A lot of times when talking about wars, there is one image in our heads: horror, weakness, apathy, or sorrow, and while all of the prior is true, there happens to be an aspect that is always forgotten or underestimated, such as people’s ambivalent response to wars.
Sometimes, due to the horrific war conditions we hear about, we forget that every individual has a personality shaped by their life experiences and that just because there is a war doesn’t mean everyone is experiencing the same life, such as the mere stereotypic emotions and conditions of fear, anxiety, and even famine. In this case, personality plays a very large role, such as altering the point of view individuals have on wars and perhaps even making them a better person, and I find that to be bewildering!!
These individuals, such as the American soldier Sullivan Ballou, the Japanese, Fusa Tsumagari, the Polish, Fanya, the Turkish, Claire and Carmen, the German, George Kenner, and many others whose letters weren’t received by the desired recipients, so instead, we get to spread their voices today, all contradicted the stereotypic image we have of war the following way.
To begin with, the American soldier, Sullivan Ballou, whose expressive figure wasn’t suppressed by the battle witnessed, represented a loyal lover whose emotions weren’t suppressed as a consequence of war. Perhaps somewhere from where might have been his day-to-day view of combat and battle, he hid behind a rock and gathered his emotions while suppressing those of fear from death and uneasiness of war and wrote his wife the following: “I know I have but few claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me, perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar, that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, nor that, when my last breath escapes me on the battle-field, it will whisper your name” (“My Very Dear Wife”). Somewhere on the battlefield, where Ballou watched soldiers like himself lose their lives, he still happened to maintain a loving soul whose words spoke as if they descended straight from the heart. It is surprising to read expressions like Ballou’s, as we don’t hear many elaborative statements in our generation. This leaves me wondering how the past engulfed different individuals who weren’t afraid to express themselves, fearing “squirm,” and not only that but also maintain an expressive soul even while witnessing death and predicting the time of your own, where in Ballou’s case, his prediction happened to be true.
Through his letter, Ballou contradicts the hideous image of war, where his love and expressions to his son and wife present him to sound as if he wrote from La La Land.
The next influencing individual is the young Fusa Tsumagari, a Japanese girl residing in internment camps for being considered a suspect. In her letter to Miss Breed, the librarian who gifted her puzzles and coloring books to imbue her time, Tsumagari represents the childhood innocence that still survives despite what it has witnessed from living in a warzone. In her letter, she writes the following: “I really don’t know how to start this letter, as I have no good excuse for not having written to you sooner. My conscience has been bothering me in this regard, so if I don’t write and get this letter out soon, I’ll be having nightmares” (“Letter to Clara Breed”). In this letter, Tsumagari explains that her conscience torments her for responding late to Miss Breed’s letter that if she waits any longer, she will have nightmares. As this can be an exaggeration, Tsumagari alludes to her innocent soul that wasn’t affected by what it has endured. Usually, war raises adult children, but in Tsumagari’s case, her juvenile expressions proved the opposite.
Then there is Fanya, whose faith strengthened her to speak on behalf of her entire family. This occurred when she said, “I am dying for the sake of my people. I have not told a soul that I’m writing a letter before our death. But!… How I yearn to live and reach some good in life. But all is already lost… Farewell. Your relative Fanya in the name of everybody: Father, Mother, Sima, Sonia, Zusia, Rasia, Hatza (Yehezkel)” (“16 June 1942 – Last Letters from the Holocaust”). Here, Fanya contradicts the image of weakness we have of war victims, where her soul empowered by faith and belief in an inevitable salvation allowed her to speak on behalf of those whose words were suppressed by fear.
The next war victim is Claire, whose motherhood promoted neutrality even during the toughest times, as she wished to worry nobody. This is demonstrated by her pleads to her husband in her last letter, saying, “Please Moϊsino, don’t worry about us. We have everything we need” (“Last Letters from the Holocaust”). Claire, unknowing where her daughter was and being a single mother taking care of her son, maintained a caring tone, where she looked after the serenity of her husband before hers. Her daughter, Carmen, being similar to her, survived on her own and grew up to be the only survivor and speak for her family. Both Claire and Carmen alter the view of females in war, as one feared nothing and the other raised herself in a Holocaust.
Lastly, “George Kenner… a German artist who moved to London in 1910. During the war George was held at three internment camps, which inspired a lot of his artwork” (“Responses to War”). This is a remarkable contradiction of the hideousness of war, as Kenner, witnessing a war, still found hope that inspired him to perform art. Reflecting on these individuals leaves me wondering how humans are adaptable, but as Mayhew said, “It’s both hopeful and terrifying to consider…how adaptable humans are to the world around them and how easy it is for us to normalise crisis. I think that helps explain why humans have been so successful, and why we, to this day, still migrate across oceans (and endure great dangers and traumas) to try and create a better future for ourselves”. Humans can profoundly adapt to whichever conditions they are placed under, and this goes under the belief that no one’s soul is to bear more than it is capable of just like these individuals who altered the stereotypical image of war. These individuals not only represented themselves and their families, but many of those whose voices did not reach the world, and instead lied peacefully with their agonized souls.
Works Cited
“Last Letters from the Holocaust: 1944.” Yad Vashem, www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/las t-letters/1944/sorias.asp. Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.
“[Letter to Clara Breed from Fusa Tsumagari, Poston, Arizona, November 23, 1942].” – Works – Japanese American National Museum, 1 Jan. 1970, janm.emuseum.com/objects/18506/le tter-to-clara-breed-from-fusa-tsumagari-poston-arizona?ctx=cc5fe6032b727ec3210f677a05af557d5b8064d5&idx=21. Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.
Mayhew, Alex. “How Did Soldiers Cope with the Horrors of the Great War?” LSE Research, 19 Mar. 2024, www.lse.ac.uk/research/research-for-the-world/society/the-great-war-crisis. Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.
“‘My Very Dear Wife.’” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/a rticles/-my-very-dear-wife-the-last-letter-of-major-sullivan-ballou.htm. Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.
“Responses to War.” Never Such Innocence, www.neversuchinnocence.com/responses-to-war-fir st-world-war. Accessed 9 Oct. 2024. “16 June 1942 – Last Letters from the Holocaust.” Yad Vashem, www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhib itions/last-letters/1942/barbakow.asp. Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.
