Appendix No.4
76
STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES IN HONG KONG AND ON THE WAY TO PARE CHINA
AFTER THE FALL OF HONG KONG
THAT NEXT?
It is not without interest to look back calmly on the thoughts and emotions of the students whilst we were still in Hong Kong. Immediate ly after the fall of Hong Kong, a sense of uncertainty prevailed. What would the enemy do to us? Shoot us? Torture us? Not an impossibility; in fact, quite a probability. However, much to our astonishment, the Japanese changed their tactics. Instead of doing what they had merciless- ly done to our fellow students in China manifestations of a sadistic
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nature and temperament they were unexpectedly tolerant. They tried to appease us. They meant to exploit us. They had no other motives but to undermine our spirit, to feed us on false hopes, to deprive us of our sense of loyalty to our own comrades in China. But we played the game in our own way with the result that over 250 students are now in Free China. A spirit of discontent was predominant among the students. Why should the remain under the enemy's domination? Why not come to China? Why not make the attempt, even though it may mean disaster? The spirit of liberty, so well inculcated in most of us who have had an English education, kept calling us. Once the ice was cut, the effort became much easier, and since then students have been straining every nerve to come to the land of "The Good Earth".
JAI ANESE ATROCITIES: MET ON THE WAY IN
I started my journey on January 238th and two days later arrived at Yen-Tien where we met batch after batch of Japanese, near to the foot of Tai-Mo-Shan. There we were threatened with death. De had to part with all the things of value. Many of the men were vigorous- ly slapped and insulted. One piece of luggage after another was thrown into the river. Some women had to jump into the river to avoid the Japanese! Our company of 40 persons split up into small groups and they all had different experiences for the next two days.
My group, consisting of ten persons, lost its way and climbed to the top of Tai-ko-Shan and spent the night there. is suffered from extreme hunger and cold. Next morning, we continued our journey on foot. Throughout the whole day we did not have oven a drop of water or a morsel of food. It was not until two days later that we rejoined the rest of the company!
Another group, comprising a family of six - aged parents, one son and three daughters suffered tremendously during the night they spent at Yen-Tien. The incessant attempts of the Japanese to locate the girls met with failure, and as a result of this, they subjected the aged parents and the boy to a severe whipping and torture. The old parents died at Kweilin.
AN EXCERPT FROM "MY JOURNEY FROM HONG KONG TO CHUNGKING*
The train journey to Sai-nam gave us a keen insight into the baser aspects of human nature. The unnatural growl, the bullying ten- dency and the sadistic second nature of the Japanese can well be illus- trated by one of the many incidents witnessed. There was a Japanese gendarme, whose bearing was more that of a ferocious animal than that of a "homo sapiens", who strutted about the carriage without any con- sideration for the crowded masses of people: he just knocked aside any- one in his path with a bad-tempered anarl. The childish temperament of these little creatures makes them covet little things like watches, and this gendarme was no exception. Curningly he lured the ignorant passen- gers into showing him their watches and then he just confiscated them.
but the most nauseating thing was to see a Japanese soldier who had just come into the carriage. There was a place for him, but he took no heed of it. Instead he just threw aside the passengers and
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