Martyr in China

Chapter 6. In the Concentration Camp

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Fr. John's service included house arrest and concentration camp

During the first year of the war, Fr. Botton had written several letters to his relatives to reassure them that he was far from the fighting and that he did not expect it to affect his area; but the bombs began to fall on Zhengzhou at the beginning of 1938, and the sisters of Juzhou made a large Italian flag which they spread on the roof of the church.  After the flooding of the Yellow River a period of calm settled on Henan; but the enemy planes returned again the following year. The first bombs fell on Juzhou at the beginning of 1939 and damaged the church. Fr. Botton, covered in dust, rushed into the town center to help the injured.

The Japanese systematically occupied the eastern coast of China in order to thwart the influx of weapons destined to the Chinese troops; other divisions occupied Thailand and Burma to cut off any help from the south. Hong Kong, in spite of the fact that it was under British rule, was also occupied by the Japanese.

Since the relief work was continuing without interruption, bishop Luigi Calza called Fr. Botton to Zhengzhou in September 1940 and appointed him Procurator of the mission. Fr. John had to leave Juzhou, his first love, with great regret.

I am keeping well and am in good company. I think of you and hold you in my prayers. Send me your news. With much love, John
Fr. John Botton

In Zhengzhou, Fr. Botton had much to worry him. After long drawn out preparations with the authorities (letters, recommendations, etc.), he finally obtained permission for Fr. Mario Frassineti, the director of the hospital, to travel around for a few months; Fr. Capra, the director of the works, also left leaving Fr. Botton to supervise six teams of bricklayers, and so on. In his letters he told how the hospital alone would be more than enough to wear him out. In the meantime, work was also going on in the opposite side of the town to erect a spinning mill to provide employment for 400 refugees.

This apparent calm was disturbed by dark clouds that announced a forthcoming storm. Italy had joined the war alongside Germany: both countries were friendly with Japan and, therefore, enemies of China. Suspicions and accusations were rife in the highest spheres. The fathers of the hospital of Zhengzhou were even suspected of keeping radio communication with the enemy. They only managed with difficulty to convince them that these were unfounded suspicions. Nevertheless, the attitude of the Chinese authorities, especially within the army, was no longer benevolent towards the mission. The missionaries were accused on account of their nationality and were expecting some serious measures to be taken against them at any time.

This duly arrived on May 6, 1942: the Italians were given one month to present themselves at the concentration camp in Neixiang, near the town of Nanyang, in southern Henan.

On June 2, they left on small carts that were pulled by men because there were no animals available and with a police escort. They traveled 300 miles with the temperature at 110 F in the shade. The roads were covered by a layer of dust that was whipped up by the wind and the wheels of the cart; occasionally the wheels would sink in the mud and their journey became even slower. They ate the typical Chinese food in the inns they found along the way.

After a journey that lasted two weeks, they reached Neixiang and given shelter in an old pagoda that had no facilities of any kind. Even the windows and the doors were missing and there were holes on the roof that let the rain through.

They were worn out by the journey, but it was the already sick bishop who showed the greatest suffering and who was, more than anyone else, saddened by what had happened to the mission.

The local Mandarin told them that they were not in a concentration camp, but that they had simply been removed from the front line as a security measure; consequently, the authorities were not obliged to maintain them. Fr. Botton as Procurator of the Mission took it upon himself to provide for the needs of the missionaries. They managed to obtain some meager form of sustenance by providing elementary medical attention, especially the treatment of eye problems.

There is only one brief letter of that period: Fr. Botton wrote it to his father on Red Cross stationery and it was dated August 6, 1943: “I am keeping well and am in good company. I think of you and hold you in my prayers. Send me your news. With much love, John”.

From other sources, we know that the bishop became seriously ill and arrangements were made to have him taken back to his hospital in Zhengzhou for treatment. He arrived in Xuchang with Fr. John Castelli in the first days of October 1942. He was admitted to the hospital where Fr. Ermanno Zulian had been authorized to remain behind to look after the sick.

The bishop made a fair recovery and the police wanted to send him back to Neixiang in January 1943. Instead, it was Fr. Zulian who left with the Canossian nuns, who had also been sentenced to the concentration camp, and the bishop remained alone.

Fathers Zulian and Botton were released from the concentration camp in November 1943.

Towards the middle of April 1944 bishop Calza decided to leave the town because the Japanese were about to arrive. The bishop withdrew to the mountains, taking with him some Chinese nuns of the religious Congregation he had founded. Fathers Botton and Zulian stayed in the town to look after the hospital.

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