China. Days 77 and 78.

Will Lynch watches a large show of Chinese, directed by the Japanese.  There is an Avenue Voyron in France, so presumably this tea room on Voyron was in the French Settlement.  Roselyn


February 22, 1942.  Sunday.  77th Day.
     Mr. A. Lincoln's birthday.
     Cloudy but warm.
     At 3:30 tried to get tickets to Lafayette cinema for Jungle Cavalcade, second run.  Too late.  All sold out.
     Consul H.H. Smith has the mumps.
     Had Chinese tea and food at King Kong on Avenue Voyron.  Quite good.
     No good news yet.


February 23, 1942.  Monday.  78th Day.
     Wet and colder.
     Changed books at Foreign Y.   (A library?)
     Big--10 or 15,000 people, Chinese, directed by Japanese, gathered inside race course, waved paper flags, ostensibly a Wang Ching-Wei (A Chinese politician who supported the Japanese) demonstration.  Plainly inspired and forced rather than spontaneous, but if the Chinese mob psychosis had stirred, the situation could have been fraught with much possibilities.
     9:50 a.m.  Much thunder and lightening.  I thought the town was being bombed.  Rain was heavy.  Town got washed.

WR Lynch WW II Diary re Japanese Take-Over in Shanghai China. Days 74, 75 and 76.

The Chinese New Year celebration goes on in spite of the war.  Will Lynch is to get a passport.   Roselyn


February 19, 1942.  Thursday.  74th Day.
     Chinese still celebrating their New Year.  Ought to finish today.
     Sunny and warm.
     Japanese are to shoot off fireworks at race course tonight to celebrate their recent victories.
     No good news yet.  Except got an invite to Chinese chow at M.J's for Saturday p.m.
     Played cribbage with Mr. Groves, 3-3, but one was a "skunk" in my favor, so I have the "edge".


February 20, 1942.  Friday.  75th Day.
     Sunny and warm.  
     A.M. and I saw "All That Money Can Buy" or "The Devil and Daniel Webster" at Cathay.  Heavy stuff. (drama).  I prefer it not.  It's the old story of "selling one's soul for money".  
     Brookhart won 3-1 in Rummy, from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. session.
     War News:   All bad.


February 21, 1942.  Saturday.  76th Day.
     Fine weather.
     Chowed, 3:00-5:00 p.m. at Mr. J's with 3 others.  Had a scare.  Had changed suits and forgot a leather coin bag.  Gosh!  But all is O.K.
     A.M. gave me an important and interesting scientific book.
     Beat J.B.S. 1-0 at Rummy.
     Will get my passport number and date.  Probably has some angle on repatriation for use by Swiss Consulate.
     

WR Lynch WW II Diary re Japanese Take-Over in Shanghai China. Days 72 and 73.

Shanghai, China, was a Cosmopolitan city that contained an International Settlement called "The Bund" before World War II.  It had been that way for years.  European countries settled in that area, in order to do business with China.  Areas also included embassies, etc.  Will Lynch speaks of the "French Settlement" and there were others for the U.S., British, German, etc., each with their own cultural customs.
Roselyn


February 17, 1942.  Tuesday.  72nd Day.
     Warmer but cloudy.
     Radio stated repatriation arrangements about OK'd., that we are to go via Portuguese East Africa ere long, but no definite time set.
     Mr. (Consul) Weil "threw" a cocktail party in his room 906 at 7:00-8:00 p.m.
     Owing to bombing terrorism in International Settlement, no passes are being issued by our "Captors", but to compensate for it our "restricted" district in the French Settlement has been enlarged, temporarily, I'm told.


February 18, 1942.  Wednesday, 73rd Day.
     Cloudy.  Not cold.
     Saw a Japanese van bearing WAKAMOTO (a sort of yeast) sign, going east on Joffre, emitting machine music of sorts.  Pamphlets were scattered.  Am told they were propaganda re Japanese victories.  Populace seemed indifferent.
     News now is that Japanese are pressing on.  
     We apparently can walk around the French Concession unrestricted.

WR Lynch WW II Diary re Japanese Take-Over in Shanghai China. Days 70 and 71.

Will Lynch hears that Singapore has fallen.  There is a lot of worry and concern among the hostages.   Roselyn


February 15, 1942.  Sunday.  70th Day.
     A bit warmer.  Sunny.  Most of snow melted.  
     Had a pass.  Went to Ballet Russe at Lyceum at 11:00 a.m., with Dr. A.M.  Then to chow at a "dump" called European Restaurant.  Chow was "working man" type.
     Then about 4:00 - 5:00 in my room.  Then for a long walk.
     I hear there have been more bombings on Nanking Road and am requested to "stay away" from there.  JBS says his pass was cancelled on account of it.
     Radio says Singapore capitulated this evening!  Ye Gods!
     Chinese New Year.  Chinese will celebrate about a week, as per usual.


February 16, 1942.  Monday.  71st Day.
     Warmer and sunny.
     Bad news about Singapore.  Wonder what the U.S.A. now thinks?  Our pacifists!  Gosh!
     Wonder what is the status of our repatriation.  Some of the gang, both British and Americans, say we are here "for the duration".
     Looks like the Allies will have to get busy.
     "Blue funk" here is thick.