Occupied China & Swiss protection

WWII used allied passport with protection endorsements inside.

 

Following the Japanese occupation of larger sections of China, which until December of 1941 was rather limited to smaller sections of the eastern coast, not forgetting of course the earlier occupation of the North-East (Manchuria), many foreign civilians who up to then were living in relative safety, considering the situation, found themselves under harsh and unprotected environment.

 

This was the case in Chinese larger eastern cities, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Canton and Hong Kong. For a period of 100 years foreigners decided to make China their home. They had strong connections to the local community, good jobs with high salaries and a high standard of life. One could even say that they “imported” part of old Europe into their new home in Asia.

 

As mentioned above, this all changed towards Christmas of 1941 with the Japanese forces entering into the above mentioned cities. What was a peaceful and detached life from the raging war around them before, came to an end. One can look at this as the “beginning of the end” to western influence and presence in old China.

 

Most found themselves interned inside civilian internment camps: those belonging to the Allied side, for example: British, American, Dutch, Belgium, French, Polish and more were closed into camps, and those who were part of the Axis, say Italian and German, were not interned (this was not the case for the German Jews, who were placed inside the special ‘Shanghai Jewish Ghetto’ in Hongqiao from 1943-1945).

 

As was the case in occupied Europe, the neutral countries were permitted to continue running their legations and consulates in occupied China as well. As in Europe, they assumed the position of taking care of the interests of those who were now unable to benefit from the protection of their country’s consulates. These consulates and legations now added another department: The section for protection of foreign interests. In China we can find the Swiss consulates, in both Beijing and Shanghai, which took care of these interests:

 

 

“Swiss Consulate General – Section for Protection of American Interests – Shanghai”

 

“Representative of the Swiss Consul General – In Charge of British Interests – Beijing”

 

” Swiss Consulate General – Section for Protection of British Interests – Shanghai”.

 

 

The image here, taken from a British 1933 Passport issued in Shanghai (the story of the individual and this passport will be a subject to a future article), has the endorsement & personal hand signatures of those who were assigned to offer such protection in both Shanghai and Beijing during the years 1943, 1944 & 1945.

 

The Swiss diplomat in Shanghai (based at the Messageries Maritimes Building) was named Dr. Wilhelm Schilling, and here is some biographical information about him:

 

• Born in 1902 in British India, Madras, he obtained his university degree at Zurich.   His career at the Swiss Foreign Service started in 1935, the year he joined. His posting was to Shanghai, for a period of 9 years (1937-1946). His further postings took him to Berne, Washington, Chicago at the US and again returning back to Berne. He is also credited for participating in the founding of the Swiss Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. He retired in 1960. He was highly respected and admired by the Allies for his countless efforts and work.

 

The other individual who signed this passport was also a Swiss diplomat, based in Beijing, named Dr. Reinhard Hoeppli:

 

• Born in 1893 in Wiesbaden, Germany, he was a physician who specialized in parasitology with a position of a professor at the university. He started to assist the foreigners after he joined the Department of foreign Affairs in 1942 as a representative of the Consulate General of Switzerland in charge of foreign interests (from the period of 1942 to 1946). His work did not end there after the war, with a continuation of his posting in China, Beijing, from 1948 to 1952 as cultural affairs attaché.

 

It was not easy to work in occupied China under war time conditions, but these two diplomats contributed to their “community” with their round-the-clock work and effort. Every drop in the ocean counts.

 

 

“The biographical information on Wilhelm Schilling and Reinhard Hoeppli was provided by the History Unit of the Federal Department of foreign Affairs of Switzerland”.

 

 

Thank you for reading “Our Passports”.