Womb of Diamonds by Ezra Choueke

Author:Ezra Choueke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ezra Choueke

Rationing

Before I could adjust to the many responsibilities related to raising a child, going to the office, and taking care of our home, help unexpectedly arrived from abroad. My brother David, in search of new opportunities in business, decided to join us in Kobe. He first helped Ezra with his correspondence and then started a business of his own.

I was thrilled to have an ally but knew it couldn’t last. My mother-in-law was very aware that David’s business involved exporting cotton. She correctly understood that there was the potential for competition between my husband and my brother. However, she was very gracious to let David live with us until he could support himself.

After David was earning enough to send Mama some money every month, he moved out. I missed living with him but knew my mother-in-law’s opinion on the subject: “One Esses in the house is more than enough!”

After David’s departure from the house, constructing my schedule so that all the needs of the family and office were met was difficult. Fortunately, with Farida’s help cooking and Sakura’s help with the baby, I was able to manage. Unfortunately, just when I had figured everything out, one part of my day became much more difficult.

When I had arrived in Japan, the most difficult part of shopping had been making the money to buy the food. The subsequent trip to four or five small markets was not an ordeal for an Aleppo girl. If you had the money, the shopkeepers were happy to take it. I made many working friendships with the food vendors and was able to buy everything at a good price. If I ever had time late in the afternoon, I returned to the market and bought the food for the next day at a substantial discount because the vendors’ had limited refrigeration.

Like little Frieda depended on me for sustenance, we depended on the prosperity of Japan to provide us with our daily necessities. However, on the political front, the country was in a precarious situation. Japan’s incursions into China resulted in European and American outrage over the military expansion. The West’s hypocrisy created anger in Japan. The one-sided criticism denouncing Japan’s efforts to expand into China seemed to ignore the fact that the West already maintained interests in Hong Kong, Singapore, India, the Philippines, Guam, the East Indies, Wake Island, and other territories. Internationally, the country was also ailing from deteriorating world diplomacy. Japan faced the possibility of the Soviet Union, the Netherlands, Great Britain, China, and the United States all joining up against her.6 The threat was only magnified further when Russia signed a treaty with Germany on August 23, 1939, and World War Two began with the invasion of Poland on September first. Japan had been losing many soldiers in battles with the Soviet Union over territory along the Manchurian/Russian border.7 The Soviet surprise alliance with Germany, which had long been sought as Japan’s own ally,8 created additional concerns over the strengths of their adversaries.

A few

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