Monograph #2 -- MS Gripsholm and the US-Japan Diplomatic Exchanges in World War II

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by Louis Fiset

Introduction

This is the second monograph in a series produced by members of the Military Postal History Society, published in August 2023.

Content

Using postal documentation as primary evidence, this monograph tells a story of the two diplomatic exchanges between the US and Japan involving the Swedish liner, MS Gripsholm, a vessel that returned 6,000 diplomats, businessmen, missionaries, and internees, including women and children, to their home countries following internment in enemy territories.

The 56 illustrations of postal history cover the time period from December 1941 through December 1943. To provide historical context for them, contemporaneous sources were consulted – cable communications between the State Department and Japan’s Foreign Ministry, press coverage, and biographical sketches of repatriates.

This work represents a major part of a larger story that involved more than 50 mercy ships and numerous neutral governments to repatriate more than 30,000 noncombatants held by the major warring nations.

Publicly accessible:

Table of Contents and Index Pages

Accessible to MPHS members-only:

Complete Monograph PDF

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