Fate Of N.G. Missionaries
pp. 7-8 · Read in the full issue
About 90 Rescued by Allies: But Over 100 Dead or Missing on North Coast
ONE of the greatest tragedies in flicted' by war upon the Christian missionary organisations was dis closed in May, when the United States forces drove the Japanese out of Hollandia, and occupied that primi tive settlement on the north coast of Dutch New Guinea.
There, they found and succoured about 90 men and women missionaries who had been suffering severely from
imprisonment, cruelty, sickness and
starvation. They also gained tidings of some 65 North Coast missionaries who had died or been killed, and were told that about 50 have com
pletely disappeared.
MOST of these missionaries are Roman Catholics, members of the Society of the Divine Word. They were distributed in mission stations along the north coast of New Guinea, in two Vicariates—Eastern New Guinea, under Bishop Francis Wolf (killed) with head quarters at Alexishafen; and Central New Guinea, under Bishop Joseph Lorks (missing) with headquarters at Wewak.
The remainder were Lutherans, mostly members of the American Lutheran Church, and their headquarters were at Madang.
Although the Japanese invaded New Guinea in January, 1942, they paid little attention to the north coast until the end of that year; and the European mis sionaries there elected to continue their work, confident that tne Japanese would recognise them as non-belligerents and would not interfere with them. Perhaps they thought that the fact that they were mostly people of German blood would carry weight with the Asiatic partner of the Axis. Too late, they learned some thing of the true character of the Japs.
The Japs occupied the Madang-Wewak coast in January, 1943. It does not appear that, at first, they seriously interfered with the missionaries: but, as General Mac Arthur’s forces drove northwards, and defeated the invaders in battle after battle, the Japs began to treat the mis sionaries with harshness, and much delib erate cruelty.
When, finally, at the end of 1943, the Japanese were forced to retreat west wards, towards Dutch New Guinea, they rounded up all the missionaries—priests, nuns, brothers and Lutherans alike — forced them onto their small ships, and took them along. The purpose of this wholesale kidnapping is not clear: what is clear is that many of these unfortunate people were killed by the Japanese, or by the attacks of Allied planes upon Jap ships, or died of hardship.
The Sydney representative of the Divine Word has very kindly made avail able to us the following data relating to the personnel in the two Vicariates over whelmed by the enemy invasion:—
Rescued In Hollandia
FATHERS.—Bohm, Fuchs, Hempelmann, Jischke, Kemmerling, Meiser, Laurenz, Mey, Noss, Nowak, Schorr. Stefanskl, Tschauder, Becker, Bias, Fastehrath, Gerstner, Kunisch, Schafer.
Tropper, Donkers, Clerkin, Hagan, Wiesenthal, Kunze, Scfimidt, Ladener, van Baar.
BROTHERS. —Sylvester, Modestus, Venantius, Bodo, Emil. Emmerich, Gregor, Wenzeslaus, Edelfried, Serenus, Wendalin, Cletus, Otto, Leonhard, Gerhoch, Heribert, Aventinus, Chry sostomus, Ambrosius, Januarius, Berchmans, Otgerus, Sylvester, Bonfllius, Nyssenus, Beda, Beatus, Bogumil, Isidor.
SISTERS. —Eurista, Baltildis, Milreda, Elreda, Billetrud, Siglinda, Arsenia, Christiana, Alma, Xaverine, Vincentiana, Nazaria, Hadwina, Francis, Monulpha, Herona, Irmingardis, Ottonia, Lisa, Nomitia, Mathilda. Christophera, Nicola, Rigoberta, Alexis, Petroca.
Missing—Fate Unknown
BISHOP. —Lorks.
FATHERS. —Ketrba, Bernd, de Bruyn, Hansen, Manion, Gehberger, Otto, May, Meyer, Muller, Prinz, Reif, Romanski, Wachter, Wlnzenhorlem, Derowski.
BROTHERS. —Siegbert, Heldemar, Ananias.
Fabian, Hyazinth, Bartholomaus, Andreas, Augus tinus, Melchior, Michael, Benignus, Viktor, Bonosus, Ansgar, Ephrem, Raphael, Rupert, Joachim.
SISTERS. —Heriberta, Übaldine, Aquina, Mac huta, Arildis, Adelaide, Criscentia, Monika, Angeline, Kunigundis, Zeta, Itaberga, Helde mara, Alphonsa, Perpetua, Imeldine, Imata, Hildegunda.
Dead
Bishop.—Woif.
FATHERS.—Baumert, Felzmann, Horsch, Konen, Luttmer, Schebesta, Tranel, Dingels, Jakob.
BROTHERS.—Firmatus, Baldomer, Symphorian, Arbogast, Metellus, Jason, Jakobus, Syrus, Lucidius, Matthias, Vos, Fabian, Cornelius, Cleophas, Matthias, Seimetz, Aloisius, Edelbert, Marcolinus, Emmanuel, Aufridus.
SISTERS. —Imelda, Hedwig, Gertraud, Matritia, Milita, Ferdinanda, Constantine, Festina, Dionera, Aquirina, Emiliana, Rotrudis, There sildis, Bernreda. Basiella, Annetta, Annacrescenz, Theophane, Hermingardis, Barnaba, Isbalda, Deotilla, Gudulana, Dolrosia, Adulpha, Melasia, Domitiana. Valentine, Layolina, Theodoriana, Egilberta, Ehrentrudis, Cunera, Almaria, Code berta, Klaria.
So far as is known, the above lists account for every one of the Roman Catholic missionaries who were still on the stations when the Japs invaded. If the names of missionaries who were known to have been on those stations in 1942 &re not in the lists, it means that they probably are safe. A small num ber of men and women did manage to get out just in time, and they were taken safely to Australia.
Missionaries Lost Elsewhere
THE foregoing does not end the list of missionaries lost in New Guinea.
The rapid Jap invasion of New Britain and New Ireland cut off nearly all mission personnel there, and men of all denominations are still among the
missing.
The Roman Catholics were by far the heaviest losers. In the Vicariate of Rabaul (in charge of Bishop Scharmach, at Kokopo), which included New Britain.
New Ireland and the Admiralty Islands.
There were approximately 1 Bishop, 57 Priests, 50 Brothers and 77 Sisters—a total of 185. All became prisoners.
In the Gilbert Islands Vicariate (in cluding Nauru) when it was over-run by the Japs in 1941. there were Bishop Ter rienne, 13 Priests, 9 Brothers and 30 Sisters, Rev. Father Theil, Procurator of the Sacred Heart Mission, in Sydney (both Rabaul and Gilbert Islands belong to the Sacred Heart Order) advised us in May that he had no information about the
Priests. Brothers. Sisters. Total.
Rescued .. .. 27 29 26 8~ Missing 15 16 9 Dead 9 19 36 64 TOTAL .. .. 51 66 81 198
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185 Rabaul missionaries—it is assumed th ey aje being held prisoners somewhere.
AU missionaries who were in the Gilbert Islands, occupied recently by the Americans, are safe, says the Procurator
—except Father Lebeau, who died during the Jap occupation, and Fathers Marquis and Durand, who were last heard of as beine in the hands of the Japanese in the Marshall Islands