Anette+Lisle+-+April+4th+1942

 April 4, 1942


Life is very dark for me. Very dark. It is even worse than the time I was notified that my husband was dead. I have lost my country, I have lost contact with my family and friends in France and I have had to watch the people I care about around me suffer and die. I have not received a letter from Alex for the past couple months and from what I hear his battalion is constantly fighting. I don’t even know whether he is alive or dead. Indochina has been completely taken over by Japan. Japanese victory at the Battle of Lang son cleared their way to invade Hanoi. Obviously, now Japan has got even closer to its goal - becoming the world’s power. I try to stay hopeful and try to remind myself that I am lucky enough to survive through some of the worst fighting. But, the worst for me is still to come. Right now, I am in a situation where I may have to give up my plantation. I would prefer death than give up my home. Lately, Japan has been demanding for a massive amount of resources to all their annexed countries including Indochina (it’s obvious that the lack of resources is coming from Japan’s constant thirst for more power). They have tried to gather every source, every little thing that will help continue this brutal war including women. Rumors are saying that the Japanese recently started to collect (forced) resource supporters in my complex. They call them comfort women - needed to work in factories to support the Japanese military. They are looking for young girls, high school students. Poor girls - so young and so helpless. I hope that factory work is better than some of the things happening around me. Although I cannot imagine things getting any worse. Already, I’ve lost almost half of my land through fighting and chaos. Even trying to live on the remaining land was hell. The majority of my workers have disappeared - escaped or taken away by the Japanese. I pray that they escaped. Alex is quite possibly dead. But, I still have my trusted household staff. I still have my life. I suppose I should be thankful because so many innocent people are dead but I cannot help feeling guilty and hopeless.

 citation : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II