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November's cover story,
"Nightmare in
Nanking," prompted a greater outpouring of letters from
Johns Hopkins readers than any article in recent memory. Our
thanks to all who took the time to write...and our apologies for
a mistake on page 51. The sentence, "Indeed, the story of what
happened in the days and weeks after Chinese forces invaded the
city of Nanking..." should have read Japanese forces.
--SD
Appalling memories
I read with horror your account of the findings of Iris Chang
with respect to the Rape of Nanking [
"Nightmare in
Nanking,"]. It provided, however, merely details that filled
in [my] memory of the events more than 50 years ago.
The explanation for this puzzling comment is this. During World
War II, a series of seven "informational" films was shown to Army
personnel under the title "Why We Fight." One dealt with the
Rape of Nanking. One sequence will always be with me. It
showed a Jap[anese] soldier picking up a Chinese child by the
ankles and slamming its head against a stone wall. With that as a
memory, Ms. Chang's findings merely add--appalling though it may
seem--to the specifics of the event.
William W. Wright, Maj AUS (Ret.)
Unwilling to confront their history
The article on the Rape of Nanking and Iris Chang was
poignant, well-written, and informative. It was particularly
interesting since I am now living in Japan and am all too aware
of what Chang described--Japanese unwillingness to confront the
more unpleasant aspects of their history. I have taken the
liberty of forwarding it to a number of my friends in Japan, both
foreigner and Japanese, for discussion and to get the debate
started. I hope this will be part of the process that Chang has
begun. A small step, but an important one nonetheless.
The Japanese position stands in marked contrast, as was pointed
out in your article, to Germany. Following my graduation from
Hopkins, I spent a year at the University of Frankfurt studying
Contemporary German Attitudes Toward the Holocaust as a DAAD
Research Fellow. Although the facing up to history in Germany is
by no means complete, it is leaps and bounds ahead of the
situation in Japan, in my opinion.
Jeremy Epstein '95
One-sided attack on the Japanese
In any war, there is no justice, no humanity. Obviously Iris
Chang has no personal experience of incidents she is describing
sensationally, and she is blaming Japanese soldiers one-sidedly.
I smell the racist blood in her work. She has lived a protected
life in the States. Thus, her view is naive and immature.
I wonder if she has researched also the atrocious acts of Russian
soldiers against Japanese women and children in Manchuria in
August 1945. A friend of mine had to shave her head and hide in
the attic when they invaded. She was found and raped. Her womb
was penetrated and lacerated by a fork before she was shot to
death. Her husband, hands tied behind him, watched the ordeal
helplessly. Soldiers were laughing.
T. Morishige
A "humanitarian" Nazi?
In "Nightmare in Nanking," John Rabe is called a "humanitarian
Nazi." The Oxford English Dictionary lists as an example of the
word oxymoron Voltaire's phrase an "Epicurean pessimist."
"Humanitarian Nazi" would, I guess, be an oxymoron if Jews were
not part of humanity.
Eugene Blank '48
From John Rabe's diary
I was deeply moved by your article "Nightmare in Nanking." I was
particularly interested in the part about a German Nazi by the
name of John Rabe, the "Oskar Schindler of Nanking" as Chang
dubbed him, or the "Living Buddha of Nanking" to the Chinese at
the time.
Though a convinced Nazi, Rabe reacted as a humanitarian to the
atrocities he saw all about him. The discovery of his diary, much
of it already translated from German, was announced formally at a
press conference in New York on December 12, 1996, by the
Alliance in Memory of Victims of the Nanjing Massacre.
A brief excerpt from the diary follows: "24 December: Dr. Wilson
showed me some of his patients. The woman with many bayonet
wounds on her face, who was brought in with an aborted birth, is
relatively well off. A boat owner had a shot in the leg; his
whole body was burned because someone poured gasoline on him and
set him on fire. He was still able to say a few words, but he
probably must die ... I went to the basement ... one civilian--
eyes burned out, entire head burned. The Japanese soldiers poured
gasoline on him."
Tsung O. Cheng
Washington, DC
Appalled by November's cover
I greatly appreciated the article about Iris Chang's forthcoming
book, The Rape of Nanking. Those of us who have spent time
in Nanjing and have heard survivors' stories recognize the
importance of her contribution. However, I was appalled by the
cover photograph of the Magazine, which shows Ms. Chang
posed in front of a Japanese flag with what looks like tomato
sauce splattered on it. This kind of sensational representation
dramatizes and diminishes the true horrors of war. It would have
been more effective to use a photograph of Ms. Chang in Nanjing
or to use an actual photograph from 1937.
Beth Notar (Hopkins-Nanjing Center '88)
A far larger atrocity
I had the good luck of being given a copy of your November issue
by a friend with whom I had been discussing little known
atrocities of World War II. Nanking was certainly one of those
atrocities about which we now hear very little. As a boy growing
up in New Jersey in the '50s, though, we did see mention of the
horror of Nanking and one or two pictures in our high school
history books.
A far larger atrocity, which was not dealt with then and has yet
to be dealt with in the U.S. publishing industry, was the
expulsion of 15 million Germans from their Eastern European homes
(Germany's former eastern provinces and ethnic enclaves) at the
end of World War II. If one is to believe German sources, 2.5
million persons died as a result of these "ethnic cleansings."
The United States gave its explicit sanction to the actions and
assisted in carrying them out. To this day the U.S. has not
apologized to the relatives of the victims nor made any attempt
to pay them reparations for their homes, which they lost in part
due to American complicity in the expulsions.
It seems to me that the expulsion and massacre of Eastern
Europe's Germans, a process that continues to this day with the
"Aussiedlung" of those few who remain in Poland, the Czech
Republic, and Romania, would be a worthy subject for Iris Chang's
next book.
Kearn C. Schemm, Jr.
The enduring Chinese
Thank you for publishing "Nightmare in Nanking." Not everyone has
forgotten the horrible massacre at Nanking. For some it may have
been a stretch in political correctness or convenience to ignore
the subject, but Iris Chang is performing a great service in
exposing that crime to this generation.
My own exposure was secondhand but telling. Beginning in the fall
of 1943, as a captain in the U.S. Army Engineers, I was attached
as a military advisor to the Nationalist Chinese engineer
battalion of the Chinese New First Army. They were being
retrained after their being driven off the original Burma Road
and then pushing a new Burma Road through the jungle to the north
into China.
Some of these soldiers had escaped from Nanking by donning
civilian clothes, traveling west at night and hiding during the
day. Even so, the Japanese were relentless in pursuit--not to
capture them but rather to kill them. In fact, the Japanese often
corralled large numbers of Chinese men and while talking to a
group in moderate tones, would suddenly shout "Tsal!"
("Attention!"). Any who then stood at attention would be exposed
as military and immediately shot. So this massacre was not an
isolated, spontaneous event but was more systematic.
Ironically, as indicated in your
"Historic Glimpses",
it is still as politically correct to laud the politics of former
Hopkins Professor Owen Lattimore as it was in the 1940s. In the
spring of 1942 I was enthralled to have lunch with him at least
three times in the Hopkins Club. He was our "China expert,"
having been born in Mongolia and lived in western China. At that
time Americans could agree that our interests were to oppose Wang
Ching Wei, head of the Chinese faction that promoted cooperation
with Japan. I asked Lattimore why he opposed the pro-Western
Chiang Kai-shek [and favored] the pro-Soviet Mao Tse-tung. He
simply said that Mao was better for China.
Less than two years later I found myself with the Chinese
Nationalists. When they identified my Hopkins ring, I lost
credibility because they feared I was another Lattimore.
President Roosevelt had imposed Professor Lattimore upon the
Nationalists with the threat of otherwise cutting off all
supplies. Our government's attempts to bring the Communists into
the Chinese government, Chiang's lack of offensive, the Japanese
Manchurian surrender of arms to the Red Chinese after Hiroshima,
and our pull-out of the area doomed China to Mao.
This is long past hindsight, but we should keep in mind that the
Chinese are long-suffering, and enduring despite their
government
W.F. Applegarth, BE '40
Communist connections
In the November issue, Owen Lattimore is mentioned in
"Historic Glimpses".
The statement is made that the Student Committee for Academic
Freedom ... dissolved in 1955, after Senator Joseph McCarthy's
"Red Hunt" lost credibility.
May I recommend an interesting book for your readers? It is
The Lattimore Story, by John T. Flynn (The Devin-Adair
Co., 1953). Here is an enlightening segment (p. 82): "Another
witness, Louis Budenz, former Communist, testified under oath:
`He [Lattimore] was specifically mentioned as a member of the
Communist cell under instructions. There was no loose mention of
his name.'" Budenz swore that Lattimore's "position from the
viewpoint of the Communist Party was a very important one" (pp.
521-22). Jack Stachel, one of the most important American
Communists, in constant touch with Moscow, had informed Budenz
that Lattimore was a Communist.
Robert Jones '56
On tenure: O tempora! O mores!
Your extensive coverage of the changes being proposed in tenure
regulations at the Medical School led me to recall an occasion
more than 30 years ago. As president of the Hopkins chapter of
the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in the
mid-'60s, I asked to see Milton Eisenhower, then president, in
order to present a case for the university to adopt the AAUP's
"seven-year up or out" tenure rules. To my surprise, he said he
entirely agreed that Johns Hopkins would be wise to do so, but
that the proposal had been voted down by the Faculty Council.
Not long after that encounter, a situation embarrassing to
Hopkins arose. An assistant professor of Engineering had been put
on notice at the end of his fifth year that he was not a
sufficiently productive scholar. During his sixth year, he
published several papers and heard nothing more from his
department chair. As his seventh year began, he was informed that
his appointment would be terminated the following June. He
claimed de facto tenure because the sixth year deadline had
passed with no message from the administration; he insisted that
he had every reason to believe that he had lived up to expected
standards. He threatened to petition the national office of AAUP
to come to his defense.
The crisis was resolved when the faculty member found and
accepted a position elsewhere. However, Mr. Eisenhower brought
the matter before the Faculty Council. He pointed out that the
absence of formal tenure track rules had created an ambiguous
situation, fair neither to the faculty member nor the university.
Were Hopkins to adopt the AAUP rules, it would be necessary to
review every new faculty member at the end of the fifth year,
with a considered decision made rather than allowing matters to
drift, as appeared to be the case in the instance in question.
The Faculty Council voted the AAUP seven-year rule into
effect.
Just how remote the mid-'60s are from the late '90s I realized
when I learned that there is no longer an AAUP chapter at
Hopkins, nor has there been one since 1980! O tempora! O mores!
Two academic giants from the Johns Hopkins University faculty
were instrumental in advancing the AAUP: Arthur Lovejoy,
professor of philosophy, founded the AAUP; and Fritz Machlup,
professor of economics, initiated the informative faculty salary
rating scale published in the AAUP Bulletin each year.
It is not too late to revive an AAUP chapter at Hopkins. Such an
organization would enable faculty members to
participate fully in the debate about tenure rules, rather than
allowing the matter to be decided by department chairs and
Medical School administrators.
Leon Eisenberg, MD, house staff (1952-54), faculty
(1954-67)
"Therapeutic" abortions?
In the November issue, you report on the uses of germ cells from
aborted human babies of five to six weeks' gestation (
"Confronting
biology's ethical implications,"). You claim they were
donated by women who had undergone "therapeutic" abortions.
Fifty years ago at Hopkins, a resident doctor/instructor of
student nurses told us that he could think of extremely few
conditions where an abortion could be done for therapeutic
reasons. He said that, in almost every case, the mother could
safely carry the baby to term.
Can we possibly believe that, in modern obstetrics, our doctors
cannot protect mothers? Or is it "therapeutic" for a baby to die
because it is imperfect? Perhaps these same scientists would like
to destroy all those who are critically damaged after
birth, such as those in airplane crashes and car wrecks.
Brave New World, indeed!
Sara M. O' Grady
The end doesn't justify the means
I am writing in regard to "Confronting biology's ethical
implications." The article addresses the research of John
Gearhart of the School of Medicine and his attempts to resolve
the ethical questions raised by his work. Dr. Gearhart conducts
experiments on cells taken from human "embryos" obtained from
women who have undergone abortions. It is laudable that he is
considering the ramifications of his work, but I have serious
reservations with the conclusions he reaches.
Dr. Gearhart is quoted as saying that "biology is a means to an
end." Presumably he would deem his research to be ethical if it
is directed toward a beneficial end, such as treating stroke
victims, and unethical if directed toward a grotesque end, such
as creating a "genetically engineered person." Didn't we learn as
children, though, that the "end does not justify the means"? The
real ethical issue to be addressed concerns the actual research
itself, and not its potential uses. Is the human embryo in
question, in fact, a living human being? Is abortion, in fact,
morally acceptable? This question has been debated continually in
this country since the legalization of abortion in 1973, but has
never
been resolved. The issue of abortion continues to be addressed
and discussed through political debates, news stories, and public
demonstrations. Shouldn't the Johns Hopkins schools and hospital
reconsider their involvement in an act that is considered to be
controversial by most and gravely immoral by many?
Let us take the opportunity afforded us by the Johns Hopkins
Magazine to ask ourselves again: Do we believe that human
beings have an eternal soul that exists from the moment of
conception, the only philosophically, biologically, and
theologically reasonable beginning point? Or do we rather believe
that human beings are essentially animals, with a physical nature
but no spiritual nature? If the latter, let us continue the work
of Dr. Gearhart and others, experimenting on human beings as we
would any other laboratory animal. If the former, though, let us
recognize such work to be morally and ethically reprehensible,
and disassociate ourselves from it.
Michael DeAscanis '94
Too little time in Hong Kong
I wish that Jean Grigsby had spent more than three days in Hong
Kong ("Handover in Hong Kong," September 1997). As a resident for
three years I can assure you that there is little fear of the
heavy-handed intervention that the Western media assume is
inevitable. The Hong Kong Chinese are rightly proud that they are
now running their own affairs. And as a foreigner I feel much
safer here than in any city in the United States, including
Baltimore. Careful analysis leads to better understanding than
does resorting to tired clich�s.
Two factual corrections: Lantau island is over 90 percent
undeveloped (not 50 percent as stated) and there is no such thing
as the British Bank of Hong Kong.
John J. Michon
Defining "baby" pictures
Alan Uomoto's quote that "50 percent of the traffic on the
Internet is baby pictures"
(Taming the
Terabyte") is either wrong or sexist, depending on
interpretation. If by "baby pictures" the speaker means "photos
of infants," then it is wrong. If by "baby pictures" the speaker
also includes "photos of naked women," then it is sexist, but--as
anyone with packet-monitoring software can tell you--correct.
J. Toby Mordkoff '86 (PhD '91)
Grateful for the Archives
I was reading Joanne Cavanaugh's article
Uncertainty in the
Archives", and it reminded me of a task long overdue. The
value of the Ferdinand Hamburger Jr. Archives is not lost to me.
In 1995-96, the News-Letter was celebrating its 100th year
of publication. In April of that year we published a 48-page
tabloid edition chronicling those first 100 years. Without the
presence of those archives and the helpful and trusting
assistance of [archivist James] Stimpert, that edition would
never have been published and the opportunity to learn about the
history of our newspaper would most certainly have been lost.
We owe the Archives and Mr. Stimpert a great debt of gratitude. I
can only hope the tree outlasts the electron so that the students
in the Class of 2096 will have the next 100 years of newspapers
to review.
Maximilian Barteau '96
More on Ashkenazi Jews
The recent discovery by Johns Hopkins oncologists of a new
mutation causing
colon cancer among
Ashkenazi Jews should be of interest and concern to this
particular group. For the benefit of those who are not familiar
with the above classification, "Ashkenazi" refers to those Jews
of Eastern European origin who migrated from Germany ("Ashkenaz"
in Hebrew) in the Middle Ages. More than 90 percent of American
Jews can trace their ancestry to this group.
In contrast to the above faction the other main Jewish group is
known as "Sephardim" (Spain), having lived in the Iberian
peninsula for over a millennium until the Expulsion in 1492.
Following this tragic event they settled throughout all the
countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea as far east as the
"Fertile Crescent." Many also settled in France, Holland, and
England.
Manfried Mauskopf
Toothpaste's active ingredient
I just finished reading the November issue and really enjoyed it.
I do want to point out, however, an error in the story about fluoride in space.
Melissa Hendricks writes, "It (fluoride) is also in the form of a
gas, hydrogen fluoride, not the element fluorine, which is used
in toothpaste." The active ingredient in toothpaste is sodium
fluoride (NaF) not elemental fluorine (F2). I just wanted to set
the record straight
William B. Mathews
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