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How in Heaven's Name scrap

How in Heaven's Name

  • Author(s)

    Jo Jung-rae조정래

  • Translator(s)

  • Publisher

    Merwin AsiaMerwin Asia

  • Country

    UNITED STATES

  • Language

    English(English)

  • Year Published

    2012

  • Target User

  • Period

Description 작품 소개

How in Heaven's Name is a microcosm of the uprooting and dislocation that have characterized much of modern Korean and East Asian history. It is based on the true story of several Korean youths who in the late 1930s were lured into the Japanese Imperial Army either through promises by the Japanese colonial overlords of a government clerkship upon discharge or by means of threats to transplant their entire families to colonial outposts in Manchuria. Upon joining the Imperial Army, these Koreans were sent to Manchuria and thence to Mongolia, where they were captured by joint Mongolian-Soviet forces and then offered the options of joining the Soviet Red Army or being returned to the Japanese, at whose hands they faced certain execution for allowing themselves to be captured during battle instead of committing ritual suicide. The Koreans who elected to join the Red Army were than transported west, where they served in the defense of Moscow against the massive German offensive of 1942. Captured by the Germans, they spent a year and a half in German POW camps, until early 1944, when the German high command began active preparation for the large-scale Atlantic Ocean-based invasion they expected from the Allies. This serendipitous process explains why on D-Day, June 6, 1944, among those captured by the Americans who landed at Omaha Beach were soldiers in German Wehrmacht uniforms who had Asian features and spoke a language no one understood. At a time when the U.S. presence abroad remains controversial, How in Heaven's Name serves as a reminder of the countless hidden effects and untold stories of those who are swept up by world geopolitical forces beyond their control. Reference : Merwin Asia. "How in Heaven's Name", https://www.merwinasia.com/how-in-heavens-name. accessed 25 Oct 2023.

Author Bio 작가 소개

Jo Jung-rae

Jo Jung-rae조정래

How in Heaven's Name is a microcosm of the uprooting and dislocation that have characterized much of modern Korean and East Asian history. It is based on the true story of several Korean youths who in the late 1930s were lured into the Japanese Imperial Army either through promises by the Japanese colonial overlords of a government clerkship upon discharge or by means of threats to transplant their entire families to colonial outposts in Manchuria. Upon joining the Imperial Army, these Koreans were sent to Manchuria and thence to Mongolia, where they were captured by joint Mongolian-Soviet forces and then offered the options of joining the Soviet Red Army or being returned to the Japanese, at whose hands they faced certain execution for allowing themselves to be captured during battle instead of committing ritual suicide. The Koreans who elected to join the Red Army were than transported west, where they served in the defense of Moscow against the massive German offensive of 1942. Captured by the Germans, they spent a year and a half in German POW camps, until early 1944, when the German high command began active preparation for the large-scale Atlantic Ocean-based invasion they expected from the Allies. This serendipitous process explains why on D-Day, June 6, 1944, among those captured by the Americans who landed at Omaha Beach were soldiers in German Wehrmacht uniforms who had Asian features and spoke a language no one understood. At a time when the U.S. presence abroad remains controversial, How in Heaven's Name serves as a reminder of the countless hidden effects and untold stories of those who are swept up by world geopolitical forces beyond their control. Reference : Merwin Asia. "How in Heaven's Name", https://www.merwinasia.com/how-in-heavens-name. accessed 25 Oct 2023.

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