A Photographer in Shanghai
May 1, 2017 12:58 PM Subscribe
The battle of Shanghai in 1937 was unique in many ways. For example, it was recorded more exhaustively in the western media than any other battle in China’s long war with Japan. This was because of the presence, in the city’s international districts, of foreign journalists and photographers. The latter left a treasure trove of photos, some of which are unknown to the wider public to this day, nearly 80 years after the battle. Bonus: Asians in WWII Poster Art
The German style helmets and equipment that are seen in the photos used by the Nationalist Army may look a bit odd, but there's an explanation for it. Til 1938 Nazi Germany was helping the Republic of China modernize, in exchange for access to it's markets and resources. This included military modernization. However, Imperial Japan invaded China and Nazi Germany decided to switch support to Japan. This ended the cooperation, but the German trained divisions were still around and were used during the Battle of Shanghai.
posted by FJT at 1:56 PM on May 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by FJT at 1:56 PM on May 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
The story gets stranger than this.
Up the Yellow River in Nanking was the businessman John Rabe. As the Japanese began bombing and foreigners began leaving, he remained, and led the other expats, seven European, fifteen American in forming the so-called Nanjing Safety Zone, chiefly foreign missions and Nanjing University to shelter, feed and protect Chinese civilians.
When the Japanese began to mass slaughter, door to door raids and such, the so-called Rape of Nanking or Nanking Massacre (300,000 civilians), he and his committee members managed to slow down the process and get those within the Safety Zone out of the city and out of harm’s way. He is credited with saving at least 200,000 lives, possibly more.
He left China in 1938 with documentary evidence of the atrocities.
Surprise reveal – he was a German national and member of the Nazi party (which, personal bravery notwithstanding, was what enabled him to be as effective as he was.)
Not that the party back home were interested in what he had to say. Rather the opposite. He survived the war by five years, often in dire poverty, in part because of his party membership. The citizens of Nanking, hearing of his plight (and despite not being all that well off themselves) scratched money for him and monthly food packages so he could get by.
His old home is now a museum, his tombstone a thing of honor
The curious can learn more from his diary and biopic. (Yes, that is Steve Buscemi playing the doctor.)
Imperial Japan invaded China and Nazi Germany decided to switch support to Japan.
Not to forget Russia in this changing partners, they who invaded/aided China in 1937, but came to a non-aggression pact with Japan after Hitler invaded Russia, a pact that held firm until August 9, 1945, three weeks short of surrender when it was all over but the mopping up. One result was the partition of Korea, which has proven very unfortunate for all involved.
posted by BWA at 5:03 PM on May 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
Up the Yellow River in Nanking was the businessman John Rabe. As the Japanese began bombing and foreigners began leaving, he remained, and led the other expats, seven European, fifteen American in forming the so-called Nanjing Safety Zone, chiefly foreign missions and Nanjing University to shelter, feed and protect Chinese civilians.
When the Japanese began to mass slaughter, door to door raids and such, the so-called Rape of Nanking or Nanking Massacre (300,000 civilians), he and his committee members managed to slow down the process and get those within the Safety Zone out of the city and out of harm’s way. He is credited with saving at least 200,000 lives, possibly more.
He left China in 1938 with documentary evidence of the atrocities.
Surprise reveal – he was a German national and member of the Nazi party (which, personal bravery notwithstanding, was what enabled him to be as effective as he was.)
Not that the party back home were interested in what he had to say. Rather the opposite. He survived the war by five years, often in dire poverty, in part because of his party membership. The citizens of Nanking, hearing of his plight (and despite not being all that well off themselves) scratched money for him and monthly food packages so he could get by.
His old home is now a museum, his tombstone a thing of honor
The curious can learn more from his diary and biopic. (Yes, that is Steve Buscemi playing the doctor.)
Imperial Japan invaded China and Nazi Germany decided to switch support to Japan.
Not to forget Russia in this changing partners, they who invaded/aided China in 1937, but came to a non-aggression pact with Japan after Hitler invaded Russia, a pact that held firm until August 9, 1945, three weeks short of surrender when it was all over but the mopping up. One result was the partition of Korea, which has proven very unfortunate for all involved.
posted by BWA at 5:03 PM on May 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
I'm kind of amused by how the seventh China fund poster is sympathetic and not a racial caricature, yet still freaky-looking and kind of scary. Shouldn't have gone with a Dutch angle.
posted by Apocryphon at 5:46 PM on May 1, 2017
posted by Apocryphon at 5:46 PM on May 1, 2017
Fascinating post, thanks!
posted by aspersioncast at 5:51 PM on May 1, 2017
posted by aspersioncast at 5:51 PM on May 1, 2017
I was struck by how contemporary this photo looks. I decided to use Waseda University's "Neural Network-based Automatic Image Colorization" tool to colorize the same image.
posted by My Dad at 6:00 PM on May 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by My Dad at 6:00 PM on May 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
So I clicked on the "bonus" link, saw the first poster and thought "that's not so bad." Then I saw the second poster. These are the "good old days" that many seem to want to get back to.
The US definitely waged a "race war" against Japan, that's for sure.
posted by My Dad at 6:02 PM on May 1, 2017
The US definitely waged a "race war" against Japan, that's for sure.
posted by My Dad at 6:02 PM on May 1, 2017
So great! Probably one of the best things about studying this period in Shanghai history (ok, so it's not a difficult choice, as the subjects get a little warry) is the vast wealth of photographic evidence.
posted by chainsofreedom at 6:03 PM on May 1, 2017
posted by chainsofreedom at 6:03 PM on May 1, 2017
BWA, reading The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang (almost the last book I purchased back when I lived two blocks from Chinatown in SF) turned me inside out.
posted by infini at 11:48 PM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by infini at 11:48 PM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
So I clicked on the "bonus" link, saw the first poster and thought "that's not so bad." Then I saw the second poster. These are the "good old days" that many seem to want to get back to.
That the war department felt it had to use posters like this to turn the farm boy from Iowa and soda jerk from Chicago into killing machines arguably speaks well of the recruits. That the same war department (and Americans generally) were as sympathetic to the Chinese (thank Pearl Buck and the Luces) also speaks well of attitudes towards China. Against Germany, all it took was making Hitler a buffoonish cartoon.
So here's a rhetorical question - are you as offended by the caricature of a German as a drooling ape? If not, why not?
While we now know that the Kaiser’s soldiers were not, as reported, raping nuns and bayoneting babies, we also know that the Japanese were raping Koreans on an industrial scale and using Chinese civilians and POWs for bayoneting practice. So - why has the atom bomb seemingly cleansed the Japanese of war guilt (at least in the American mind, not so much in Asia) whereas Dresden etc has done nothing to cleanse the Germans? Of course the Germans have been unusually ready to take responsibility for war crimes, but the difference is striking. Do we expect more from Germans than from the Japanese? Discuss.
Of course these are all outdated, which mostly means we should beware of being too judgemental. How will the future judge us? We now do war at a remove, no draft, fewer ground troops, less need to demonize quite so cartoonishly. Indeed, we bend over backwards to distinguish ISIS etc from Muslims in general. Never mind that in the past sixteen years our leaders have been bombing the hell out of countries not our own. Obama of all people has the longest record of offensive military engagement of any president in American history, with Bush a close second.
(By the way, here are some Japanese posters hoping to inspire their people and potential allies.)
posted by IndigoJones at 6:16 AM on May 2, 2017
That the war department felt it had to use posters like this to turn the farm boy from Iowa and soda jerk from Chicago into killing machines arguably speaks well of the recruits. That the same war department (and Americans generally) were as sympathetic to the Chinese (thank Pearl Buck and the Luces) also speaks well of attitudes towards China. Against Germany, all it took was making Hitler a buffoonish cartoon.
So here's a rhetorical question - are you as offended by the caricature of a German as a drooling ape? If not, why not?
While we now know that the Kaiser’s soldiers were not, as reported, raping nuns and bayoneting babies, we also know that the Japanese were raping Koreans on an industrial scale and using Chinese civilians and POWs for bayoneting practice. So - why has the atom bomb seemingly cleansed the Japanese of war guilt (at least in the American mind, not so much in Asia) whereas Dresden etc has done nothing to cleanse the Germans? Of course the Germans have been unusually ready to take responsibility for war crimes, but the difference is striking. Do we expect more from Germans than from the Japanese? Discuss.
Of course these are all outdated, which mostly means we should beware of being too judgemental. How will the future judge us? We now do war at a remove, no draft, fewer ground troops, less need to demonize quite so cartoonishly. Indeed, we bend over backwards to distinguish ISIS etc from Muslims in general. Never mind that in the past sixteen years our leaders have been bombing the hell out of countries not our own. Obama of all people has the longest record of offensive military engagement of any president in American history, with Bush a close second.
(By the way, here are some Japanese posters hoping to inspire their people and potential allies.)
posted by IndigoJones at 6:16 AM on May 2, 2017
If not, why not?
I think sensitivity to Japanese portrayals is because of internment and, well, Germans are white. And because of that fact, Germans and German Americans during the war were not interned at anywhere near the numbers of Japanese and Japanese Americans.
posted by FJT at 9:47 AM on May 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think sensitivity to Japanese portrayals is because of internment and, well, Germans are white. And because of that fact, Germans and German Americans during the war were not interned at anywhere near the numbers of Japanese and Japanese Americans.
posted by FJT at 9:47 AM on May 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
So here's a rhetorical question - are you as offended by the caricature of a German as a drooling ape? If not, why not?
a) The fact that Asian countries were colonized by Britain etc etc; Germany was not colonized. What was the rationale for colonization, I wonder?
b) "excluded" from the US until 1943
c) other Asians didn't get voting rights in the United States until 1952
d) Because Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States existed until 1965
Jesus Murphy, don't tell me you want citations for "white supremacy existed and still exists", do you? I would have thought it was a shared assumption on this site.
posted by My Dad at 4:25 PM on May 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
a) The fact that Asian countries were colonized by Britain etc etc; Germany was not colonized. What was the rationale for colonization, I wonder?
b) "excluded" from the US until 1943
c) other Asians didn't get voting rights in the United States until 1952
d) Because Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States existed until 1965
Jesus Murphy, don't tell me you want citations for "white supremacy existed and still exists", do you? I would have thought it was a shared assumption on this site.
posted by My Dad at 4:25 PM on May 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Mod note: Couple comments removed. IndigoJones, you've been just sorta siiiiidling up to a lot of weird/gross bullshit lately and you need to cut it out if you want to keep being here.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:31 AM on May 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:31 AM on May 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by GenjiandProust at 1:23 PM on May 1, 2017