Children of WWII

ANN CURRY: A JAPANESE AMERICA GIRL SHUNNED AND LOCKED WAY BY THE COMMUNITY SHE GREW UP IN... PEOPLE WERE THROWING ROCKS AT ME, SPITTING ON ME.

ANN: DESPERATE TO FIND THE BEST FRIEND WHO STOOD UP FOR HER.

SHE WAS A VERY STRONG FRIEND AT A TIME WHEN IT WAS NOT GOOD TO BE JAPANESE.

I'VE GOT TO GET TO MARY FRANCES BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

ANN: AND A 7-YEAR-OLD JEWISH REFUGEE, WHO FLED NAZI GERMANY... MAN: NO OTHER COUNTRY WOULD TAKE US.

SO YOU WERE STATELESS.

CORRECT.

ANN: ONLY TO FIND A SENSE OF FAMILY AND BELONGING IN AN UNLIKELY PLACE, THE SHANGHAI GHETTO.

THE BEST ADJECTIVE WAS SURROGATE FATHER.

CHARLIE PUTH: ♪ WE'VE COME A LONG WAY ♪ ANN: THE TIDES OF HISTORY HAVE THROWN STRANGERS TOGETHER... PUTH: ♪ I'LL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN ♪ AND TORN LOVED ONES APART.

PUTH: ♪ WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN ♪ ANN: NOW THE SEARCH IS ON... WE'RE GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER.

OH, HOW ARE YOU DOING?

OH.

OH.

ANN: TO BRING THEM TOGETHER AGAIN.

UNREAL.

I NEED A REAL HUG.

PUTH: ♪ WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN ♪ JAPAN'S ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR ON DECEMBER 7, 1941, FORCED THE UNITED STATES TO ENTER WORLD WAR II.

THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE CHANGED OVERNIGHT, NOT LEAST TWO SMALL CHILDREN ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE WORLD, WHO EACH FOUND THAT FRIENDSHIP COULD GET THEM THROUGH EVEN THE DARKEST OF DAYS.

RECOGNIZE THIS?

OH, THAT'S MY FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM.

ANN: WHEN REIKO NAGUMO WAS BORN IN LOS ANGELES IN 1934, SHE WAS THE YOUNGEST OF 6 CHILDREN AND ONE OF AN ESTIMATED 120,000 JAPANESE AMERICANS LIVING IN THE U.S., MAINLY ON THE WEST COAST.

THERE YOU ARE THERE.

LOOK.

ARE YOU THE BIG GIRL THERE?

NO.

THE BIG GIRL IS MY SISTER MARIKO.

OH, OK.

I LOVE THE PICTURE OF YOU IN THE SOMBRERO.

THAT'S GREAT.

MY MOTHER DID NOT WANT US TO MIX WITH OTHER JAPANESE KIDS.

SHE THOUGHT IT WAS NOT A GOOD THING.

WE SHOULD PLAY WITH OUR AMERICAN FRIENDS DOWN THE STREET.

WE USED TO PLAY HOPSCOTCH RIGHT HERE.

ANN: CHILDREN PLAYING IN HOLLYWOOD WOULD WRITE THE NAMES OF MOVIE STARS ON THEIR HOPSCOTCH MARKERS.

YOU'D GET VERY SMART, AND YOU'D PUT ANOTHER ONE NEXT TO SHIRLEY TEMPLE LIKE MICKEY ROONEY, AND THEN YOU'D GET TWO THAT SOMEBODY'D HAVE TO JUMP OVER, AND THEN YOU'D GET 3 IN A ROW.

REIKO SAYS THE ONLY TIME SHE FELT DIFFERENT FROM HERS FRIENDS WAS WHEN SHE WAS AT HOME, SPEAKING JAPANESE TO HER IMMIGRANT PARENTS, WHO HAD COME TO AMERICA DECADES EARLIER SEEKING A BETTER LIFE.

SO LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS AND ABOUT ONE IN PARTICULAR, WHO YOU MET.

THERE WAS A PARTICULAR GIRL.

HER NAME WAS MARY FRANCES.

SHE HAD A LITTLE POINTY NOSE-- MINE WAS ROUND AND LITTLE-- AND WAS JUST AT MY SIDE ALL THE TIME.

WE HELD HANDS LIKE LITTLE GIRLS DO.

WE DID EVERYTHING TOGETHER IT SEEMED.

WE DID THINGS, PLAYED EVERY DAY.

I LOOK BACK AND SAY SHE REALLY WAS A WONDERFUL FRIEND IN THE REAL SENSE.

ANN, VOICE-OVER: REIKO'S WORLD WOULD SOON CHANGE DRAMATICALLY.

5,500 MILES AWAY ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN, JAPAN'S EMPEROR HIROHITO SET EVENTS IN MOTION THAT WOULD SOON HAVE MASSIVE IMPLICATIONS FOR AMERICA.

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT: DECEMBER 7, 1941, A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY.

[ECHOING] INFAMY.

ANN: THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR KILLED OR WOUNDED SOME 3,500 AMERICANS.

ONE DAY LATER, PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT DECLARED WAR ON JAPAN.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER: THE DIE IS CAST.

AMERICA IS AT WAR.

ANN: FOR REIKO AND HER JAPANESE-BORN PARENTS, IT WAS CATASTROPHIC NEWS.

REIKO: MY MOTHER AND FATHER HEARD ABOUT THE WAR WHEN THEY WERE IN CHURCH ON SUNDAY MORNING.

THE PRIEST TOLD THEM TO GO HOME VERY QUIETLY, "DON'T BRING ATTENTION TO YOURSELF, OR YOU MIGHT HAVE TROUBLE GOING HOME."

ANN, VOICE-OVER: JAPAN'S SURPRISE ATTACK SPARKED INTENSE HOSTILITY TOWARDS ANYONE OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY... NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER: UP AND DOWN THE WEST COAST, THE SLOGAN OF THE DAY IS "WATCH THOSE JAPS."

ANN, VOICE-OVER: INCLUDING LITTLE REIKO.

ANN: THE OTHER KIDS WERE TREATING YOU PRETTY POORLY.

THEY WERE CALLING ME NAMES, RUNNING AFTER ME, TRYING TO HIT ME, AND SOME OF THEM DID.

HIT YOU?

YES, AND THEN SPIT ON ME AND THROWING STUFF, WHATEVER THEY COULD FIND.

ANN, VOICE-OVER: AND MARY FRANCES' PARENTS WEREN'T IMMUNE FROM ILL FEELINGS TOWARDS THE JAPANESE.

MARY FRANCES CAME UP TO ME AND SAID, "MY MAMA TOLD ME TO TELL YOU "THAT WE'RE AT WAR WITH JAPAN AND YOU'RE JAPANESE, SO I CAN'T PLAY WITH YOU ANYMORE."

THAT WAS SO PAINFUL, SO CRUSHING.

THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME ANYBODY VERBALLY TOLD ME THAT THEY COULDN'T PLAY WITH ME, AND THE CAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE WAS MY RACE, AND THAT'S WHEN I WAS REALIZING THIS WAS BAD NEWS THAT I WAS JAPANESE.

I DIDN'T WANT TO BE JAPANESE ANYMORE.

ANN, VOICE-OVER: REIKO STILL REMEMBERS BEING DEVASTATED, RETURNING FROM THE CHRISTMAS VACATION WEEKS LATER, BUT THEN MARY FRANCES SHOWED HER A KINDNESS SHE HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN.

SHE CAME UP TO ME AND SAID, "OH, REIKO.

YOU'VE GOT TO SEE WHAT WONDERFUL THINGS I GOT."

AT CHRISTMAS?

WHAT SHE GOT FOR CHRISTMAS?

YEAH.

SHE GOT THE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS.

SHE WANTED TO SHARE WITH ME, AND I SAID, "YEAH, BUT YOUR MOTHER SAID YOU COULDN'T PLAY WITH ME," AND SHE SAID, "SHE WON'T KNOW."

SO SHE TAKES ME TO HER APARTMENT HOUSE, AND AS WE'RE GOING INTO THE APARTMENT, SOMEBODY ELSE IS COMING IN THROUGH THE BACK DOOR, AND MARY FRANCES SAID, "IT'S UNCLE BILL.

HIDE BEHIND THE SOFA."

UNCLE BILL COMES IN, AND HE CAME UP CLOSE TO ME LIKE THIS, AND HE SAID, "YOU GO HOME, AND DON'T YOU EVER COME BACK, AND, MARY FRANCES," HE SAYS, LOOKING AT HER, "I'M GONNA PUNISH YOU."

OH, I FELT SO TERRIBLE, AND I RAN ALL THE WAY HOME AND CRIED.

BECAUSE OF WHAT I DID, SHE WAS GONNA GET PUNISHED.

ANN, VOICE-OVER: EVEN NOW AT 83, REIKO WONDERS WHERE MARY FRANCES FOUND THE COURAGE TO DISOBEY HER PARENTS.

SHE WAS A VERY STRONG FRIEND, VERY STRONG PERSON TO DO WHAT SHE DID FOR ME, TO SHOW HER FRIENDSHIP AT A TIME WHEN IT WAS NOT GOOD TO BE JAPANESE.

REIKO: GOOD MORNING, BOYS AND GIRLS, AND WELCOME TO THE CALIFORNIA MUSEUM.

ANN, VOICE-OVER: FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS, REIKO HAS TOLD HER STORY TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN, HELPING THEM UNDERSTAND WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE A JAPANESE AMERICAN CHILD DURING WORLD WAR II.

REIKO: THE FBI HAD A LIST OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE BORN IN JAPAN.

THEY WOULD GO TO PEOPLE'S HOUSE, KNOCK ON THEIR DOOR, NO INFORMATION BEFORE THAT "WE'RE COMING."

LIKE, MY FATHER WAS PICKED UP.

ANN: AND WITH EACH PASSING YEAR THAT SHE TELLS THE STORY OF THE LITTLE GIRL WHO SHOWED REAL COURAGE IN STANDING UP FOR HER, REIKO'S WISH TO FIND MARY FRANCES GROWS.

REIKO: MY FRIEND MARY FRANCES WHITE, SHE STARTED FINDING WAYS TO CONTINUE OUR FRIENDSHIP.

I WAS SO HAPPY BECAUSE I WAS FRIGHTENED, AND SHE MADE EVERYTHING ALL WORTHWHILE.

WHEN ALL THE OTHER KIDS WERE MEAN TO ME, SHE WAS MY FRIEND, AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT... ANN: YOU FEEL AN OBLIGATION TO THANK HER AFTER ALL OF THESE YEARS.

IT SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT HOW MUCH IT MEANT TO YOU THAT SHE STOOD UP FOR YOU.

I OWE SOMETHING TO THE CHILDREN THAT I'VE TOLD THE STORY TO ABOUT HOW PAINFUL IT IS TO THINK ABOUT MAYBE I'LL DIE AND NOT EVERY BE ABLE TO SAY THANK YOU.

WE GOT TO FIND MARY FRANCES.

ANN: ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD DURING WORLD WAR II, ANOTHER CHILD'S LIFE WAS BEING TURNED UPSIDE DOWN.

YOU WERE CUTE.

HA HA HA!

ANN: PETER ENGLER, HERE WITH HIS WIFE DINA, WAS BORN IN BERLIN IN 1934 TO JEWISH PARENTS ONE YEAR AFTER HITLER CAME TO POWER IN GERMANY.

AT 5 YEARS OLD, HE WAS THERE FOR KRISTALLNACHT, THE NIGHT OF THE BROKEN GLASS.

NOVEMBER 9-10, 1938, THAT'S WHEN THE NAZIS WENT TO SMASH ALL THE WINDOWS IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE COUNTRY.

[PEOPLE SHOUTING] ANN: THOUSANDS OF JEWISH HOMES, SCHOOLS, AND SYNAGOGUES WERE ATTACKED.

MORE THAN 30,000 JEWISH MEN WERE ARRESTED.

NEWS OF THE ATTACK SENT SHOCKWAVES AROUND THE WORLD.

PETER: FOR MANY YEARS, I HAD AN ABNORMAL REACTION TO THE SOUND OF BROKEN GLASS.

ANN: BY 1938, THE NAZIS WERE ALSO TARGETING JEWISH ACADEMICS AND INTELLECTUALS.

PETER'S FATHER, A CHEMIST, WAS IN DANGER.

PETER: MY PARENTS DECIDED IT'S TIME TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY, BUT HITLER HAD REQUIRED ALL THE JEWISH PEOPLE TO HAND IN THEIR PASSPORT, AND THEY STAMPED A BIG, RED "J" ON THE FRONT PAGE, SO NO OTHER COUNTRY WOULD TAKE US, NOT THE UNITED STATES, NOT GREAT BRITAIN.

SO YOU WERE STATELESS.

WE WERE STATELESS, CORRECT.

AND YOU NEEDED A COUNTRY THAT WOULD TAKE IN A STATELESS PERSON.

CORRECT.

MY MOTHER LEARNED THAT THE CITY OF SHANGHAI BEFORE THE SECOND WORLD WAR WAS AN "OPEN PORT."

ANYBODY COULD ARRIVE THERE, GET OFF THE BOAT.

THERE WAS NO PASSPORT CONTROL.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER: ALREADY, THERE ARE OVER 100,000 REFUGEES IN SHANGHAI, YET JEWISH REFUGEES FROM GERMANY ARE SWELLING THEIR NUMBERS.

ANN: PETER AND HIS PARENTS FINALLY ESCAPED NAZI GERMANY IN JANUARY 1939.

NOW THE ENGLERS COULD START REBUILDING THEIR LIVES IN THE CHINESE COASTAL CITY.

NOW THIS IS A CEDAR CHEST THAT WE BROUGHT ALONG FROM SHANGHAI.

IN THIS CEDAR CHEST, I KEEP A CARTON OF MEMORABILIA THAT WE HAD COLLECTED PRIMARILY IN SHANGHAI.

ANN: HOURS AFTER THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR, JAPANESE TROOPS ENTERED SHANGHAI, OFFICIALLY OCCUPYING THE CITY.

SUDDENLY, THE WAR PETER AND HIS FAMILY THOUGHT THEY HAD LEFT BEHIND CAUGHT UP WITH THEM.

PETER: I THINK THEY LOBBED A FEW SHELLS INTO THE CITY, AND THEN THE WORLD CHANGED AGAIN.

THE SCHOOL THAT I WENT TO WAS CLOSED OVER NIGHT.

IT BECAME A PRISONER OF WAR CAMP FOR THE BRITS AND THE AMERICANS, A VERY BRUTAL ONE I'M TOLD.

ANN: JAPAN QUICKLY ESTABLISHED A GHETTO OF JEWISH REFUGEES IN SHANGHAI.

PETER: THE JAPANESE ISSUED A PROCLAMATION THAT ALL STATELESS REFUGEES HAD TO MOVE TO A RESTRICTED AREA.

20,000 JEWISH PEOPLE AND SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND CHINESE.

IT WAS A CROWDED-- AND THINGS GOT A LITTLE BIT UGLIER THEN.

ANN: RESTRICTED TO THE GHETTO, WHERE CONDITIONS WERE WORSENING, PETER'S FATHER FOUND A WAY TO SURVIVE.

HE WORKED WITH ANOTHER JEWISH REFUGEE--FRITZ ADLER-- AND FOR 9-YEAR-OLD PETER, MEETING FRITZ WAS A LIFE-CHANGING MOMENT.

PETER: AND THIS IS FRITZ.

FRITZ WAS A TALL TYROLEAN, AND THE TYROLEANS ARE TO AUSTRIA WHAT THE TEXANS ARE TO THE UNITED STATES-- A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.

MY FATHER AND FRITZ WERE IN BUSINESS TOGETHER.

THE ACTIVITIES WERE LAUNDERING DOLLARS, LITERALLY LAUNDERING DOLLARS.

ANN: IN SHANGHAI DURING THE WAR, U.S.

DOLLARS WERE THE CURRENCY WITH THE MOST VALUE, AND THE BETTER THE CONDITION OF THE DOLLAR, THE MORE IT WAS WORTH.

PETER: AND MY DAD, AS A CHEMIST, USED HIS CHEMICAL SKILLS TO DEVELOP DETERGENTS.

HE WOULD TAKE DOLLARS AND SPRINKLE SOME SMELLY STUFF ON THEM AND THEN IRON THEM WITH A FLAT IRON AND INCREASE THEIR VALUE THAT WAY.

A BRAND-NEW DOLLAR, WE CALLED THEM KNACKERS BECAUSE OF THE SOUND THEY MAKE WHEN YOU RATTLE A DOLLAR.

[SNAPPING] ANN: AS THE BUSINESS GREW, SO DID THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN YOUNG PETER AND FRITZ.

OH, THIS IS FRITZ, AND THIS IS ME WITH A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE.

WE CONFIDED IN ONE ANOTHER.

WE TOLD ONE ANOTHER OUR PROBLEMS.

MY PARENTS DID NOT GET ALONG VERY WELL, AND THEY WERE TALKING OF GETTING A DIVORCE, AND THEY DID NOT DO THIS BETWEEN THEMSELVES.

I WAS ALWAYS CALLED IN TO BE A REFEREE IN THESE ARGUMENTS.

ANN: SO WHAT WAS IT ABOUT FRITZ?

PERHAPS THE BEST ADJECTIVE WAS SURROGATE FATHER.

HE WOULD TAKE ME TO THE CINEMA.

HE BOUGHT ME AN AIR RIFLE, BUT MY PARENTS OBJECTED TO IT.

I DON'T REMEMBER EVER HAVING AN ARGUMENT OR A DISAGREEMENT WITH HIM.

IT JUST FELT MORE COMFORTABLE.

ANN: FRITZ'S WIFE STELLA SHOWERED PETER WITH KINDNESS, ALSO BECOMING A KEY FIGURE IN HIS LIFE.

THINKING BACK NOW, I THINK ALWAYS FELT I WANTED TO BE IN HER COMPANY, BUT SHE SHAPED MY LIFE.

I CAN COUNT ON THE FINGERS OF ONE HAND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE, UH, SHAPED MY LIFE AND MADE ME WHAT I AM, WHATEVER THAT MAY BE WORTH.

AND SO STELLA AND FRITZ ARE AMONG THOSE-- OH, I THINK THEY'VE MADE ME WHO I AM.

ANN: PETER AND HIS PARENTS LIVED IN THE SAME BUILDING AS THE ADLERS FOR 6 YEARS.

HE SPENT EVERY HOUR HE COULD IN THEIR ROOMS, BECOMING PART OF THEIR FAMILY UNIT.

WHILE THEY WERE STILL LIVING THERE, STELLA GAVE BIRTH TO A DAUGHTER--MARGARET.

SHE WAS JUST 12 MONTHS OLD WHEN PETER LAST SAW HER.

PETER: THIS IS FRITZ AND HIS DAUGHTER MARGARET.

HE CANNOT POSSIBLY BE ALIVE ANYMORE, BUT I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO SEE THIS LADY, THE DAUGHTER OF FRITZ AND STELLA ADLER.

SHE WOULD NOW BE, I IMAGINE, A 70-YEAR-OLD LADY.

WHAT BECAME OF HER?

DID SHE GET MARRIED?

DOES SHE HAVE CHILDREN?

WHAT DOES SHE THINK OF ME?

IT COULD BE THAT HER PARENTS NEVER EVEN MENTIONED MY NAME, BUT I DOUBT THAT VERY MUCH.

ANN: PETER HASN'T SEEN THE ADLERS FOR NEARLY 7 DECADES, BUT HE'S NEVER STOPPED THINKING ABOUT THEM.

ANN: WHY DO YOU WANT TO FIND MARGARET?

PETER: I THINK AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF HER PARENTS AND WHAT THEY'VE DONE FOR ME AS A SURROGATE-- DARE I SAY--DAUGHTER.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY TO HER?

I HAVE THE PICTURE OF HER MOM WITH THAT ON THE BACK OF IT THAT SAID, "TO MY BEST FRIEND PETER."

IF THERE'S THIS POSSIBILITY, I WANT TO--THIS IS THE FIRST THING I WOULD LIKE TO SHOW HER.

TO SHOW HOW CLOSE YOU WERE TO HER MOTHER?

RIGHT.

HMM.

AND WHY DO YOU WANT TO GIVE HER THAT?

PERHAPS TO CREATE A BOND BETWEEN THE TWO OF US.

I'D LIKE HER TO BE A PART OF OUR FAMILY, AND I'D LIKE HER TO WANT ME TO BE A PART OF HER FAMILY.

ANN, VOICE-OVER: PETER'S FRIENDSHIP WITH FRITZ AND STELLA HELPED HIM TO WITHSTAND THE HARDSHIPS OF THE SHANGHAI GHETTO...

BUT IN THE U.S., REIKO AND HER FAMILY WERE FEELING THE FULL FORCE OF AMERICA'S REACTION TO THE ATTACK ON PEAR HARBOR.

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT SIGNED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER AUTHORIZING THE CONFINEMENT OF ALL THOSE OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY LIVING ON THE PACIFIC COAST.

WHEN THE JAPANESE ATTACKED PEAR HARBOR, OUR WEST COAST BECAME A POTENTIAL COMBAT ZONE.

ANN: 10 INTERNMENT CAMPS WERE BUILT FAR INLAND IN SCARCELY POPULATED AREAS.

EVACUATION NOTICES APPEARED ALL ALONG THE WEST COAST.

FOR REIKO AND HER FAMILY, LIFE WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE BEYOND ALL RECOGNITION.

THIS IS THE POSTERS THAT APPEARED IN ALL JAPANESE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES, AND IT SAYS, "INSTRUCTIONS TO ALL PERSONS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY," AND THIS TOLD US WHERE WE HAD TO GO BY A CERTAIN DATE.

ANN: REIKO ALSO HAD TO SAY GOOD-BYE TO HER CLASSMATES AND THE ONE WHO HAD STOOD BY HER SIDE--MARY FRANCES.

OK.

THIS IS THE SNAPSHOT THAT THE SECOND GRADE TEACHER TOOK BEFORE I WENT TO CAMP.

SHE GAVE ME A GOING AWAY PARTY MY LAST DAY THAT I WAS THERE.

THAT'S THE LAST DAY I SAW MARY FRANCES BEFORE I WENT AWAY TO CAMP.

ANN: IN MAY 1942, REIKO AND HER FAMILY WERE ORDERED TO AN ASSEMBLY POINT TO BE SENT TO AN UNKNOWN DESTINATION.

THE INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE GOVERNMENT SAID ON THE POSTERS YOU COULD TAKE ONLY WHAT YOU CAN CARRY.

I PUT IN A STUFFED DOG, STUFFED TEDDY BEAR, TWO DOLLS, PROBABLY A SWEATER AND SOMETHING ELSE, AND THAT WAS IT.

MY MOTHER WAS FRANTIC ABOUT HAVING OUR PICTURES TAKEN BECAUSE WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE CAMPS WERE GOING TO BE LIKE AND WHETHER PEOPLE WOULD DIE IN CAMP OR WHETHER THE BOMBS WOULD COME AND DESTROY CITIES AND THAT WE WOULD DIE.

SO THIS IS MY SISTER AND ME TAKING THESE LITTLE CARDBOARD SUITCASES THAT WE GOT AT A DIME STORE.

WE LOOK KIND OF SOBER, SAD.

ANN: 120,000 JAPANESE AMERICANS WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES, JOBS, BUSINESSES, AND SCHOOLS FOR AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE.

TODAY, REIKO IS RETRACING THE DIFFICULT JOURNEY SHE MADE ALL THOSE YEARS AGO.

REIKO, VOICE-OVER: BUSES TOOK US TO A TRAIN STATION, AND WE WERE ALL ASSIGNED TO SPECIFIC TRAIN CARS ACCORDING TO FAMILIES AND ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER THAT WE HAD FROM THE GOVERNMENT.

[HORN BLOWS] WE DIDN'T KNOW WHERE WE WERE GOING, WHICH ADDED TO THE EXCITEMENT AND THE FEAR, AND WE HAD MILITARY POLICEMEN COMING THROUGH WITH THEIR RIFLES WITH THE BAYONETS ON THEM, TELLING US TO PULL DOWN THE SHADES WHEN WE CAME INTO ANY AREA WHERE THERE WERE POPULATION, LIKE SMALL TOWNS, AND ANY TIME WE STOPPED AND WE WERE GIVEN PERMISSION TO GET UP AND WALK, THOSE WERE PLACES THAT WERE VERY ISOLATED.

I THINK THE MOTHERS FELT THAT THIS IS WHERE WE WERE ALL GONNA BE TAKEN OUT AND SHOT.

NOBODY WOULD HEAR US OR SEE US OUT IN THESE OPEN FIELDS.

EVERYBODY VERY WORRIED.

[TRAIN SIGNAL CLANGING] ANN: AFTER TRAVELING FOR 3 DAYS FROM LOS ANGELES, REIKO AND HER FAMILY ARRIVED AT HEART MOUNTAIN IN WYOMING.

THEY HAD NO IDEA HOW LONG THEY WOULD HAVE TO STAY OR IF THEY WOULD EVER BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER: BARRACK-TYPE BUILDINGS DIVIDED INTO COMPARTMENTS, HOUSING FROM 7,000 TO 18,000 PEOPLE, THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY BOUNDED BY A WIRE FENCE AND GUARDED BY MILITARY POLICE.

ANN: IT HAS BEEN 75 YEARS SINCE SHE FIRST ARRIVED HERE.

I SEE THE CHIMNEY OF THE HOSPITAL.

THIS WAS ALL BLACK TARPAPER BARRACKS AS FAR AS YOU COULD SEE.

IT WAS ISOLATED AND ISOLATING.

WE WERE OUT HERE, A FEW THOUSAND PEOPLE, BUT IT WASN'T FREEDOM.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER: EACH FAMILY UPON ARRIVAL AT A RELOCATION CENTER WAS ASSIGNED TO A SINGLE-ROOM COMPARTMENT ABOUT 20 BY 25 FEET, BARREN, UNATTRACTIVE, DEPENDING ON THE FAMILY'S OWN INGENUITY TO MAKE THE PLACE LIVABLE.

ANN: EACH UNIT CONTAINED A LIGHT, A WOOD-BURNING STOVE, AND A SIMPLE BED FOR EVERY MEMBER OF THE FAMILY.

WE HAD TWO ARMY COT BEDS RIGHT HERE.

MY PARENTS WERE OVER THERE, AND MY SISTER WAS ALONGSIDE THAT WALL OVER THERE, AND YOU COULD HEAR EVERYBODY ARGUING AND FIGHTING AND LAUGHING AND CRYING.

YOU HEARD EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS-- NO PRIVACY.

ANN: ARMED MILITARY POLICE MANNED THE 9 GUARD TOWERS SURROUNDING THE CAMP.

FOR 7-YEAR-OLD REIKO, IT WAS A HARSH CONTRAST TO HER OLD LIFE IN LOS ANGELES.

REIKO: I WAS VERY HOMESICK BECAUSE NOTHING WAS THE SAME.

EVEN THOUGH I WAS WITH MY MOTHER AND FATHER AND ALL MY SIBLINGS, IT WAS STILL NOT HOME.

THE ENVIRONMENT WAS TOO DIFFERENT.

I WAS USED TO BEING IN THE CITY, HAVING A NEIGHBORHOOD WITH CHILDREN AND CARS AND GOING TO THE MOVIES, GOING TO THE GROCERY STORE WITH MY MOTHER.

NONE OF THAT WAS HERE.

I DIDN'T KNOW WHY I WAS HERE.

I THINK THAT WAS WHAT BOTHERED MY MOTHER AND FATHER.

"I WISH WE COULD TAKE YOU AWAY.

I WISH WE COULD GO HOME."

"I CAN'T."

IT'S ONLY WHEN I THINK OF MY PARENTS THAT I CRY, NOT FOR US.

AND I THINK MOST OF MY FRIENDS OF OUR GENERATION FEEL THE SAME WAY.

WE COULDN'T CONTROL OUR COUNTRY FOR THEM, AND THEY PUT US HERE.

IT'S A TERRIBLE THING.

ANN: AFTER SO MUCH PAIN AND 7 DECADES LATER, REIKO WANTS TO FIND THE FRIEND WHO COMFORTED HER, A LITTLE GIRL WHOSE KINDNESS MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE-- MARY FRANCES.

REIKO IS HOPING TO FIND A TRACE OF HER IN THE PUBLIC RECORDS HELD IN LOS ANGELES, THE CITY OF THEIR CHILDHOOD.

THE ONLY INFORMATION SHE HAS IS MARY FRANCES' LAST NAME--WHITE.

HI.

I'M REIKO NAGUMO.

WELL, VERY NICE TO MEET YOU.

I'M JULIE.

ANN: LIBRARIAN JULIE HUFFMAN IS HELPING REIKO LOOK FOR LEADS.

JULIE: NOW SINCE SHE WAS A CHILD, THERE'S NOT GONNA BE TOO MANY OFFICIAL RECORDS WITH HER NAME, SO WE SORT OF HAVE TO FOLLOW HER PARENTS.

MM-HMM.

THIS RIGHT HERE IS A COPY OF THE DEATH CERTIFICATE OF HER MOTHER.

OH!

VIRGINIA LOU WHITE.

SHE DIED APRIL 27, 1947, DUE TO MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS.

OHH.

SHE WAS 38.

WOW.

YEAH.

MARY FRANCES WAS HALF ORPHANED AT A YOUNG AGE--'47.

SHE WAS ONLY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL.

ANN: THE DATE ON THE DEATH CERTIFICATE COMES AS A SHOCK TO REIKO, BUT THERE ARE SOME USEFUL DETAILS, TOO.

THE DEATH CERTIFICATE IS GOOD FOR GENEALOGY BECAUSE IT TELLS YOU WHAT THE NAMES OF THEIR PARENTS WERE, SO VIRGINIA'S FATHER'S NAME WAS HUGH SHRADER.

THAT'S GOOD INFORMATION BECAUSE IF YOU'RE GONNA RESEARCH HER, YOU'D WANT TO BE LOOKING FOR VIRGINIA SHRADER RATHER THAN VIRGINIA WHITE.

WELL, WE GOT LOTS MORE THAN WE HAD.

WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

WELL, YOU'RE WELCOME.

ANN: IT'S AN IMPORTANT LEAD, THE DISCOVERY OF MARY'S MOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME MEANS THAT REIKO CAN SEARCH FOR EXTENDED FAMILY ON BOTH THE MOTHER AND FATHER'S SIDES, BUT THE DEATH CERTIFICATE ALSO RAISES A WORRY.

REIKO: WELL, IT WAS DISTRESSING TO FIND OUT THAT HER MOTHER DIED AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE WHEN MARY FRANCES WOULD HAVE BEEN ONLY MAYBE 13 YEARS OLD.

BECAUSE OF THE DISEASE THAT HER MOTHER DIED OF, I'M JUST HOPING THAT IT'S NOT A HEREDITARY DISEASE THAT COULD HAVE INTERRUPTED MARY FRANCES' LIFE.

I DO WANT TO FIND HER.

ANN: TO FIND OUT IF MARY FRANCES IS STILL ALIVE, REIKO WILL NEED TO SEEK EXPERT HELP FROM A GENEALOGIST, BUT SHE WORRIES TIME COULD BE RUNNING OUT.

NEARLY 3,000 MILES AWAY ON THE EAST COAST, PETER HAS ALSO BEGUN HIS SEARCH FOR MARGARET ADLER, THE DAUGHTER OF FRITZ AND STELLA, THE TWO PEOPLE WHO TOOK CARE OF HIM LIKE SURROGATE PARENTS IN THE SHANGHAI GHETTO.

HE'S HOPING TO FIND DETAILS AT THE JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE, OR JDC, A RELIEF AGENCY THAT HELPED JEWISH REFUGEES DURING THE WAR.

GOOD MORNING.

HI.

YOU MUST BE PETER.

I'M PETER.

VERY NICE TO MEET YOU.

NICE MEETING YOU.

I'M LINDA LEVY, DIRECTOR OF THE ARCHIVES.

ANN: THE JDC's FUNDRAISING EFFORTS HELPED 190,000 JEWS ESCAPE NAZI GERMANY BEFORE 1939, INCLUDING PETER'S FAMILY.

LINDA: SO MANY PEOPLE WANTED TO LEAVE, AND SO FEW COUNTRIES WERE READY TO TAKE THEM SO THAT IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE TO FIND PLACES TO GO.

BUT SHANGHAI WAS DISTINCT BECAUSE WAS THIS OPEN PORT.

THAT'S RIGHT.

THAT'S RIGHT.

YOU DID NOT NEED A VALID-- SO SHANGHAI BECAME, IN A SENSE, A LAST RESORT FOR PEOPLE, WHO BY 1938, STILL DIDN'T HAVE A PLACE TO GO.

ANN: THOUGH HIS FAMILY HAD ESCAPED THE HOLOCAUST IN EUROPE, IN 1943 PETER WAS ONE OF 20,000 JEWISH REFUGEES ROUNDED UP BY THE JAPANESE AND FORCED INTO THE HORRENDOUS CONDITIONS OF THE SHANGHAI GHETTO.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER: HALF STARVED, HOMELESS, SICK, IN DAILY FEAR OF AN EPIDEMIC.

ANN: LIFE THERE WAS TOUGH.

THIS IS HOUSING FOR 700 REFUGEE FAMILIES.

IN SHANGHAI.

OK.

SO IT'S ONE OF THESE WAREHOUSES.

UH-HUH.

LOOK AT THIS MAN.

THIS IS HIS HOME.

YES.

THAT IS A-- VERY CLOSE QUARTERS.

MY MOTHER TELLS A STORY.

THE FIRST FEW NIGHTS AFTER ARRIVING, MY FATHER WAS SITTING THERE AND CRYING INTO HIS SOUP.

THE TEARS WERE HARD TO-- IT'S HARD TO SUDDENLY TURN INTO A WELFARE RECIPIENT.

YES.

OH!

SHANGHAI MILLIONAIRE.

IS THAT WHAT IT'S CALLED THERE?

YES.

YEAH.

HA HA HA!

IT WAS--WHAT'S THE AMERICAN-- MONOPOLY.

MONOPOLY.

YOU KNOW, I HAD ONE OF THESE FOR A WHILE.

GOLLY.

I REMEMBER THAT SO WELL.

HEH.

THAT'S, UH...HEH.

GETTING A BIT EMOTIONAL HERE.

[SIGHS] ANN: THE GHETTO WAS PATROLLED BY THE JAPANESE MILITARY, A CURFEW WAS ENFORCED, PASSES WERE NEEDED TO ENTER OR LEAVE, AND FOOD WAS RATIONED.

PETER: THE QUALITY OF THE FOOD WAS PRETTY DISMAL.

PRIMARILY RICE AND FISH, AND THE ONLY FRUIT I CAN EVER REMEMBER WAS WATERMELON.

IS IT TRUE ALSO THAT YOU WERE EXPOSED TO SOME PRETTY GRISLY SIGHTS LIKE-- YES.

WELL, NOT AT ALL UNUSUAL TO SEE-- GET UP IN THE MORNING, GO OUT INTO THE STREET, THERE IS A DEAD INFANT LYING IN THE STREET, STARVED TO DEATH, AND ON THURSDAY, THEY WERE CREMATED, AND WE COULD SMELL THE SMOKE FROM THE CREMATION.

THE MEDICAL CARE WAS NONEXISTENT, AND LOTS OF PEOPLE DIED.

THE SUMMERS ARE BRUTAL, SO PEOPLE JUST PERISHED FROM THE HEAT.

WE ACCEPTED THAT THAT'S THE WAY IT IS.

IT NEVER OCCURRED TO US THAT THIS WILL SOMEDAY END.

ANN: FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS, THE JDC HELPED THOUSANDS OF JEWISH REFUGEES SURVIVE THE GHETTO, AND WHEN THE WAR WAS OVER, IT HELPED THEM RESETTLE.

THE COMMITTEE KEPT A CASE FILE FOR EVERY FAMILY IT ASSISTED.

LINDA: WHEN THE JOINT LEFT SHANGHAI FOR GOOD, IT PACKED UP ITS RECORDS AND SENT A LIST TO NEW YORK.

THIS IS JUST A LIST OF THE FILES.

THE FILES NEVER GOT TO LEAVE CHINA.

THEY WERE CONFISCATED BY THE COMMUNIST AUTHORITIES... OH, THEY WERE?

AND WE CANNOT FIND THEM.

OK. OH.

"THESE LISTS ARE ARRANGED ACCORDING TO COUNTRIES "OF END DESTINATION SO FAR AS WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DETERMINE FROM THE MIGRANTS' PLANS AT THIS END," AND I HAVE A LIST THAT INCLUDES THE ADLER FAMILY.

OH!

WOW!

THAT WAS DESTINED TO AUSTRALIA.

AUSTRALIA.

BUT AGAIN, THE FILES ARE IN SHANGHAI AS FAR AS WE UNDERSTAND.

ANN: THIS IS PETER'S FIRST LEAD.

HE NOW KNOWS FOR CERTAIN THAT THE ADLERS IMMIGRATED TO AUSTRALIA, BUT WITH THE FILES MISSING IN SHANGHAI, THE TRAIL HAS RUN COLD.

DID THEY HAVE ANY RELATIVES?

I DON'T KNOW.

I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT STELLA ADLER'S MAIDEN NAME WAS.

IT'S WORTH GETTING SOME GENEALOGISTS ONTO THIS CASE... FROM A PROFESSIONAL.

FROM SOMEONE WHO IS A PROFESSIONAL JEWISH GENEALOGIST.

ANN: PETER NOW NEEDS A SPECIALIST IF HE'S EVER TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO MARGARET ADLER AND THE FAMILY THAT HELPED HIM SURVIVE THE SHANGHAI GHETTO.

WITH JAPAN'S SURRENDER IN AUGUST OF 1945, THE SECOND WORLD WAR CAME TO AN END.

120,000 JAPANESE AMERICANS INCARCERATED ACROSS THE U.S.

WERE RELEASED TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES.

BUT WITH NEARLY HALF A MILLION AMERICAN SOLDIERS KILLED IN ACTION, ANTI-JAPANESE HOSTILITY WAS STILL AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH.

THIS WAS THE NEW REALITY THAT 9-YEAR-OLD REIKO FACED WHEN SHE RETURNED HOME AFTER 3 YEARS IN THE HEART MOUNTAIN INTERNMENT CAMP.

REIKO: THERE WERE SIGNS IN STORES "NO JAPS ALLOWED."

ANN: HAVING NOT SEEN HER OLD FRIENDS, INCLUDING MARY FRANCES, IN YEARS, WHEN IT WAS TIME TO RETURN TO SCHOOL IN SEPTEMBER 1945, SHE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT.

REIKO, VOICE-OVER: I WAS VERY HESITANT TO GO TO SCHOOL, BUT I WENT BY MYSELF, AND I CAME TO THE GATE, AND MRS. FLEISHER WAS ON YARD DUTY HERE, AND WHEN SHE SAW ME, SHE WALKED FORWARD TOWARD ME AND SAID, "REIKO, WELCOME BACK.

WE MISSED YOU," AND WHEN SHE FINISHED, MARY FRANCES CAME UP, AND SHE TOOK HOLD OF MY HAND, AND THEN WE WALKED AWAY TO THE CLASSROOM.

THIS WAS REAL RECONCILIATION.

I FELT WONDERFUL.

WHAT DO YOU THINK NOW AS YOU THINK ABOUT WHEN MARY FRANCES CAME AND TOOK YOUR HAND, SHE WAS STANDING UP FOR YOU?

YES, SHE WAS.

SHE WAS STANDING UP AT A TIME WHEN MAYBE SOME OF THOSE OTHER KIDS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN VERY KIND.

THAT'S WHY I NEED TO SEE HER AS A GROWNUP, TO STAY I STILL REMEMBER, AND IT GETS MORE AND MORE URGENT AND MORE IMPORTANT THE OLDER I GET.

ANN: REIKO AND MARY FRANCES LOST TOUCH AFTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

DESPITE THE TRAUMA SHE ENDURED AS A CHILD, REIKO WENT ON TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL CAREER.

SHE QUALIFIED AS A NURSE AND WENT ON TO WORK AS A FOREIGN SERVICE NURSE FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.

SHE SERVED IN CAMBODIA AND EGYPT BEFORE RETURNING TO THE U.S. AND WORKING IN CALIFORNIA.

TODAY, REIKO'S VISITING GENEALOGIST DONI NELSON.

HI.

I'M REIKO.

I'M DONI.

I'M SO GLAD TO MEET YOU.

THANK YOU.

ANN: NOW THAT REIKO KNOWS THE MAIDEN NAME OF MARY FRANCES' MOTHER-- SHRADER-- SHE WANTS TO KNOW IF THIS MIGHT LEAD TO NEW INFORMATION ABOUT HER EXTENDED FAMILY.

I WENT BACK TO THE 1940 CENSUS, AND IN THE WHITE HOUSEHOLD BESIDES THE PARENTS AND MARY FRANCES, THERE WAS A SHRADER FAMILY.

OH!

A FRANK SHRADER, HIS WIFE CARRIE, AND THEIR DAUGHTER JANET, AND BECAUSE WE ALREADY KNOW THAT MARY FRANCES' MOTHER VIRGINIA'S MAIDEN NAME WAS SHRADER, THERE'S A PRETTY GOOD CHANCE THAT THIS IS HER BROTHER.

RIGHT.

SO THIS WOULD BE MARY FRANCES' UNCLE FRANK, HER AUNT CARRIE, AND HER FIRST COUSIN JANET M. WOW!

SO I WENT IN SEARCH OF A JANET M. SHRADER BECAUSE SHE WOULD BE THE ONE MOST LIKELY TO STILL BE ALIVE TODAY, AND THAT SEARCH TURNED UP A JANET M. SHRADER, WHO WAS BORN IN ABOUT 1938, AND ALTHOUGH THIS IS A LISTING FROM 2002, THERE'S A PHONE NUMBER THERE.

WOW!

THAT'S EXCITING.

OH, GOOD.

I'M EXCITED FOR YOU.

SO SHE MIGHT STILL BE AROUND LIKE ME.

LET'S HOPE SO, AND LET'S HOPE THAT JANET STILL HAS THE SAME PHONE NUMBER.

OH.

HA HA HA!

WELL, WE'LL TRY IT.

ANN: HOPING THIS IS THE BREAKTHROUGH SHE'S BEEN LOOKING FOR, REIKO WONDERS IF SHE WILL FINALLY DISCOVER WHAT HAPPENED TO HER BRAVE, LONG LOST FRIEND.

[LINE RINGING] WOMAN: HELLO?

HELLO.

IS THIS JANET?

YES, IT IS.

MY NAME IS REIKO, R-E-I-K-O.

I WENT TO SCHOOL IN LOS ANGELES, AND IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, I HAD A VERY GOOD FRIEND BY THE NAME OF MARY FRANCES WHITE, AND THAT'S WHO I'M LOOKING FOR.

DO YOU KNOW ANYBODY BY THE NAME OF MARY FRANCES WHITE?

YES.

THAT IS MY COUSIN MARY FRANCES.

WOW!

CAN YOU TELL ME HOW WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MARY FRANCES?

WELL, I WILL TAKE YOUR NUMBER DOWN... OK. AND LET ME CONTACT HER, AND THEN HOPEFULLY SHE WILL GET RIGHT BACK TO YOU.

OK.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TALKING TO ME AND FOR BEING WILLING TO BE THE MESSENGER.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

YOU'RE WELCOME NOW.

BYE-BYE.

BYE-BYE.

WELL, I KIND OF GOT THE FEELING THAT SHE KIND OF UNDERSTOOD THE EMOTIONALITY OF THE SITUATION, SO I HOPE SHE CALLS.

WE'LL SEE IF TWO LITTLE GIRLS CAN GET TOGETHER AS OLD LADIES.

ANN: WITH CONFIRMATION THAT MARY FRANCES IS STILL ALIVE AND WITH HER COUSIN JANET WILLING TO PASS ON HER MESSAGE, ALL REIKO CAN DO NOW IS WAIT.

AFTER THE JAPANESE SURRENDER IN AUGUST 1945, SHANGHAI WAS LIBERATED.

FOR PETER AND HIS FAMILY, IT WAS THE NEWS THEY HAD BEEN WAITING FOR.

PETER: HARD TO DESCRIBE THE SENSE OF ELATION.

THE JAPANESE MILITARY JUST VANISHED OVERNIGHT, AND THE U.S. AIR FORCE FLEW OVER VERY LOW OVER THE HONGKOU, THE GHETTO, AND A WHITE SMOKE CAME OUT OF THEM.

THEY WERE DELOUSING US.

A FEW HOURS LATER, PLANES CAME OVER AGAIN, DROPPED MILITARY CANS OF FOOD.

ANN, VOICE-OVER: UNLIKE REIKO, PETER AND HIS FAMILY DIDN'T RETURN HOME.

WITH POST-WAR ANTISEMITISM STILL RIFE IN EUROPE, MANY JEWISH REFUGEES WERE UNABLE OR UNWILLING TO MOVE BACK TO THEIR COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN.

PETER: MY PARENTS DIDN'T EVEN CONSIDER THAT A POSSIBILITY TO GO BACK TO GERMANY.

ANN, VOICE-OVER: MANY REFUGEES DECIDED TO STAY, INCLUDING PETER AND HIS PARENTS, AS WELL AS FRITZ AND STELLA ADLER.

THEIR DAUGHTER MARGARET WAS BORN THERE IN 1948 WHEN PETER WAS 14 YEARS OLD.

THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF MY BAR MITZVAH.

THIS IS ME OF COURSE.

THIS IS THE ACCORDION THAT I GOT FROM FRITZ ADLER.

IT WAS MY MOST TREASURED POSSESSION.

I STILL HAVE THE ACCORDION.

IT'S PRETTY LEAKY.

THE BELLOWS ARE BEGINNING TO WEAR OUT, BUT YOU CAN STILL HAMMER OUT A TUNE IF YOU TRY REALLY HARD.

[PLAYING UPBEAT SONG] ANN, VOICE-OVER: AFTER THE WAR, PEACE DIDN'T LAST LONG IN CHINA.

IN 1949, CHAIRMAN MAO'S COMMUNISTS WERE POISED TO TAKE SHANGHAI.

PETER'S FAMILY FLED TO ISRAEL, LEAVING BEHIND FRITZ AND STELLA AND THEIR BABY DAUGHTER MARGARET AFTER 10 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP.

PETER'S FAMILY EVENTUALLY RESETTLED IN CANADA, WHERE HE MET HIS WIFE DINA.

HE MARRIED IN 1959 AND RAISED TWO SONS, WHO NOW LIVE IN NEW JERSEY.

AFTER BECOMING AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, PETER SPENT MORE THAN 40 YEARS WORKING IN COMPUTER ENGINEERING, AS WELL AS VOLUNTEERING AS A FIREMAN.

NOW 82, PETER HOPES FOR A BREAKTHROUGH IN HIS SEARCH FOR MARGARET ADLER.

ALL HE KNOWS IS THE ADLER FAMILY LEFT SHANGHAI FOR AUSTRALIA IN 1949, BUT THERE ARE NO FURTHER CLUES.

YOU MUST BE PETER.

I'M PETER.

SO NICE TO MEET YOU.

I'M KAREN.

WELCOME.

COME ON IN.

THANK YOU.

MAY I TAKE MY JACKET OFF?

ANN: SO TODAY, PETER IS VISITING JEWISH GENEALOGIST KAREN FRANKLIN TO SEE IF SHE'S FOUND ANY FURTHER LEADS.

PETER, I'VE BEEN DOING SOME DIGGING AND SOME WORK TO HELP YOU TRY AND FIND MARGARET, AND I BEGAN WITH THE INFORMATION THAT YOU ALREADY HAD THAT FRITZ WAS FROM THE AREA OF TYROL.

TYROL.

AND USING THAT INFORMATION AND HIS NAME, I WAS ABLE TO MAKE SOME REMARKABLE DISCOVERIES.

THIS IS A PAGE ABOUT FRITZ ADLER.

THIS IS REMARKABLE.

HE WAS BORN IN 1901 IN INNSBRUCK, AND IT SAYS THAT HE MARRIED STELLA IN SHANGHAI.

STELLA PORGES.

THAT'S HER MAIDEN NAME-- PORGES--STELLA'S?

THAT'S THE ONE REALLY IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION.

THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE.

THAT YOU DIDN'T HAVE.

AND IT BOTHERED ME THAT I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HER MAIDEN NAME WAS.

RIGHT, AND SHE WAS BORN IN VIENNA.

USING JUST HER MAIDEN NAME, I FOUND A PORGES FAMILY PAGE.

SO WHEN I SAW THIS WEB SITE, I WAS ABSOLUTELY ASTONISHED.

THE PORGES FAMILY IS ONE OF THE ARISTOCRATIC JEWISH FAMILIES FROM VIENNA.

THAT IS ASTONISHING.

YEAH.

IT'S REALLY ASTONISHING.

ANN: HEARING THAT STELLA CAME FROM A WEALTHY VIENNESE FAMILY IS A SURPRISE, BUT THERE'S MORE NEWS TO COME.

NOW ON THAT PORGES FAMILY WEB SITE, THERE IS A PAGE FOR STELLA ADLER, AND IT SHOWS YOU THAT SHE HAD A BROTHER WHOSE NAME WAS ERICH.

ERICH?

ERICH.

ERICH PASSED AWAY, BUT YOU SEE THAT HE HAS A DAUGHTER SUSAN, AND SHE IS LISTED AS A SOURCE FOR INFORMATION FOR THIS WEB SITE, WHICH MEANS THAT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO LEARN WHETHER MARGARET IS STILL ALIVE.

WE'RE GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER.

THAT'S ASTONISHING.

ANN: THIS COULD BE THE BREAKTHROUGH THAT PETER HAS BEEN WAITING FOR.

PETER: "I WOULD DEARLY LOVE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MARGARET NEE ADLER."

ANN: AFTER A LIFETIME OF WONDERING... PETER: "MOST GRATEFUL"... ANN: PETER IS CONTACTING THE PORGES FAMILY WEB SITE TO FIND ANY DETAILS ABOUT MARGARET ADLER NEARLY 70 YEARS AFTER THEY LOST CONTACT.

AT THE START OF 1942, TWO BEST FRIENDS WE WERE TORN APART BY WORLD EVENTS.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER: THE DIE IS CAST.

AMERICA IS AT WAR.

ANN: DESPITE THE CHAOS SURROUNDING THEM, THE DISPLAY OF FRIENDSHIP LEFT A LASTING IMPRESSION ON 7-YEAR-OLD REIKO NAGUMO.

"BUT YOUR MOTHER SAID YOU COULDN'T PLAY WITH ME," AND SHE SAID, "SHE WON'T KNOW."

ANN: NOW AFTER MONTHS OF SEARCHING, REIKO IS JUST MOMENTS AWAY FROM REUNITING WITH MARY FRANCES.

MARY FRANCES: I RECEIVED A PHONE CALL FROM A COUSIN OF MINE IN CALIFORNIA STATING THAT SOMEONE WAS LOOKING FOR ME, SOMEONE THAT I HAD GONE TO THE FIRST GRADE WITH.

I SAID, "WELL, IT'S GOT TO BE MY FRIEND REIKO."

ANN: THEY HAVE AGREED TO MEET IN SAN FRANCISCO'S FAMOUS JAPANESE TEA GARDEN.

SO THE LAST TIME YOU SAW MARY FRANCES WAS IN... ABOUT 75 YEARS AGO.

SO WHAT ARE THE EMOTIONS AS YOU THINK ABOUT GETTING TO SEE HER AGAIN?

SHE DID A LOT AS A LITTLE GIRL, SO I WOULD ASSUME SHE'S SORT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY PERSON AND PROBABLY SHOWED IT IN HER ADULT LIFE.

REIKO, VOICE-OVER: I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO TELL HER WHAT HER FRIENDSHIP REALLY MEANT TO ME SO THAT I CAN TELL THE CHILDREN, AND HOW THEY LOVE THIS STORY.

ANN: THE MOMENT REIKO HAS LONG WISHED FOR HAS FINALLY COME.

MARY FRANCES?

REIKO!

LOOK AT YOU!

HA HA HA!

I GREW UP.

YOU'RE TALLER THAN ME.

I BET I AM.

EVERYBODY'S TALLER THAN ME.

HOW WONDERFUL TO SEE YOU.

YEAH.

WELL, IT'S WONDERFUL TO SEE YOU.

THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS.

YOU KNOW WHAT?

DURING WORLD WAR II, YOU DID SOME WONDERFUL THINGS WHEN I WAS HAVING TRAUMA AND DIFFICULT TIMES ALL AROUND GOING TO CAMP DURING THE WAR, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID?

WHAT'S THAT?

DESPITE WHAT YOUR MOM TOLD YOU, YOU FOUND WAYS TO BE A FRIEND TO ME.

AFTER YOU LEFT, I WAS JUST DEVASTATED.

I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU'D GONE, AND I REMEMBER TALKING TO MY PARENTS ABOUT IT, AND THEY TOLD ME THAT YOU'D BEEN SENT TO A CAMP, AND I KEPT TELLING THEM IT WASN'T FAIR BECAUSE YOU HAD DONE NOTHING, YOU DIDN'T DESERVE TO BE TAKEN AWAY, AND IT HURT ME DEEPLY.

ANN: AFTER SPENDING THE LAST 20 YEARS TELLING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ABOUT MARY FRANCES AND HER ACT OF KINDNESS, REIKO NOW HAS THE CHANCE TO TELL HER ABOUT THE CHILDREN.

AND THAT'S WHAT I KEEP TELLING THE KIDS.

YOU CAN BE A GOOD CITIZEN WHEN YOU'RE 10 YEARS OLD JUST LIKE YOU ARE NOW, JUST LIKE MARY FRANCES WAS A GOOD FRIEND AND GOOD CITIZEN.

SHE SPOKE UP FOR ME.

WELL, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN MOUTHY.

I DON'T KNOW IF THAT COUNTS.

I'M NOT VERY QUIET.

THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO THANK YOU FOR.

ANN: SINCE THEY LAST SAW EACH OTHER AS CHILDREN IN 1945, MARY FRANCES HAS LIVED AND WORKED ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.

SHE'S HAD A CAREER IN MANAGEMENT AND HAS ALSO VOLUNTEERED TO RUN SUPPORT GROUPS FOR PEOPLE IN NEED.

SHE HAS TWO CHILDREN, TWO STEPSONS, AND A WIDE EXTENDED FAMILY.

SHE'S NOW RETIRED IN KENTUCKY.

I'D THOUGHT OF YOU OFTEN OVER THE YEARS AND WONDERED WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO YOU AND WHERE YOU WERE.

JUST CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO IMAGINE WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH.

MARY FRANCES, VOICE-OVER: IT'S UNBELIEVABLE THAT SHE WOULD COME BACK IN THIS MANNER BECAUSE I HAD NO WAY THAT I KNEW OF TO CONTACT HER.

YOU KNOW, WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT WISHES AND DREAMS COME TRUE, WELL, THIS IS AKIN TO THAT.

WELL, MARY FRANCES, MY DREAM HAS COME TRUE TO BE ABLE TO SAY THANK YOU SO MUCH.

OH, AND THANK YOU.

BECAUSE FRIENDS ARE FRIENDS FOR ALWAYS.

THAT'S RIGHT.

YOU BET.

THIS IS A GOOD REUNION.

[CRYING] IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

IT REALLY IS.

IT'S REALLY BEAUTIFUL.

ANN: IT'S BEEN A WEEK SINCE PETER CONTACTED THE PORGES FAMILY WEB SITE, ASKING IF THEY HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT MARGARET.

THE RESPONSE PETER RECEIVES IS MORE THAN HE COULD HAVE HOPED FOR.

"DEAR PETER, MY NAME IS MARGARET HUDSON NEE ADLER."

ANN: THIS IS THE FIRST CONTACT PETER HAS HAD WITH MARGARET SINCE SHE WAS A BABY 69 YEARS AGO.

"I ALSO INHERITED MANY PHOTOS "AND MEMORABILIA, INCLUDING "A VERY SWEET LETTER ADDRESSED TO ME "ON THE DAY OF MY BIRTH AND WRITTEN BY PETER ENGLER."

YOU KNOW, NOW I THINK I REMEMBER THAT.

HEH.

"THROUGH THE MARVELS OF MODERN COMMUNICATIONS AND RESEARCH, I HOPE I MAY HAVE FOUND THE AUTHOR OF MY FIRST LETTER."

THAT IS ASTOUNDING, OK?

ANN: DESPITE THE PASSAGE OF TIME, PETER'S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ADLER FAMILY HAS LOST NONE OF ITS IMPORTANCE.

I CAN COUNT ON THE FINGERS OF ONE HAND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE SHAPED MY LIFE AND MADE ME WHAT I AM.

AND SO STELLA AND FRITZ ARE AMONG THOSE?

OH, I THINK THEY'VE MADE ME WHO I AM.

ANN, VOICE-OVER: MARGARET ADLER HAS MADE THE 7,500-MILE TRIP FROM SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, TO THE UNITED STATES TO MEET UP WITH PETER.

PETER, VOICE-OVER: I'M CONCERNED AND A LITTLE BIT OF TREPIDATION.

I'M REALLY CURIOUS TO LEARN WHAT SHE KNOWS ABOUT ME.

IT CAN'T BE ALL BAD, OR SHE WOULDN'T BE HERE, OR NONE OF US WOULD BE HERE, RIGHT?

LONG TIME, NO SEE.

HEH.

IT'S BEEN A LIFETIME, HASN'T IT?

LONG TIME, NO SEE.

IT'S BEEN A WHOLE LIFETIME.

I WAS--I WAS TRYING TO THINK WHAT SHOULD BE THE FIRST WORDS TO SAY?

WELL, IT HAS BEEN THE WHOLE OF MY LIFE.

IT'S SURE GOOD TO SEE YOU.

YOU LOOK WELL, AND I LOOK A LOT OLDER.

OH!

YOU RECOGNIZE THIS LADY?

YES, I DO.

TURN IT AROUND.

THAT'S WHY I BROUGHT IT.

AND HOW OLD WAS SHE?

"TO MY BEST FRIEND PETER.

FROM STELLA."

HO HO!

THAT'S QUITE SPECIAL.

ANN: AS A BABY, MARGARET LEFT SHANGHAI IN JANUARY 1949 WITH HER PARENTS FRITZ AND STELLA TO BEGIN NEW LIVES IN AUSTRALIA.

FRITZ CONTINUED TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR AND LIVED TO THE AGE OF 72.

STELLA FOUNDED A JEWISH KINDERGARTEN, WHERE SHE WORKED FOR MORE THAN 35 YEARS.

SHE LIVED TO BE 87 AND DIED IN 1998.

OVER THE YEARS, THEY TALKED OFTEN ABOUT THEIR YOUNG FRIEND PETER AND PASSED ON A MEMENTO TO MARGARET, WHICH SHE WANTS TO SHARE.

DO YOU RECOGNIZE THIS WRITING?

YES, I CERTAINLY DO.

ANN: IT'S A LETTER THAT PETER WROTE TO MARGARET IN 1948 WHEN SHE WAS JUST BORN.

"DEAR MARGARET, I WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME YOU TO OUR UNIVERSE AND GIVE YOU SOME GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS OF LIFE UNDER THE SUN."

I WAS 14 YEARS OLD THEN.

BEAUTIFUL HANDWRITING.

"FROM THE AGE OF ZERO TO ONE, "YOU'RE GENERALLY A TERRIFIC BOTHER TO YOUR PARENTS.

"NO HARD FEELINGS.

"YOU CRY, YOU YELL, AND BETWEEN ONE AND TWO, YOU BEGIN TO TALK A FEW WORDS."

BOY, THAT'S PRETTY PREACHY.

I'M NOT THAT-- THIS IS NOT--NOT ME.

MAYBE YOU FELT AS THOUGH YOU NEEDED TO BE A RESPONSIBLE ADULT.

"IF YOU'RE IN TROUBLE BETWEEN 12 AND 20 YEARS OF AGE, "LET ME KNOW, AND I WILL HELP YOU.

"I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HELP YOU EARLIER AS I HAVE TO GROW."

ANN: THE LETTER IS ALL THE CONFIRMATION PETER NEEDS THAT FRITZ AND STELLA NEVER FORGOT HIM.

MARGARET: I ALWAYS KNEW THE STORY OF PETER AND THE SPECIAL LETTER.

HE WAS PART OF THE FAMILY STORY.

PETER: THE BEST DEFINITION I COULD FIND TO DESCRIBE YOUR PARENTS WERE THAT THEY WERE MY SURROGATE GRANDPARENTS.

IT'S ALL ABOUT MY FAMILY, IT'S ALL ABOUT HIS LIFE, AND WE HAVE A CONNECTION THAT CAN'T BE BROKEN.

PETER, VOICE-OVER: IN THIS HALF-HOUR, I'VE ABSORBED SO MUCH INFORMATION, AND THAT--SO MANY MORE QUESTIONS THAT COME TO MY MIND.

BETWEEN THE TWO OF US, WE'VE GOT 150 YEARS TO CATCH UP ON.

MARY FRANCES?

REIKO!

ANN: HISTORY BOUND THESE PEOPLE TOGETHER WITH TIES STRONG ENOUGH TO SURVIVE DECADES OF SEPARATION.

NOW THAT THEY'VE FOUND EACH OTHER, A NEW CHAPTER CAN BEGIN.

MARGARET, VOICE-OVER: IT'S A TOTAL MIGRANT EXPERIENCE OF MEETING UP, BEING ON OTHER SIDES OF THE EARTH AND FINDING EACH OTHER, SO THAT'S QUITE AN AMAZING FEELING.

PETER, VOICE-OVER: IT'S INCONCEIVABLE THAT THIS WILL END.

QUESTION IS WILL I LIVE LONG ENOUGH?

HA!

I'M AT AN AGE WHERE I NO LONGER BUY GREEN BANANAS.

STEP UP AGAIN.

MARY FRANCES, VOICE-OVER: I THINK WE'LL BE IN TOUCH UNTIL BOTH OF US GO ON TO THE NEXT WHATEVER.

REIKO: WHEN I GET THE KIDS' REACTION, THAT'S GONNA BE FUN.

SHE DOESN'T KNOW HOW POPULAR SHE IS IN THE ACADEMIC WORLD OF FIFTH GRADERS.

THIS IS REALLY BIG STUFF.

- [Narrator] Next time, a student caught in the Mount Saint Helens eruption.

- [Woman] It looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off.

- [Narrator] Who owes her life to one man.

- I would just like to say, thank you.

- [Narrator] And the young hiker trapped in the aftermath searching for the helicopter pilot who risked everything to save her.

- I know what you put on the line to come and get us.

(dramatic music) ♪♪ ANNOUNCER: "WE'LL MEET AGAIN" IS AVAILABLE ON DVD.

TO ORDER, VISIT SHOPPBS.ORG OR CALL 1-800 PLAY-PBS.

ALSO AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD ON iTUNES.

IS THERE SOMEONE FROM YOUR PAST WHO YOU WANT TO MEET AGAIN?

SHARE YOUR STORY AT PBS.ORG/MEETAGAIN.