THE EDITORS feel privileged to announce progress in a project which began almost two years ago.
On the occasion of our last visit to Hiroshima, in 1953, we became aware of a group known as the “Hiroshima Maidens.” They consisted of some two dozen girls ranging in age from nine- teen to twenty-four. At the time of the explosion in 1945 most of the girls had just arrived at a public school less than half a mile from the center of the explosion. All but a few had been in the school basement, tak- ing care of the various chores in- volved in starting up the school day— getting chalk or erasers or other class- room equipment. When the bomb burst they rushed upstairs to find that the school had been totally demol- ished and that most of the students and teachers had been killed.
In their rush for safety, the girls became trapped in the debris. All of them were badly burned or irradi- ated or both. Those who survived, like many thousands of other suffer- ers, received little or no medical or hospital treatment. The problem of caring for more than 100,000 survivors was far beyond the capacity of the emergency medical crews. The U.S. Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, riet up by Act of Congress, lacked sanction to treat the victims directly, but did what it could by making in- formation available to Japanese med- ical personnel.
In any event, as late as September 1953 people were still suffering from the effects of the bombing. Perhaps the most poignant of these sufferers were those known as the Hiroshima
Maidens. They had reached marrying age but were so badly scarred or dis- figured that they felt self-conscious about appearing in public. Some had obtained jobs as seamstresses or fac- tory workers but were compelled to give up their work because of the con- tractions resulting from their burns. As the muscles and skin contracted, the legs, arms, and fingers tended to lose mobility.
The girls had withdrawn almost to- tally from community life, seeking the company of each other and living on such meager subsistence as they were able to obtain from family and friends. They found a benefactor and cham- pion in the person of the Rev. Kiyoshi Tanimoto, Methodist minister who was one of the key figures in John Hersey’s “Hiroshima.” Mr. Tanimoto devoted himself to the welfare of his new charges, finding work for them that did not involve their infirmities, giving them psychological and spir- itual rehabilitation, and providing for their recreation. He also started a public campaign to send some of the girls to Osaka or Tokyo for plastic surgery.
On the occasion of our fourth visit to the city, in September 1953, we met the Hiroshima Maidens at the Rever- end Mr. Tanimoto’s church. By this time they had achieved renewed con- fidence in themselves. They were far less self-conscious than they had once been and had no hesitation in walking through the streets. Once a week they would go to the moving-picture the- atre to see American films. “We like to see the pretty American girls and imagine that we are they,” one of the girls said.
The big pi’oblein now with the .i;jj:Js,”‘ Mr. Tanimoto said, “is medical ireatnient. We do not have the means to go much furthe): with plastic sur- ,;:»ery. The girls who have had such surgery .^liow much improvement but it is a very complicated and expensive business. Each case requires several operations and I am afraid I do not know vvhere I can turn.”
w. ‘E ASKED Mr. Tanimoto if he would ‘Welcome efforts in the United States to bring the Maidens to America for the full course of surgery and hos- pital caie. He replied that this had been his dream from the first moment he became fully aware of the nature of the girls’ problem. Apart from every- thing else, he felt that the project could become a powerful symbol of good will. Such a symbol was urgently needed in view of ugly movements against the United States then start- ing up in Japan.
“People are saying,” he continued, “that the United States knew in July 1945 that the war against Japan would have been over in a matter of weeks, but that the United States wanted to end the war in a matter of days before Russia came in as she had agreed to do when the war in Europe ended.
“I do not speculate on such things because I have no knowledge,” he added. “But what I do know is that the American people have been just and generous to Japan in defeat. And I have great confidence in America, for I have studied there and been there since the end of the war. I am certain that if by some miracle these girls could be given the medical treatment they so badly need, it
. . . so badly disfigured that they felt elf-conscious about appearing in public.”
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would be a wonderful thing for both countries. Of course I would welcome your efforts in this direction. Is it at all possible?”
We told Mr. Tanimoto that we would be glad to explore the matter, but we had no way then of estimating its chances.
The natural agency in the United States to handle this project, we felt, was the Hiroshima Peace Center As- sociates, a group of Americans inter- ested in Hiroshima who had admin- istered the Moral Adoptions Plan started by the readers of The Satur- day Review in 1949. The HPCA board agreed to sponsor the project.
During the first six months after our return from Japan things went slowly—dismally so. We went to foundation after foundation, seeking money for doctors, surgeons, hospital care, home care, transportation. And foundation after foundation turned us down. One was fearful that if one of the Maidens died on the operating table the foundation would be held responsible. Another foundation was concerned about the political views of the girls and was reluctant to furnish ammunition to some future Congres- sional investigating committee. Still another felt that, unless all the Hiro- shima victims could be cared for, it might be a mistake to do something for any single group. Any number of foundations expressed sympathy, but said their charters did not provide for mercy projects of this particular na- ture.
TH LHEN things began to look up. The Saturday Review’s physician. Dr. William M. Hitzig, said he believed that some of America’s most eminent
plastic surgeons might be willing to volunteer their services. He said he would also be glad to bring the proj- ect to the attention of the director and board of the Mt. Sinai Hospital in New- York, with which he was affiliated. The discussions with the surgeons and hospital were most satisfactory. Dr, Arthur J. Barsky, of New York, one oi the nation’s most prominent plastic surgeons, agreed to take charge of all operative work. He will be assisted by members of his staff. The Mt. Sinai Hospital volunteered to supply oper- ating facilities and hospital bed-care free of charge. Since four or five oper- ations per patient may be necessary, it is possible that each girl may have to spend four to six months in the hospital. It may take a year before the party can return to Japan. Thus, the contribution of the surgeons and hospital is both substantial and heroic.
Having gone this far, three jobs re – mained: transportation, out-of-hos- pital care and lodging, petty cash fund. The transportation problem held up the progress of the project for more than a year. We tried the airlines, only to run into official regulations concerning free passage. We went back to the foundations, with no greater success than before. Then we had the good fortune to discuss the project with Miss Janet Tobitt, one of the “moral adoptions” parents who had recently returned from a year’s work in Japan as director of the American Girl Scout Association, Far East. Miss Tobitt suggested that Mr. Kiyoshi Togasaki, resourceful presi- dent of the Nippon Times, English language newspaper of Tokyo, might be persuaded to work on the t rans- portation problem. It turned out to be an inspired idea. Mr. Togasaki ex- plored every approach, first making certain that the plan to bring the girls to America had the blessings of the American Embassy and the J a p – anese Government itself. His solution to the transportation riddle was as ingenious as it was effective. He went to General J. E. Hull (U.S. Army, Far East Command) and asked whether the U.S. Air Force would fly the girls. General Hull wanted the most de- tailed information; Mr. Togasaki took off for Hiroshima in quest of same. When he returned to Tokyo and put the matter before General Hull again the answer was Yes.
While in Hiroshima, Mr. Togasaki met with Mayor Shinzo Hamai and the Reverend Mr. Tanimoto. In writing to us about his visit he said it was the feeling of the Japanese that the Amer- ican doctors ought to come to Hiro- shima in order to pass on the girls who were being screened for the trip. It was believed that everything ought to be
2.->
done to avoid sending any maiden to the U.S. unless there was a reason- ably good chance that her disfigura- tion or contractions might respond to surgery. Also, it was important to have advance American medical opin- ion on the general health of the girls.
Another suggestion made by Mr. Togasaki was that two or three J a p – anese surgeons be permitted to ac- company the party on the trip to the U.S. and be given opportunity to study American plastic surgery tech- niques at first hand. Then, on their return to Japan, the surgeons could work with other sufferers.
These suggestions were readily ac- cepted by the American Committee. Both Dr. Barsky and Dr. Hitzig swal- lowed hard when they were asked to give up a month’s practice in addition to paying all their expenses to Japan, but recognized the validity of the special considerations mentioned by Mr. Togasaki. They agreed to under- take the trip if we would accompany them. Mt. Sinai Hospital agreed to offer full hospitality to the Japanese surgeons accompanying the Maidens.
This completes the plan for the project. (The petty-cash fund ought to present no problem.) By the time this issue appears Dr. Hitzig, Dr. Bar- sky, and the writer should be on a Pan-American “Strato” Clipper, des- tination: Tokyo. If all goes well, we will be returning to the U.S. with the Hiroshima Maidens by the end of the month.
One final note: the man who first did something specific about the plight of the Maidens, the Rev. Kiyoshi Tani- moto, has been asked to join the group and will act as guide and spokesman for the girls. He has written to say he is a very happy man. —N. C.
The Tanager By Constance Carrier
DUN-COLORED birds, the days fly past in endless flocks, the rushing of their wings like water over rocks, a sound the silence mocks,
till, sudden in that gray monotonous as mist, there darts the scarlet bird you thought could not exist, and perches on your wrist.
Though he is swiftly gone, and none comes as he came, wrist felt his lively weight, eyes have beheld him, tame a moment, and the heart has quickened to his flame.
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26
TOO MUCH COLONIALISM
PHILIP WOODRUFF’S article “Votes, Wiz-
ards, Roads, and Bread” [SR Mar. 12] was an able defense of colonialism. But in describing English experience in India, is Woodruff justified in his generaliza- tions and their implied extension to all Asia? He claimed India was stagnant, and that stagnation bred cruelty and cal- lousness to human life, as in the practice of suttee. That may be t rue . Yet Spain at her zenith under Philip II permitted the burning of heretics, and did not English insistence on the importation of opium into China after the Opium War show a certain callousness?
Woodruff claimed the English brought India order and unity, and made an in – vidious companion with China, a country which did not “follow the colonial way.” True, China retained her sovereignty, partly because she was considered too great a prize for concession to one power, and one only. But her final fall, after many intra-colonial squabbles, can more justly be blamed on too much colonialism rather than too little, and she was later on a battlefield for Japanese colonial a m – bitions from 1931 on. Significantly, Mr. Woodruff did not mention Japan, which arrived at industrial matur i ty without benefit of colonialism—benevolent or otherwise.
Woodruff told of the English develop- ment, in India, of a polished, literate, educated class. Japan possesses one of the highest literacy rates in the world. China, where the governing class has always been polished and highly literate, developed a group educated, too, in the Western humanities and sciences. Even before the Republic the Chinese Imperial Examinations represented an ideal by no means unworthy. Scholars who succeeded in the rigorous examinations, after years of study in Chinese history, philosophy, and literature, passed by merit alone. That government should devolve upon these mandarins was a recognition of the superior claims of merit and learning over bir th and wealth. And has not Woodruff, in this generation, heard of the Chinese li terary renaissance inspired by such scholars as Hu Shih, or of the mass education movement carried on by James Yeu?
Woodruff managed to paint a picture of paternal colonialism, by a careful selec- tion of examples, bu t his tone of avun – cular patronage was disconcerting, and made me feel that, if the “fork of the colonial power is hard,” the lot of the colonized is unenviable.
B. L. CHANN.
Oakland, Calif.
CORRECT SOURCE
BERTRAND RUSSELL in his editorial “Can
The Liberal Survive?” [SR Mar. 19] attr ibutes to Goering the saying “When I hear the word culture I reach for my revolver.” Not long ago Gilbert Highet
“Figure it out for yourself: There are getting to be more and more of us. Sabre-tooth tigers are getting scarcer and scarcer. Obviously in another few years the human race will have starved itself out of existence.”
used this remark on the radio, and also credited Goering. It is also attr ibuted to Goebbels and sometimes to Hitler himself.
Since the saying seems to sum up so strikingly the nihilistic savagery of the totalitarian outlook, and is so often r e – peated, it might be interesting to get it straight. It was coined by Hanns Johst, a favorite scribbler of the Nazi era, and what he said was: “Wenn ich das Wort Kultur hoere, entsichere ich meinen Re- volver”—”When I hear the word culture I take the safety catch off my revolver.”
RICHARD HANSER.
Larchmont, N.Y.
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
IN SPITE of the occasional rashes that come out on nations, such as our own recent one that is now petering out, I am firmly convinced that liberals (and com- mon sense) will survive. As Bertrand Russell points out, there is a balance to be achieved between individuals and governmental ideals, and I believe we are achieving it. As a point for thought, I might suggest a recent step taken, by our own Government, and one which other nations can copy with pride. It is the establishment of an office in our governing body for the specific goal of peace.
ATLANTIS HALLAM.
Beverly Hills, Calif.
LIBERALS IN OPPOSITION
I WANDERED from the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore to Papua with Ber t rand Russell, and somewhere, in a fog, lost Russell’s liberal. Loose usage of the label “liberal” obscures the two
poles of “liberahsm.” The label “liberal” confuses; it has become a malaprop; it deserves clarification.
Walter Lippmann has analyzed l iberal- ism in a way Russell could follow. L ib – eralism possesses two central ideas, one which demands the individual be permit – ted to live in a condition of freedom, and another that free man contributes most to humanity. Each idea is noble. How- ever, a condition of freedom is sometimes too difficult for people. The unscrupulous have too often considered freedom as the highway to individual gains ra ther than common benefits. And how to cope with this dilemma has proven too much for all protagonists of liberalism. Instead of finding a center of gravity, the two camps of liberalism are in constant opposition.
JOE M. TOCKMAN.
Las Vegas, N. M.
CATEGORICAL PUBLIC SCHOOL
BERTRAND RUSSELL, like all liberal philoso-
phers from the beginning of history, is in search of a conceptualized, affirmative, concrete formula to reconcile, to synthe- size, to equate “l iberty” and “discipline” —so far, admittedly, without result. Nev- ertheless, Russell gropes in the right direction: “From the beginning of civil- ized times,” says Russell, ” there has been an oscillation between emphasis on individual liberty and emphasis on order.”
The public school does not resolve all the antinomies of civilization, bu t it is universally acknowledged as a sine qua non, a categorical imperative in the p rog- ress of civilization and the balance of “liberty” and “discipline.”
PHILIP WBISS. St. Louis, Mo.
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