(PHOTOGRAPHY). (KOREAN WAR). Five original photographs of North Korean War Orphans in Eastern Europe.

North Korean Orphans in Europe

(PHOTOGRAPHY). (KOREAN WAR).  Five original photographs of North Korean War Orphans in Eastern Europe. (Líšno, former Czechoslovakia: ca. 1952) (127 x 180 mm.) Very good condition, with light edge wear and a few superficial scratches.

Rare photos of North Korean war orphans' temporarily resettlement in Eastern Europe, documenting a unique period of cross-cultural exchange by a country notorious for its isolation.

An estimated 100,000 children were left orphaned or displaced as a result of the fighting and devastation during the Korean War (1950-53). Many children were separated from their families during mass evacuations, bombings, and destruction, while others lost their parents to combat, disease, or famine. Having just come out of World War II and following 35 years of Japanese occupation, Korea had few resources to spare, and neither North nor South were equipped to care for their most vulnerable. As such, each side came up with a very different way of dealing with the dilemma: the South, aided by organizations from the United States and other Western nations, established orphanages and supported international adoptions; the North, led by Kim Il Sung, sent orphans to countries in Eastern Europe's socialist bloc, including Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and East Germany.

The first North Korean orphans arrived in Poland in 1951, and thousands more followed over the next few years. Most accounts show that these resettled children were well cared for by their host countries, living in communal settings among their peers and receiving health care and bilingual education. Over time, genuine bonds grew between Korean and European classmates and teachers, and there are even several documented cases of North Korean teachers marrying Eastern Europeans. In 1956, Kim Il Sung recalled all children and teachers back to North Korea, with the last group leaving Europe in 1959. As the country became more and more isolated and secretive, we know nothing about the lives and fates of those pictured here.

Written in pencil on the back of these photos are notes describing the subjects as "Chinese orphans in Czechoslovakia," but everything about them suggests that they are, in fact, North Korean. Based on the architecture and statue observed in the background of some of these images, we can almost certainly identify the location as Castle Líšno in former Czechoslovakia. The first 200 orphans, aged between 9-15 years, arrived at Líšno in 1952; judging by their appearance in these images, the children pictured here were probably among the youngest, and the uniform haircuts suggest that these photos were taken shortly after their arrival at Líšno. Other details of interest include the medals worn by several of the boys, and several Caucasian women dressed in white uniforms playing with some of the girls in the background. One of the photos depicts four men in suits and one woman in a knee-length skirt--presumably North Korean teachers that were sent to help educate the children and foster national identity and obedience to the state. These photographs were likely taken for propaganda purposes, although we have no further information about how or where they might have been used.

Our research shows that relatively few images and records of this unique cross-cultural exchange have been properly preserved or identified, making these images important documentary evidence for the study of Korean history, Cold War politics, and adoption studies. Our sincere thanks go to Karolína Šamánková at the Institute for Asian Studies at Charles University in Prague for her research assistance--particularly in helping to identify the location pictured in these images. (1042)