Children and nurses

Fumi Matsuzawa was a nurse from Niigata prefecture. She took care of the Siberian Children who were infected with typhus, even though there was a chance she’d get sick. She was infected and died after the children left Japan.

In the Japanese Red Cross College of Nursing, there are some documents introducing Fumi Matsuzawa, as a nurse who struggled with the infectious disease. For some reason, her photo is in Poland – perhaps it was brought there with the children. Her figure is engraved in the hearts of Poles.

A woman who gave big love to children

At that time in Siberia, typhus was raging. Some of the Siberian Children also were infected with the disease. Fumi Matsuzawa, one of the Japanese nurses who looked after the children, always stayed beside the sick children. It is written in a document that one girl’s life was saved thanks to Ms. Matsuzawa.

 

Ms. Matsuzawa received the Red Cross Award from Poland in 1921 and an honorary award in 1929 for her nursing. Her figure is admirable and commendable.