1111 Beaver Hall Hill
MONT REAL.
6th December, 1943.
55
SECRET
Hrs. Eugenie Zaitzeff and daughter (age 4)
Mrs. Zaitzoff is the wife of Anatole Zaitzoff, a Canadian citizen and a Revenue Officer in the Imports and Exports Department engaged in 1941 on presumably a three years agreement. (lirs. Zaitzeff does not know details of his 'engagement or cmolu - monts but his immediate superior, lir. V. Ii. Thomson, is at prosent in Washington and I will be able to check with him next week. If he can remember details I will send them on). irs. Zaitzoff's address in Canada is c/o ilrs. Kinball Nichols, 5911 Blenheim Street, Vancouver, B.C.
Anatole Zaitzeff joined his volunteer unit at the outbreak of war as a L/Bombardier of the 1st Battery and with the surrender of the Colony, was takon prisoner by the Japanosc. He is at present lodged in the Sham-Shui-Po Camp in Kowloon.
Mrs. Zaitzoff is somewhat worried about her financial position. She has no resources but has, I think, a clear claim on the Hong Kong Government in regard to a regular allowance from her husband's salary during his imprisonment. Sho will probably require also a cash grant from the accumulated balance of her hus- band's pay.
She deserves, in my opinion, as generous treatment as it is possible
to accord hor.
A highly intelligent observer, able by reason of her Russian extraction, to claim exemption from interment, Mrs. Zaitzeff was by far the best informed of the Hong Kong party. From the day of the surrender to her repatriation she was lodged in a block of flats in lay Road, reserved by the Japanese for forcignors. Such consular officers as remain in the Colony were housed in the same building. lirs. Zäitzoff was permitted to walk freely about Honk Kong and, in spite of the unpleasantness, took every opportunity to do so. She maintained her contacts with Chinese friends and was able to present a remarkable picture of conditions in the Colony up to last September.
Apart from Peak Mansions and few large buildings adjacent to the Peak Tram occupied by Japanese, the upper levels are looted and deserted. All railings on the roads and paths have been torn down cither by looters or by order of the authorities for shipment to Japan. Towards the University, the paths are lined with skeletons both of soldiers who died in battle and of Chinese who have since died of starvation. Between four and six new corpses were to be seen most mornings on the old Peak Road leading from May Road to the centre of the town. The Peak Tram is running, operated by the same Chinese drivers and conductors as in peace: they made a point of special courtesy and helpfulness towards lirs. Zaitzoff whom they recognised from former days and if no Japanese were present, deliberately refused to accopt her fare. (The concern is now of course Japanese ovmed).
The War Memorial Hospital is apparently closed: the Bowen Road Hospital is used to accommodate (among others) seriously wounded British soldiers and volunteers. The Cricket Club has been turned into a Japanese recreation club where tennis tournaments and fencing matches are staged. As often as possible, when international contests are ordered, leading non-Japano sc players develop sudden incapacitating ailments which prevent their appearance.
Acute shortages are everywhere apparent. Flour and rice are scarce and long queues are the order of the day. Many shops have closed their doors and others have been converted to restaurants or else sublet into four or five compartments. It is possible' now in the centre of the town to rent a corner, or the centre, or the rear of a shop. Merchants are vastly disinclined to sell their goods: salesmon sit with folded hands in the silk shops and explain that their cloths are certainly not worth the high prices which the customer is seeking to pay. Obviously the shop-keepers infinitely prefer their dwindling stocks to the inflated yen values dictated by scarcity. Necessities are obtainable only by ration tickets which are in turn obtainable, only on proof that the individual is employed on work contributing to the establishment of the New Order and approved by the Japanese. The whole population is thus caught in the dilemma forced on them by Japan they must either work for the Japanese or starve. Many have in fact starved.
+
It is no longer safe to walk about with a handbag or parcel, even in the centre of the city. The handbag is snatched and the parcel is stolen and its contents caten (if they are remotely odible) before the eyes of the owner. Japanese uniforms are beginning to look shabby and worn; it is a common sight to see officers up to the rank of Major with patched uniforms.
64251-1
27