Dear Teacher,
In 1952 I graduated from Tongji University and was assigned to the Anshan Integrated Iron and Steel Works in what is now the province of Liaoning in northeastern China, not very far from Dalian. In that year it was also the beginning of the first Five-Year Plan of the Communist Government.
One train filled with over one thousand graduates from Shanghai made the journey to their new work together. We gathered, in force, at the Anshan Iron and Steel Company. We were told that all the country was in support of us because iron and steel were so important to China’s future. In that time, we felt deeply stable, arrogant and ready to give our lives for the motherland.
In 1952 to 1953 another movement was launched this one with the goal to “maintain secrecy.” This was a small-scale movement, but it created much grief and heartache for so many people. I have a cousin who had a job in Shenyang and her boyfriend was working in Harbin. Shenyang and Harbin are both in northeastern China with Harbin being farther northeast. If you want to go from Harbin to Shanghai you must pass Shenyang. That year they agreed to meet at Shenyang and go to Shanghai for their marriage ceremony. On the appointed day my cousin waited for his train to arrive at the railway station, but he never came. My cousin did not know what to do. She was so disappointed and feared that perhaps he had changed his mind and did not want her. People tried to contact him but he could not be reached and no one at his work had seen or heard from him. For a very long time there was not a single word about him or any message from him. At last there was a rumor that he had been arrested at the station because he had taken a drawing back to his apartment to work on in the evening. He was not heard from for three years.
Since my cousin did not know what really happened she tried to go on with her life. In 1955 just as she was going to be married to another man, her first boyfriend was released and he, at last, made the trip to Shenyang. After much personal grief for many people and careful consideration, my cousin decided to marry the first boyfriend.
Sincerely, Robert