☛ ... the most recent messages are on top !
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de erik petersen
Envoyé : mardi 8 avril 2014 01:31
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : hello - this is a test post
just joined the list, attempting to test email -> list function
thanks,
erik
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Estelle Horne
Envoyé : jeudi 17 avril 2014 11:25
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : Re: need help
Yes I got your email, Natasha.
Greetings
Estelle
De : L PR
Envoyé : vendredi 18 avril 2014 10:55
À : natasha petersen
Objet : Fw: weihsien web site
Dear Natasha,
Yes ! all seems to be OK now ...
Thank you erik :-)
Take care, Natasha ...
...
all the best,
Leopold
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Beth Denton
Envoyé : jeudi 17 avril 2014 23:32
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : Re: need help
I got your email just fine.
Beth
On Thursday, April 17, 2014 4:41 PM, "Mccabe35@comcast.net" wrote:
Received.
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Natasha Petersen
Envoyé : jeudi 17 avril 2014 15:11
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : weihsien web site
I am forever grateful to my grandson, Erik, for getting our web site
working again. Apparently someone had marked the web site as SPAM Let
us hope that our site keeps on working.
I am not well, and cannot work through emails that have been sent. Give
me another few days. In the meantime, I am sure that you, too, have
gotten a number of emails.
Natasha Petersen
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Peakllc@aol.com
Envoyé : jeudi 17 avril 2014 18:11
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : Re: Interview Request
Anita,
My mother, Mrs. James Carrol Richardson, was in the Weihsien camp for around three years. She is
94 years old but seems to remember those times like yesterday.
Thanks,
Bob Richardson
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Topica Customer Support
Envoyé : jeudi 17 avril 2014 10:36
À : L PR
Objet : Your recent message to Topica.com
You recently sent a message,
Re: need help
to w internees. This is a restricted list, which means that only
subscribers of the list can post to it. Our records indicate that you
are not a member of the list.
It is possible that your subscription has been turned off due to
delivery problems, such as bouncing. If you believe this may be
the case, please contact the list owner for assistance.
If you would like more information about this list, or you would like to
join the list, you can go to the Topica web site (http://lists.topica.com)
and search for the list.
Topica's site also has thousands of other newsletters and discussions.
See for yourself at: http://lists.topica.com.
And don't forget TopOffers -- our exclusive savings alerts for
computers, fashion, music, travel products, and more!
http://lists.topica.com/partner/sysmes1/channels/offers/
Questions about the service? Check out Topica's Help
section at http://lists.topica.com -- just click on "help"
at the bottom of the screen.
Still have questions? Email Topica at support@get.topica.com.
Please include the email address of the list you're
inquiring about, and the email address you use to
subscribe to the list.
Sincerely,
Topica Customer Support
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Natasha Petersen
Envoyé : lundi 7 avril 2014 21:50
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : need help
If you get this message, please let me know. np57@cox.net
I have
been unable to send messages to members of this wbsite. After I send
the message, I go to "sent" message, and it shows that the message has
been sent, but in reality it just disappeared.
My attempts to Topica support have not worked. The email has been
returned.
What do I do?
Natasha
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Christine Talbot Sancton
Envoyé : samedi 5 avril 2014 15:24
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : RE: email to interns
Dear Natasha:
I just received your email.
Has there been problems? My sister, Gabrielle Talbot Stratford, has had
problems. Her new email is: stillbrook@bell.net
thanks for all your hard work!
Christine Talbot Sancton
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de erik petersen
Envoyé : mardi 8 avril 2014 01:36
À : weihsien@topica.com ; erik petersen
Objet : natasha
testing posting via email to the list
thanks
erik
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Natasha Petersen
Envoyé : mercredi 9 avril 2014 15:25
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : test
Leopold, if you get this message, it means that this web site is working
again. My grandson has been working on unblocking the spam designation
that gotten attached to our web site .Leopold, please acknowledge
receipt of this email.
Natasha Petersen
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Leopold Pander
Envoyé : samedi 5 avril 2014 17:09
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : Re: email to interns
wow fantastic ... it works ! :-)
-----Original Message-----
From: Natasha Petersen
Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2014 3:14 PM
To: weihsien@topica.com
Subject: email to interns
this is a test from Natasha
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Leopold Pander
Envoyé : jeudi 3 avril 2014 10:24
À : cctvich@vip.sina.com ; weihsien@topica.com
Cc : Janette & home ; Mary Previte ; natasha petersen
Objet : Re: Interview Request
Dear Anita Zhai,
Many thanks for your message and interest for the Weihsien Concentration Camp.
I just forwarded your request to our Weihsien-Topica chat list ...
I am sure that many will be able to help you ... Of course, 1945 ... that was 70 years ago !
If I can help for the Weihsien-Paintings’ website, it will be with pleasure ...
Best regards,
Leopold
From: cctvich@vip.sina.com
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 10:05 AM
To: tapol
Subject: Interview Request
Dear , admin
I am an editor from CCTV international channel. Our channel is planning to do a programme about Weihsien Concentration Camp . I find your Website have lots of interesting stories .I just wonder if you can give us some contact informantion of people who are still alive and interested in our pre-interview. Hope hearing from you soon. We will be very grateful for your help!
Best regards
Anita Zhai
TEL: (86)010-68550763
--------------------------------
中央电视台外语频道 综合部策划组
地址：北京市海淀区复兴路11号
邮编：100859
电话：(86)010-68550631
传真：(86)010-68506718
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Natasha Petersen
Envoyé : vendredi 28 mars 2014 21:57
À : Weishen Weishen ; Mary Previte
Objet : FW: Please post on Weihsien-topica. I can't get it through.
-------- Begin forwarded message --------
Date: 3/27/14 5:21:45 PM
From: "Mary Previte"
To: "Natasha Petersen"
Subject: Please post on Weihsien-topica. I can't get it through.
I sure do remember the Weihsien latrines. Cleaning them was one of my mothers jobs Of course she was a teacher, but I do not believe she taught in Weihsien. She was assigned to the menial jobs and helped look after my grandparents.
I turned 15 in June 1945 and that was when you got a camp job. Believe it or not, I was very keen to have a job. Mine was washing dishes!
Now my parents and sisters are gone it is fun to get your reminiscing.
From: Maida Harris Campbell, Chefoo School
I worked at Kitchen 2.
It was the summer of 1945 and 2 or 3 of us had a bowl of water on a table outside - I don't think there was any soap in it and we had a kind of dish mop and people lined up to have their dishes washed in greasy water. I was so proud of having a job. I guess like a 15 year old getting a job at McDonald's today.
I know I was getting very interested in boys like my classmates were and we always knew when the boys we liked were on pumping duty. We liked the Weihsien boys rather than the Chefoo ones and the Chefoo boys liked the Weihsien girls. I remember we would walk around the camp hoping to see the boy you liked.
I actually had a Weihsien boyfriend who went to England after camp and we wrote to each other for a while. His parents were Tientsin business people.
The ball games were a big part of our lives and we had a girls' team and we played against the younger boys. We hung out at all the ball games and for myself I think I was in an adolescent dream world rather than being aware of the danger around us.
When I read Anna Frank's book I could relate to her. I think I was happier then than when I was trying to adjust to a Toronto high school after the war.
I realized that apart from science, we were way ahead in other subjects.
Three of us Chefoo girls went to High school in Toronto together which was good in one way but not so good for assimilating, and I made that adjustment in nurses' training rather than high school.
On our liberation day, I was babysitting Angela Cox.
She was about 2 and we were in the same 57 block.
Angela had been born in camp. She was very cute and smart and I just loved her and all that liberation day I carried her everywhere including being at the gate to meet our heroes.
I was so thrilled to meet her at the 60th celebrations in Weihsien. She wondered why I was babysitting while we were being liberated, but I know I loved doing it and her mother was probably wondering and worrying what happened to Angela
Now of course one memory leads to another and I am thinking of the night that we got the news of VE Day and Bobby Grandon (one of my sisters' boyfriends) rang the bell in Block 23 in the middle of the night to celebrate and we were all called out in the dark for roll call. Mrs Graham our neighbour in block 57 said we were all being taken out to be shot and it was pretty scary when all the search lights were on and the guards were pushing us around as they were trying to count us The story was that instead of anyone missing, they counted extras.
Apparently the bell being rung was a signal to the garrison in town that the guards needed help to deal with us prisoners.
Sorry to run on, and maybe my facts may not all be correct but it is how I remember them.
Always enjoy hearing from you and it is interesting the different perspective of a 13 and 15 year old
From Mary Taylor Previte:
My sister Kathleen scrubbed sheets in the laundry.
My brother Jamie pumped water.
We 11 - and 12-year-old girls in the Chefoo Lower School Dormitory (LSD) didn’t have year-round jobs, but in the winter, to get fuel for the pot-belly stove that stood in the middle of our room, we had to carry our buckets to the Japanese quarters and lug back buckets of coal dust to our dormitory in the second floor of the hospital.
Remember the coal dust?
Remember making coal balls?
Like every other Weihsien problem, coal dust had its dark side and its light side.
You could take your pick.
You could grump yourself miserable about having only coal dust to burn, or when you were breaking the ice on the water bucket in the morning to wash your face, you could count your blessings that you had anything at all to fuel your stove.
De : Jean Youatt
Envoyé : mercredi 16 avril 2014 05:32
À : tapol_(Skynet)
Objet : Re: Weihsien
Dear Leopold
I am so happy to hear from you. You are in my unpublished personal
autobiography and you were so loveable that I am sad to know you , like me
and many of our generation, had a mother who could not or would not give
expression to their love. The THEY who advised them may have been parents
from a generation where the infant death rate was high but you would have
been born at a time when the whole system in N. China was changing and there
was much anxiety and fear of the future.
Before internment we had a visit in Chefoo from a Dr Glass who took a Sunday
service and announced he would not give his prepared sermon because he had
never before heard “Land of our birth” sung as a hymn and he wanted to talk
about it. The bit I took to Weihsien with me was “Teach us delight in
simple things and mirth that has no bitter springs Forgiveness free of evil
done and love to all men ‘neath the sun.” Seeing you once a day when I
worked in the Diet Kitchen was one of the delights for me.
Your sister Janette was unfortunate to be anorexic and though diet kitchen
food was better it was not exactly tempting because most of the people had
gastroenteritis and were given the blandest food.
I like your feeling that you are working for history.
Recently I sent a
letter to an Australian Senator about the unfortunate refugees who are being
detained by the Government. I explained (and hoped that it might have
effect) that in worse conditions we were able in Weihsien to shield children
and make their lives as normal seeming as possible. I hoped that the parents
of our interned children would try to do the same instead of using them for
publicity. I am happy every time I read or hear from younger people in
Weihsien that they did not find their lives so strange.
Even my younger brother did not experience those years as I did because he
still had school lessons and my mother only used me as confidante for her
concerns and fears. When we were moved to the Hospital building she always
knew from the nurses about the illnesses and in the last months of camp I
heard of fears of massacre or even of becoming prisoners of Russia instead.
He heard nothing of this.
I can sympathise with your sequence of changes after the war educationally
speaking. Chefoo was my 7th school in 2 years and my mother’s return to
China in 1939 made my tertiary education in Science very hard work. I’d had
a 4 year gap and no Physics or Chemistry but I became a researcher and
academic. I still teach because I love it and it meets my need both for
company and to feel I’m still useful. Most of the students have been ethnic
Chinese who often are curious to hear about life in a China they never knew.
I love the photo though it looks sad.
Thank you
Jean
From: tapol_(Skynet)
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 7:17 PM
To: Jean Youatt
Cc: Janette & home
Subject: Fw: Weihsien
Dear Jean,
Many thanks for your kind message.
In my head, WeiHsien must have been a dream ... I don’t remember anything or
so little ! All my life, I knew that I had been in a concentration camp but
it was, in fact, just a detail ... Nobody spoke about it. Mom & Dad had no
sympathy for the Japs, and that was that ! Towards the end of her life, Mom
used to say: “They told us not to give too much love to our children because
you never knew what could happen”. I never asked her, and she never told me
who “THEY” was ?
My big sister, Janette also went to the diet kitchen – so she told me. She
was anorexic and didn’t manage to keep the food she ate. I guess that the
war ended “just in time” for many of us.
More than ten years ago, I found WeiHsien on the internet. Father Hanquet
found me. I didn’t even know that he existed and he lived in the town next
door to where I live. I met with him quite often and he told me a lot about
Weihsien. At past 90 years old, he had an excellent memory and he helped me
build my website: http://www.weihsien-paintings.org . Our neighbour in camp,
Zandy (Alexander Strangman) found us too, via the “internet”. Many
ex-prisoners sent me data to build my website and now it is big by more than
3200 pages ! I am always keen on getting more information about our
“concentration camp”. I feel like that I’m working for “history”.
After the war, we all went back to Tientsin and then Dad got a job in
Shanghai. In 1948, we left China back to Belgium and from there back to Hong
Kong. We switched schools from English to French and vice versa. In 1952 we
came back to Belgium never to return to China! My professional life began in
the Belgian Merchant Marine and later on (when I got married) as responsible
of a wholesale Co. in electrical appliances. I am now happily retired. No
kids.
My big sister Janette lives in the outskirts of Brussels, has three kids and
three grand children. My small sister, MaryLou, born in camp, died in 2000.
Indeed, Greg Leck’s book is a masterpiece. I am on two photos:
- at the bottom of page 495, I am the little boy in the photo left, and the
same boy on the photo right, seated next to his Mom.
We also read Midnight in Peking and I mentioned it on my website:
http://weihsien-paintings.org/books/MidnightPeking/p_MidnightPeking.html
Where are you writing from ? Tell us more about you? Do you have data – for
the Weihsien paintings’ website? (photos, letters, diary, ...... )
Best regards,
Leopold
picture taken in 1945-1946 ?
From: Jean Youatt
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2014 5:07 AM
To: pander.nl@skynet.be
Subject: Weihsien
Dear Leopold
I have been in touch with Peter Bazire about various memories
and he provided your address.
I am using your given name because when
you were 4 y old I was one of the girls who gave you lunch at the diet
kitchen. You were a lovely child with such big brown eyes but every day you
used to say “You beed me” (not a typo).
For a while we gave in but one day
we said you really must feed yourself and you did not eat at all. I carried
you out to your father and told him you had not eaten.
When I was looking
through Greg Leck’s book I realised you probably were missing the attention
with a younger sibling.
It was a pleasure to find your surname because you
were one of the happy memories of those days.
I am 89 now but memories are sharp because I have a photographic memory and
see the environment in which things occurred. My maiden name was Jean Lack.
One memory lapse is the name of the fourth girl who worked in the diet
kitchen with Muriel Trickey, Lucy Attree and me.
I am leading my book group
with Midnight in Peking which refers to Weihsien and that’s how I came to be
poring over the lists of names again.
with best wishes
Jean Youatt
De : L PR
Envoyé : mardi 8 avril 2014 08:13
À : np57@cox.net
Objet : Re: messages and email to member's
Dear Natasha,
I suggest we give time to "time" ...
I learned that for all computing "problems" ... we always find a solution
... in the end !
Hope all's OK for you !
... all the best,
Leopold
-----Original Message-----
From: np57@cox.net
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2014 6:59 PM
To: tapol@skynet.be
Subject: messages and email to member's
Dear Leopold,
I am not a whiz on the computer. In addition, my age does not help .I am
trying to get in touch with Topica in regard to our problem.
Unfortunately my emails to them have been returned. I will keep on
trying. I am very sorry. This is very frustrating for all of us.
Natasha
De : Teddy
Envoyé : lundi 7 avril 2014 15:30
À : Angela ; pander41@skynet.be
Objet : Re: Weihsien ** RE tOPICA
I haven’t been on this site for a long time. I seem to recall it was free at the time. Angela appears to be correct. One has to charge? What do you say Leopold?
Teddy
From: Angela
Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 5:15 PM
To: Teddy
Subject: Re: Weihsien ** RE tOPICA
220 pm fri apr 4
Hi
now why I've never bothered with Topica -- they charge for the service ... - thought it was free
as I've tried to sign in again & it requires a credit card ..... any comments on that??
cheers
From: Teddy
To: pander41@skynet.be
Cc: angelalousia@yahoo.ca
Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 7:28:51 AM
Subject: Fw: Weihsien
Thanks for forwarding her email to me. I have contacted her directly as you can see. Ted
From: Teddy
Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 10:11 AM
To: cctvich@vip.sina.com
Subject: Weihsien
Dear Ms Zhai, This is Edmund Pearson.
I was interviewed by He Na in the China daily mail.
I would be pleased to be of assistance to you.
Edmund (Ted) Pearson.
De : np57@cox.net
Envoyé : dimanche 6 avril 2014 13:08
À : tapol@skynet.be
Objet : email to weihsien
Dear Leopold,
Please resend to weihsien@topica.com only the "important" part.
Perhaps, my computer cannot forward a very long email. I am grasping at
straws, and am not sure how to remedy the situation.
Natasha
De : np57@cox.net
Envoyé : samedi 5 avril 2014 22:19
À : tapol@skynet.be
Objet : email topica
Leopold,
Please let me know whether your name Leopold or Pander is part of your
email address or separated from tapol@skynet.be
Let me know whether a short version of you emails , the important part
of your long messages, has gone through to the members of our Weihsien
list.
Natasha
De : np57@cox.net
Envoyé : samedi 5 avril 2014 15:43
À : tapol@skynet.be ; Mary Previte
Objet : Re: RE Weihsien
Leopold,
Please send the "important' part of your message to the interns. My short email to topica goes through. Let us try this. Mary, your email to all the list will probably not go through. You again, are not on the list. Perhaps a long forward wil not go through.
Natasha
On Fri, Apr 4, 2014 at 4:07 AM, tapol_(Skynet) wrote:
Dear Angela, Mary, Natasha, Janette, ... Ted, ... Anne, ...
Hi !
I also got that message from China TV ... and forwarded it to Weihsien-topica.
---
Dear Natasha,
A day later, this message is still not on “topica” ???
I am still not receiving my messages directly in my mail-box ???
Could you fix this ... or write to me as to: “what did I do wrong” ?
Thanks ...
...
all the best,
Leopold
De : L PR
Envoyé : samedi 5 avril 2014 11:51
À : Angela
Objet : Re: RE Weihsien & Topica
Hi !
Try sending a message to Natasha ... She is the “webmaster” for TOPICA.
np57@cox.net = Natasha Petersen
all the best,
Leopold
PS what you can also do, is to simply send a blank message to:
weihsien-subscribe@topica.com
From: Angela
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2014 11:18 PM
To: tapol_(Skynet)
Subject: Re: RE Weihsien & Topica
230 pm Fr apr 4
Hi Leopold,
Glad CCTV has been in touch with you..
Know why I havent been able to navigate Topica as they
ask for a credit card.... what is the charge ?
Thought it was a free website as yours ....
Mary previte
advised me of it in 2005 but due to the request for a credit card - never bothered.
cheers
angela
De : tapol_(Skynet)
Envoyé : vendredi 4 avril 2014 10:07
À : Angela ; Mary Previte ; Leopold Pander ; Janet Ley Pander ; Teddy Pearson ; de Jongh
Cc : natasha petersen
Objet : Re: RE Weihsien
Dear Angela, Mary, Natasha, Janette, ... Ted, ... Anne, ...
Hi !
I also got that message from China TV ... and forwarded it to Weihsien-topica.
---
Dear Natasha,
A day later, this message is still not on “topica” ???
I am still not receiving my messages directly in my mail-box ???
Could you fix this ... or write to me as to: “what did I do wrong” ?
Thanks ...
...
all the best,
Leopold
From: tapol_(Skynet)
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 10:24 AM
To: cctvich@vip.sina.com ; weihsien@topica.com
Cc: Janette & home ; Mary Previte ; natasha petersen
Subject: Re: Interview Request
Dear Anita Zhai,
Many thanks for your message and interest for the Weihsien Concentration Camp.
I just forwarded your request to our Weihsien-Topica chat list ...
I am sure that many will be able to help you ... Of course, 1945 ... that was 70 years ago !
If I can help for the Weihsien-Paintings’ website, it will be with pleasure ...
Best regards,
Leopold
From: cctvich@vip.sina.com
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 10:05 AM
To: tapol
Subject: Interview Request
Dear , admin
I am an editor from CCTV international channel. Our channel is planning to do a programme about Weihsien Concentration Camp . I find your Website have lots of interesting stories .I just wonder if you can give us some contact information of people who are still alive and interested in our pre-interview. Hope hearing from you soon. We will be very grateful for your help!
Best regards
Anita Zhai
TEL: (86)010-68550763
中央电视台外语频道 综合部策划组
地址：北京市海淀区复兴路11号
CCTV Foreign Language Channel Comprehensive Department Planning Group
Address: No. 11, Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing
邮编：100859
电话：(86)010-68550631
传真：(86)010-68506718
From: Angela
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 7:42 PM
To: Mary Previte ; Leopold Pander ; Janet Ley Pander
Subject: RE Weihsien
1055 am thurs apr 3
Hello all,
Chris just informded me - he has received a message from:
*** CCTV International --
"our team is
planning to do a programme about Weihsien camp - We would like to know if you can give us
some contact information of people who are interested in our pre-interview ."
Chris's article has sparked interest even in China -
I've asked him to relay the information
to you ..
cheers
angela
Received.
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Natasha Petersen
Envoyé : jeudi 17 avril 2014 15:11
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : weihsien web site
I am forever grateful to my grandson, Erik, for getting our web site
working again. Apparently someone had marked the web site as SPAM Let
us hope that our site keeps on working.
I am not well, and cannot work through emails that have been sent. Give
me another few days. In the meantime, I am sure that you, too, have
gotten a number of emails.
Natasha Petersen
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Peakllc@aol.com
Envoyé : jeudi 17 avril 2014 18:11
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : Re: Interview Request
Anita,
My mother, Mrs. James Carrol Richardson, was in the Weihsien camp for around three years. She is
94 years old but seems to remember those times like yesterday.
Thanks,
Bob Richardson
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Topica Customer Support
Envoyé : jeudi 17 avril 2014 10:36
À : L PR
Objet : Your recent message to Topica.com
You recently sent a message,
Re: need help
to w internees. This is a restricted list, which means that only
subscribers of the list can post to it. Our records indicate that you
are not a member of the list.
It is possible that your subscription has been turned off due to
delivery problems, such as bouncing. If you believe this may be
the case, please contact the list owner for assistance.
If you would like more information about this list, or you would like to
join the list, you can go to the Topica web site (http://lists.topica.com)
and search for the list.
Topica's site also has thousands of other newsletters and discussions.
See for yourself at: http://lists.topica.com.
And don't forget TopOffers -- our exclusive savings alerts for
computers, fashion, music, travel products, and more!
http://lists.topica.com/partner/sysmes1/channels/offers/
Questions about the service? Check out Topica's Help
section at http://lists.topica.com -- just click on "help"
at the bottom of the screen.
Still have questions? Email Topica at support@get.topica.com.
Please include the email address of the list you're
inquiring about, and the email address you use to
subscribe to the list.
Sincerely,
Topica Customer Support
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Natasha Petersen
Envoyé : lundi 7 avril 2014 21:50
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : need help
If you get this message, please let me know. np57@cox.net
I have
been unable to send messages to members of this wbsite. After I send
the message, I go to "sent" message, and it shows that the message has
been sent, but in reality it just disappeared.
My attempts to Topica support have not worked. The email has been
returned.
What do I do?
Natasha
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Christine Talbot Sancton
Envoyé : samedi 5 avril 2014 15:24
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : RE: email to interns
Dear Natasha:
I just received your email.
Has there been problems? My sister, Gabrielle Talbot Stratford, has had
problems. Her new email is: stillbrook@bell.net
thanks for all your hard work!
Christine Talbot Sancton
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de erik petersen
Envoyé : mardi 8 avril 2014 01:36
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : natasha
testing posting via email to the list
thanks
erik
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Natasha Petersen
Envoyé : mercredi 9 avril 2014 15:25
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : test
Leopold, if you get this message, it means that this web site is working
again. My grandson has been working on unblocking the spam designation
that gotten attached to our web site .Leopold, please acknowledge
receipt of this email.
Natasha Petersen
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Leopold Pander
Envoyé : samedi 5 avril 2014 17:09
À : weihsien@topica.com
Objet : Re: email to interns
wow fantastic ... it works ! :-)
-----Original Message-----
From: Natasha Petersen
Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2014 3:14 PM
To: weihsien@topica.com
Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2014 3:14 PM
To: weihsien@topica.com
Subject: email to interns
this is a test from Natasha
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Leopold Pander
Envoyé : jeudi 3 avril 2014 10:24
À : cctvich@vip.sina.com
Cc : Janette & home
Objet : Re: Interview Request
Dear Anita Zhai,
Many thanks for your message and interest for the Weihsien Concentration Camp.
I just forwarded your request to our Weihsien-Topica chat list ...
I am sure that many will be able to help you ... Of course, 1945 ... that was 70 years ago !
If I can help for the Weihsien-Paintings’ website, it will be with pleasure ...
Best regards,
Leopold
From: cctvich@vip.sina.com
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 10:05 AM
To: tapol
Dear , admin
TEL: (86)010-68550763
--------------------------------Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 10:05 AM
To: tapol
Subject: Interview Request
Dear , admin
I am an editor from CCTV international channel. Our channel is planning to do a programme about Weihsien Concentration Camp . I find your Website have lots of interesting stories .I just wonder if you can give us some contact informantion of people who are still alive and interested in our pre-interview. Hope hearing from you soon. We will be very grateful for your help!
Best regards
Anita Zhai
中央电视台外语频道 综合部策划组
地址：北京市海淀区复兴路11号
邮编：100859
电话：(86)010-68550631
传真：(86)010-68506718
De : postmaster@b.topica.com
de la part de Natasha Petersen
Envoyé : vendredi 28 mars 2014 21:57
À : Weishen Weishen
Objet : FW: Please post on Weihsien-topica. I can't get it through.
-------- Begin forwarded message --------
Date: 3/27/14 5:21:45 PM
From: "Mary Previte"
To: "Natasha Petersen"
I sure do remember the Weihsien latrines. Cleaning them was one of my mothers jobs Of course she was a teacher, but I do not believe she taught in Weihsien. She was assigned to the menial jobs and helped look after my grandparents.
From: "Mary Previte"
To: "Natasha Petersen"
Subject: Please post on Weihsien-topica. I can't get it through.
I sure do remember the Weihsien latrines. Cleaning them was one of my mothers jobs Of course she was a teacher, but I do not believe she taught in Weihsien. She was assigned to the menial jobs and helped look after my grandparents.
I turned 15 in June 1945 and that was when you got a camp job. Believe it or not, I was very keen to have a job. Mine was washing dishes!
Now my parents and sisters are gone it is fun to get your reminiscing.
From: Maida Harris Campbell, Chefoo School
I worked at Kitchen 2.
It was the summer of 1945 and 2 or 3 of us had a bowl of water on a table outside - I don't think there was any soap in it and we had a kind of dish mop and people lined up to have their dishes washed in greasy water. I was so proud of having a job. I guess like a 15 year old getting a job at McDonald's today.
I know I was getting very interested in boys like my classmates were and we always knew when the boys we liked were on pumping duty. We liked the Weihsien boys rather than the Chefoo ones and the Chefoo boys liked the Weihsien girls. I remember we would walk around the camp hoping to see the boy you liked.
I actually had a Weihsien boyfriend who went to England after camp and we wrote to each other for a while. His parents were Tientsin business people.
The ball games were a big part of our lives and we had a girls' team and we played against the younger boys. We hung out at all the ball games and for myself I think I was in an adolescent dream world rather than being aware of the danger around us.
When I read Anna Frank's book I could relate to her. I think I was happier then than when I was trying to adjust to a Toronto high school after the war.
I realized that apart from science, we were way ahead in other subjects.
Three of us Chefoo girls went to High school in Toronto together which was good in one way but not so good for assimilating, and I made that adjustment in nurses' training rather than high school.
On our liberation day, I was babysitting Angela Cox.
She was about 2 and we were in the same 57 block.
Angela had been born in camp. She was very cute and smart and I just loved her and all that liberation day I carried her everywhere including being at the gate to meet our heroes.
I was so thrilled to meet her at the 60th celebrations in Weihsien. She wondered why I was babysitting while we were being liberated, but I know I loved doing it and her mother was probably wondering and worrying what happened to Angela
Now of course one memory leads to another and I am thinking of the night that we got the news of VE Day and Bobby Grandon (one of my sisters' boyfriends) rang the bell in Block 23 in the middle of the night to celebrate and we were all called out in the dark for roll call. Mrs Graham our neighbour in block 57 said we were all being taken out to be shot and it was pretty scary when all the search lights were on and the guards were pushing us around as they were trying to count us The story was that instead of anyone missing, they counted extras.
Apparently the bell being rung was a signal to the garrison in town that the guards needed help to deal with us prisoners.
Sorry to run on, and maybe my facts may not all be correct but it is how I remember them.
Always enjoy hearing from you and it is interesting the different perspective of a 13 and 15 year old
From Mary Taylor Previte:
My sister Kathleen scrubbed sheets in the laundry.
My brother Jamie pumped water.
We 11 - and 12-year-old girls in the Chefoo Lower School Dormitory (LSD) didn’t have year-round jobs, but in the winter, to get fuel for the pot-belly stove that stood in the middle of our room, we had to carry our buckets to the Japanese quarters and lug back buckets of coal dust to our dormitory in the second floor of the hospital.
Remember the coal dust?
Remember making coal balls?
Like every other Weihsien problem, coal dust had its dark side and its light side.
You could take your pick.
You could grump yourself miserable about having only coal dust to burn, or when you were breaking the ice on the water bucket in the morning to wash your face, you could count your blessings that you had anything at all to fuel your stove.
De : Jean Youatt
Envoyé : mercredi 16 avril 2014 05:32
À : tapol_(Skynet)
Objet : Re: Weihsien
Dear Leopold
I am so happy to hear from you. You are in my unpublished personal
autobiography and you were so loveable that I am sad to know you , like me
and many of our generation, had a mother who could not or would not give
expression to their love. The THEY who advised them may have been parents
from a generation where the infant death rate was high but you would have
been born at a time when the whole system in N. China was changing and there
was much anxiety and fear of the future.
Before internment we had a visit in Chefoo from a Dr Glass who took a Sunday
service and announced he would not give his prepared sermon because he had
never before heard “Land of our birth” sung as a hymn and he wanted to talk
about it. The bit I took to Weihsien with me was “Teach us delight in
simple things and mirth that has no bitter springs Forgiveness free of evil
done and love to all men ‘neath the sun.” Seeing you once a day when I
worked in the Diet Kitchen was one of the delights for me.
Your sister Janette was unfortunate to be anorexic and though diet kitchen
food was better it was not exactly tempting because most of the people had
gastroenteritis and were given the blandest food.
I like your feeling that you are working for history.
Recently I sent a
letter to an Australian Senator about the unfortunate refugees who are being
detained by the Government. I explained (and hoped that it might have
effect) that in worse conditions we were able in Weihsien to shield children
and make their lives as normal seeming as possible. I hoped that the parents
of our interned children would try to do the same instead of using them for
publicity. I am happy every time I read or hear from younger people in
Weihsien that they did not find their lives so strange.
Even my younger brother did not experience those years as I did because he
still had school lessons and my mother only used me as confidante for her
concerns and fears. When we were moved to the Hospital building she always
knew from the nurses about the illnesses and in the last months of camp I
heard of fears of massacre or even of becoming prisoners of Russia instead.
He heard nothing of this.
I can sympathise with your sequence of changes after the war educationally
speaking. Chefoo was my 7th school in 2 years and my mother’s return to
China in 1939 made my tertiary education in Science very hard work. I’d had
a 4 year gap and no Physics or Chemistry but I became a researcher and
academic. I still teach because I love it and it meets my need both for
company and to feel I’m still useful. Most of the students have been ethnic
Chinese who often are curious to hear about life in a China they never knew.
I love the photo though it looks sad.
Thank you
Jean
From: tapol_(Skynet)
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 7:17 PM
To: Jean Youatt
Cc: Janette & home
Subject: Fw: Weihsien
Dear Jean,
Many thanks for your kind message.
In my head, WeiHsien must have been a dream ... I don’t remember anything or
so little ! All my life, I knew that I had been in a concentration camp but
it was, in fact, just a detail ... Nobody spoke about it. Mom & Dad had no
sympathy for the Japs, and that was that ! Towards the end of her life, Mom
used to say: “They told us not to give too much love to our children because
you never knew what could happen”. I never asked her, and she never told me
who “THEY” was ?
My big sister, Janette also went to the diet kitchen – so she told me. She
was anorexic and didn’t manage to keep the food she ate. I guess that the
war ended “just in time” for many of us.
More than ten years ago, I found WeiHsien on the internet. Father Hanquet
found me. I didn’t even know that he existed and he lived in the town next
door to where I live. I met with him quite often and he told me a lot about
Weihsien. At past 90 years old, he had an excellent memory and he helped me
build my website: http://www.weihsien-paintings.org . Our neighbour in camp,
Zandy (Alexander Strangman) found us too, via the “internet”. Many
ex-prisoners sent me data to build my website and now it is big by more than
3200 pages ! I am always keen on getting more information about our
“concentration camp”. I feel like that I’m working for “history”.
After the war, we all went back to Tientsin and then Dad got a job in
Shanghai. In 1948, we left China back to Belgium and from there back to Hong
Kong. We switched schools from English to French and vice versa. In 1952 we
came back to Belgium never to return to China! My professional life began in
the Belgian Merchant Marine and later on (when I got married) as responsible
of a wholesale Co. in electrical appliances. I am now happily retired. No
kids.
My big sister Janette lives in the outskirts of Brussels, has three kids and
three grand children. My small sister, MaryLou, born in camp, died in 2000.
Indeed, Greg Leck’s book is a masterpiece. I am on two photos:
- at the bottom of page 495, I am the little boy in the photo left, and the
same boy on the photo right, seated next to his Mom.
We also read Midnight in Peking and I mentioned it on my website:
http://weihsien-paintings.org/books/MidnightPeking/p_MidnightPeking.html
Where are you writing from ? Tell us more about you? Do you have data – for
the Weihsien paintings’ website? (photos, letters, diary, ...... )
Best regards,
Leopold
picture taken in 1945-1946 ?
From: Jean Youatt
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2014 5:07 AM
To: pander.nl@skynet.be
Subject: Weihsien
Dear Leopold
I have been in touch with Peter Bazire about various memories
and he provided your address.
I am using your given name because when
you were 4 y old I was one of the girls who gave you lunch at the diet
kitchen. You were a lovely child with such big brown eyes but every day you
used to say “You beed me” (not a typo).
For a while we gave in but one day
we said you really must feed yourself and you did not eat at all. I carried
you out to your father and told him you had not eaten.
When I was looking
through Greg Leck’s book I realised you probably were missing the attention
with a younger sibling.
It was a pleasure to find your surname because you
were one of the happy memories of those days.
I am 89 now but memories are sharp because I have a photographic memory and
see the environment in which things occurred. My maiden name was Jean Lack.
One memory lapse is the name of the fourth girl who worked in the diet
kitchen with Muriel Trickey, Lucy Attree and me.
I am leading my book group
with Midnight in Peking which refers to Weihsien and that’s how I came to be
poring over the lists of names again.
with best wishes
Jean Youatt
De : L PR
Envoyé : mardi 8 avril 2014 08:13
À : np57@cox.net
Objet : Re: messages and email to member's
Dear Natasha,
I suggest we give time to "time" ...
I learned that for all computing "problems" ... we always find a solution
... in the end !
Hope all's OK for you !
... all the best,
Leopold
-----Original Message-----
From: np57@cox.net
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2014 6:59 PM
To: tapol@skynet.be
Dear Leopold,
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2014 6:59 PM
To: tapol@skynet.be
Subject: messages and email to member's
Dear Leopold,
I am not a whiz on the computer. In addition, my age does not help .I am
trying to get in touch with Topica in regard to our problem.
Unfortunately my emails to them have been returned. I will keep on
trying. I am very sorry. This is very frustrating for all of us.
Natasha
De : Teddy
Envoyé : lundi 7 avril 2014 15:30
À : Angela
Objet : Re: Weihsien ** RE tOPICA
I haven’t been on this site for a long time. I seem to recall it was free at the time. Angela appears to be correct. One has to charge? What do you say Leopold?
Teddy
From: Angela
Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 5:15 PM
To: Teddy
Hi
Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 5:15 PM
To: Teddy
Subject: Re: Weihsien ** RE tOPICA
220 pm fri apr 4Hi
now why I've never bothered with Topica -- they charge for the service ... - thought it was free
as I've tried to sign in again & it requires a credit card ..... any comments on that??
cheers
From: Teddy
To: pander41@skynet.be
Cc: angelalousia@yahoo.ca
Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 7:28:51 AM
Subject: Fw: Weihsien
Thanks for forwarding her email to me. I have contacted her directly as you can see. Ted
From: Teddy
Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 10:11 AM
To: cctvich@vip.sina.com
Dear Ms Zhai, This is Edmund Pearson.
Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 10:11 AM
To: cctvich@vip.sina.com
Subject: Weihsien
Dear Ms Zhai, This is Edmund Pearson.
I was interviewed by He Na in the China daily mail.
I would be pleased to be of assistance to you.
Edmund (Ted) Pearson.
De : np57@cox.net
Envoyé : dimanche 6 avril 2014 13:08
À : tapol@skynet.be
Objet : email to weihsien
Dear Leopold,
Please resend to weihsien@topica.com only the "important" part.
Perhaps, my computer cannot forward a very long email. I am grasping at
straws, and am not sure how to remedy the situation.
Natasha
De : np57@cox.net
Envoyé : samedi 5 avril 2014 22:19
À : tapol@skynet.be
Objet : email topica
Leopold,
Please let me know whether your name Leopold or Pander is part of your
email address or separated from tapol@skynet.be
Let me know whether a short version of you emails , the important part
of your long messages, has gone through to the members of our Weihsien
list.
Natasha
De : np57@cox.net
Envoyé : samedi 5 avril 2014 15:43
À : tapol@skynet.be
Objet : Re: RE Weihsien
Leopold,
Please send the "important' part of your message to the interns. My short email to topica goes through. Let us try this. Mary, your email to all the list will probably not go through. You again, are not on the list. Perhaps a long forward wil not go through.
Natasha
On Fri, Apr 4, 2014 at 4:07 AM, tapol_(Skynet) wrote:Dear Angela, Mary, Natasha, Janette, ... Ted, ... Anne, ...
Hi !
I also got that message from China TV ... and forwarded it to Weihsien-topica.
---
Dear Natasha,
A day later, this message is still not on “topica” ???
I am still not receiving my messages directly in my mail-box ???
Could you fix this ... or write to me as to: “what did I do wrong” ?
Thanks ...
...
all the best,
Leopold
De : L PR
Envoyé : samedi 5 avril 2014 11:51
À : Angela
Objet : Re: RE Weihsien & Topica
Hi !
Try sending a message to Natasha ... She is the “webmaster” for TOPICA.
np57@cox.net = Natasha Petersen
all the best,
Leopold
PS what you can also do, is to simply send a blank message to:
weihsien-subscribe@topica.com
From: Angela
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2014 11:18 PM
To: tapol_(Skynet)
Subject: Re: RE Weihsien & Topica
230 pm Fr apr 4Hi Leopold,
Glad CCTV has been in touch with you..
Know why I havent been able to navigate Topica as they
ask for a credit card.... what is the charge ?
Thought it was a free website as yours ....
Mary previte
advised me of it in 2005 but due to the request for a credit card - never bothered.
cheers
angela
De : tapol_(Skynet)
Envoyé : vendredi 4 avril 2014 10:07
À : Angela
Cc : natasha petersen
Objet : Re: RE Weihsien
Dear Angela, Mary, Natasha, Janette, ... Ted, ... Anne, ...
Hi !
I also got that message from China TV ... and forwarded it to Weihsien-topica.
---
Dear Natasha,
A day later, this message is still not on “topica” ???
I am still not receiving my messages directly in my mail-box ???
Could you fix this ... or write to me as to: “what did I do wrong” ?
Thanks ...
...
all the best,
Leopold
From: tapol_(Skynet)
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 10:24 AM
To: cctvich@vip.sina.com ; weihsien@topica.com
Cc: Janette & home ; Mary Previte ; natasha petersen
Subject: Re: Interview Request
Dear Anita Zhai,
Many thanks for your message and interest for the Weihsien Concentration Camp.
I just forwarded your request to our Weihsien-Topica chat list ...
I am sure that many will be able to help you ... Of course, 1945 ... that was 70 years ago !
If I can help for the Weihsien-Paintings’ website, it will be with pleasure ...
Best regards,
Leopold
From: cctvich@vip.sina.com
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 10:05 AM
To: tapol
Subject: Interview Request
Dear , admin
I am an editor from CCTV international channel. Our channel is planning to do a programme about Weihsien Concentration Camp . I find your Website have lots of interesting stories .I just wonder if you can give us some contact information of people who are still alive and interested in our pre-interview. Hope hearing from you soon. We will be very grateful for your help!
Best regards
Anita Zhai
TEL: (86)010-68550763
中央电视台外语频道 综合部策划组
地址：北京市海淀区复兴路11号
CCTV Foreign Language Channel Comprehensive Department Planning Group
Address: No. 11, Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing
邮编：100859
电话：(86)010-68550631
传真：(86)010-68506718
From: Angela
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 7:42 PM
To: Mary Previte ; Leopold Pander ; Janet Ley Pander
Subject: RE Weihsien
1055 am thurs apr 3Hello all,
Chris just informded me - he has received a message from:
*** CCTV International --
"our team is
planning to do a programme about Weihsien camp - We would like to know if you can give us
some contact information of people who are interested in our pre-interview ."
Chris's article has sparked interest even in China -
I've asked him to relay the information
to you ..
cheers
angela