FSM President's Address to the People of Nauru, 75th Anniversary of the Return from Chuuk скачать в хорошем качестве

FSM President's Address to the People of Nauru, 75th Anniversary of the Return from Chuuk

Kaselehlie & Greetings from the Federated States of Micronesia. People of Nauru, at the forefront I wish to extend to you peace, friendship, cooperation, and love in our common humanity. As fellow Micronesians, we are brothers and sisters. Today, we solemnly remember the traumatic experience of World War II. It began on the December 6th, 1940, when a German raider sank four ships near your Pleasant Island, and the next day the Germans shelled Nauru’s phosphate mining areas, including the oil storage depot and the cantilever. While the Japanese Empire claimed an Imperial mandate on the Federated States of Micronesia from the former League of Nations, the People of Nauru found themselves occupied by the Japanese in August, 1942. What followed was both traumatic and tragic. Records show that there were 6,000 Nauruans by June 1943, and by June 30th of that year 1,200 of them were taken from their families to work in Chuuk. Tragically, whether one chooses to call the 1,200 displaced Nauruans as indentured servants or slaves, like their newly met Chuukese friends on islands like Weno and Tonoas, the effect was to be divorced from home and divorced from freedom. With the Americans liberating Pohnpei on September 11th, 1945, it was the Australians who arrived to Nauru on September 13th, making the island free from Japanese rule. At the end of World War II, arrangements were made to repatriate the 737 Nauruans who survived Japanese captivity and slavery in Chuuk. Tragically, 463 Nauruans did not survive to make the journey home to their families. Today, July 10th 2021, we recognize the 75th Anniversary of Nauruan men and women returning from Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia, and celebrate the opening of the World War II Memorial site. Let it stand to remind each and every one of us of the mistakes and horrors of the past, so that we can be energized with the courage and conviction to ensure they never happen again. The bonds between the People of Nauru, the Pleasant Island, and the People of the Federated States of Micronesia, whether we come from Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, or Kosrae, are enduring. In a literal sense, His Excellency Lionel Aingimea and I are family, as his late elder brother was married to my elder sister, and in the metaphorical sense I appeal to you all that each and every one of you will always be welcome in the Federated States of Micronesia as brothers and sisters. God Bless each and every one of you, God Bless the Federated States of Micronesia, and God Bless the Republic of Nauru and its People. Thank You, and Kahlangan. ------- Follow Your FSM National Government at: https://gov.fm/index.php/fsmpio