Laudator Temporis Acti

[Warning: The following is probably of no interest to anyone except my family.]

My expatriate grandfather died in Shanghai in January, 1941. Had he lived longer, he might have shared the fate of his Russian-born wife (my step-grandmother), who was afterwards imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp. There were seven such civilian internment camps in Shanghai, and I don't know in which one she was confined. Included in a prisoner exchange, she sailed from Shanghai to Mormugao, Goa, aboard the Teia Maru (departed September 20, arrived October 15, 1943). An exchange of Japanese and allied civilian prisoners took place at Mormugao. She then sailed from Mormugao to New York aboard the Gripsholm (departed October 22, arrived December 1, 1943), after which I can find no trace of her.

Here is the route taken by the ships Teia Maru and Gripsholm, from The Shanghai Evening Post, American Edition (Dec. 3, 1943), p. 1:


Here is a photograph of the Teia Maru:


Here is a photograph of the Gripsholm:


The prisoner exchange was a prominent news story during late 1943. See e.g.

• Shelly Smith Mydans, "Letter from Mormugao," Life Magazine (November 29, 1943) 11-12, 14
• Carl and Shelly Mydans, "Tomorrow We Will Be Free," Life Magazine (December 6, 1943) 106-108, 111-114
• "Americans Return", Life Magazine (December 20, 1943) 87-93

The title of this post comes from "Return of the Gripsholm," New York Times (December 3, 1943) 22.