Photo/Illutration Teruo Matsumoto, right, and Wieslaw Theiss, left, talk about the orphan's diary at the Tsuruga city office in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, on Nov. 8. (Ippei Yaoita)

TSURUGA, Fukui Prefecture--Even though Polish orphans fleeing war-torn Siberia arrived on these shores almost a century ago, journalist Teruo Matsumoto believes their story still holds a relevant message for today.

Matsumoto, who lives in Poland, and college professor Wieslaw Theiss donated more than 200 documents on Polish orphans, including a handwritten diary, they collected in Poland at the Tsuruga city office on Nov. 8. They said that they hoped the documents would be shown and be useful for people.

Matsumoto said refugees still exist around the world even today.

“I hope that Tsuruga will be at the center for disseminating messages when people think about humanitarian problems,” he said. “I would like people to look at the documents, know about historical facts, and stop and think about them.”

Matsumoto and Theiss have been researching the history of Polish orphans who came to Tsuruga Port during the Taisho Era (1912-1926). These orphans were children who lost their families in the chaos in Siberia following the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Rescue missions of the Japanese Red Cross Society, which were requested by the Japanese government, made it possible for more than 700 children to flee to safety in Tsuruga Port between 1920 and 1922.

In Poland, Matsumoto and Theiss have been collecting the documents and testimonies about the orphans for about 40 years.

The city aims to display the documents at the new Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum, which will be reopened after it moves to another location in fall 2020 and increases the number of documents on display.

The donated documents include an orphan girl’s diary; fliers calling for helping orphans; magazines and photos of the time; and interview records of orphans.

In the diary, which the girl wrote in Russian, she described her memories of Tsuruga, including having meals and swimming in the sea.

On Nov. 8, Matsumoto and Theiss met Mayor Takanobu Fuchikami at the city office and handed the document list to him.

“We would like to have these precious documents displayed and be passed on in the future,” the mayor said.

In the meeting, they showed off the photos, which were discovered recently at a college library in Poland.

The photos show children swimming in the sea and a scene in which Japanese and foreign children shake hands. On the back of one of the photos is written, “Polish orphans at Tsuruga Port.”

The two said that they will continue to conduct research on the orphans.

“To know about history leads to our future," Theiss said. "I hope that the documents will be useful for people’s exchanges beyond their country's borders and children’s education.”

The city government started displaying copies of the flier, which calls for helping the Polish orphans, at the current museum here from Nov. 9.