Christine Corra (Genders) was my Mother. Unfortunately she died on November 11th 2007 - Remembrance Day which we all thought was very appropriate given her wartime history. She always said she lived far longer than she anticipated given her wartime internment in Stanley with her Mother. Her Father Henry Corra was in Sham Shui Po. Her Brother was evacuated to the US.
Though the last two entries are records of classical concerts and just have the name "Corra". Any idea whether that was Christine or her mother playing?
Sorry for the delay in replying! The pianist mentioned would have been Poldi (Leopoldine) Corra playing. She was a wonderful pianist. My mother, Christine Corra did not play an instrument and was tone deaf but a wonderful artist especially using the medium of pastels - hence the pastel drawing of Bob Tatz.
Thank you David. Actually I have a very interesting family history of the Corra family and their days in Hongkong before, during and after the war . Communicating with Bob Tatz has made me reread it. It is some 35 pages long - what is the best thing to do with it? Scan it over to you? I also have various bits and pieces (lists from Stanley and Sham Shui Po) and photos - what to do with them too? They should be saved for posterity. I believe in the family we have quite a lot of film footage of Hongkong (my grandparents were the Bell and Howell Agents for Asia for many years). The film footage is in slightly random order, interspersed with other things! Any idea where that would be best placed? My family were connected with HK from the mid 20's to the mid 70's one way and another!
Hi Sue, sorry I missed your questions earlier. Yes please, if you can scan the family history and send it over I'll be interested to read it.
For lists & photos, a good first step is to scan / take digital photos of them too. That means you're protected if anything happens to the original paper. Once we've got digital copies we can also work out if they can be made available here on Gwulo, and which archive might be a good home for the originals.
I am her eldest granddaughter and would like to correct comments about her piano playing experiences.
She was a piano student at the Vienna Conservatory until she left Vienna and was taught by Marie Pretner- the most famous piano teacher of her time. Pretner had been the assistant of Leschetizky ( who was a teacher and virtuoso who taught Paderewski and Schnabel) and taught using his methods - where the student sat upright at the piano and made no inessential movements. The main characteristics achieved by this method were a beautiful tone from the brain rather than the hands; listening to the inward singing of a phrase ; and playing musically with agile fingers and supple wrists to bring out the beauty and spirit of a composition. Our grandmother achieved all of these things and was held up by Marie as the best student she had ever taught. So much so that Marie sent a constant stream of her students ( when on concert tours) to visit Poldi in HK after the war.
Poldi could play anything she heard by ear and was a wonderful asset at any gathering or party where there was a piano. She played whenever she had time and the concert platform’s loss was the gain of all who heard her. We were very privileged to hear her play throughout our childhood.
Regarding The two women who became my mother (Christine Genders nee Corra) and my grandmother ( PoldiCorra) after the war ended. I have listened to their stories of their time in Stanley as POW’s since being a small child living in HK and feel that the British need a long hard look at the diary entries as they e.g Barbara Anslow, appear to have ignored them to a greater extent. When the internees were offered some small compensation by the British Government for e.g.Their time inthe volunteer nursing corp towards the latter end of the 1900s - their inclusion in the list was voted down by the “British POWs) as they were not British at the time ( In Stanley in the war ). A travesty that those involved should be ashamed of- if they are still alive).
I feel that my family members can not have been the only ones to be reviled in this hurtful manner despite them having had an even worse internment without British food parcels and support. A matter of great shame on many of the other British ( “master race”) women.
during internmenttheir talentswere underused e.g. Poldi’s prowess on the piano and in many other ways, and Christine for her artistic skills and for her teaching of the children. I know that the odd mention of them has been made in some the diaries e.g. chandlers, particularly and Barbara anslow re a Viennese waltz routine.
as it happens the Corra’s had all handed in their Austrian passports to the then Governor of HK before the war started - as the first steps towards taking BritishNationality. They were therefore stateless when HK fell - despite this the British were more than happy to accept them as Volunteer nurses and Heinz Corra ( my grandfather interned in Shamshuipo) as a LanceBombadier in the HKDefence Force who fought in a pillbox to the surrender. They were fast tracked by the governor of the time after the war ended- having a good war record and being a very well respected members of the wider HK community , than those just in the forces.
they were sent as refugees to Australia ( having lost a house onshousonhill,a business in Marina House and all their worldly goods to the ravages of the Japanese ( and others) who slashed the family portraits and other pictures ( that had had to have permission from Austria’s Minister of Culture to allow their removal from Vienna/Austria); destroyed and pillaged a museum of Chinese antiques collected by Heinz Corra and poldi) in their previous travels through China; they andtheir families were knowledgeable andwell respected in Viennese High Society.
they returned to HK with £50 issued to all volunteer nurses inHK ;remade their lives; and lived there till their deaths.
they all spoke Cantonese whilst poldi could also speak Mandarin fluently and also could write Chinese fluently. They were all great linguists.
the reasonI have detailed all this is because your diary entries are very biased in outlook and underpin the less desirable attribute of many British( at the time) ; that of supposed superiority due to birthright! It is the least worthy and endearing attribute and so often ill founded.
it would be good if you could find and included diary entries of those who are not “British” ( I would include those from the antipodes ) and others who suffered equally or worse e.g Chinese , not having the protection of being”British”.
I must end by saying that my mother and grandparents were proud ,well respected members of the BritishEstablishment throughout their lives, once accepted in 1946 . Christine had no Austrian accent which helped her integration once she got past being “ a foreigner”.
This is not criticism of your diaries part of the website but just a raison d’etre for a bit of balance.
Comments
Christine Corra
Christine Corra (Genders) was my Mother. Unfortunately she died on November 11th 2007 - Remembrance Day which we all thought was very appropriate given her wartime history. She always said she lived far longer than she anticipated given her wartime internment in Stanley with her Mother. Her Father Henry Corra was in Sham Shui Po. Her Brother was evacuated to the US.
re: Christine Corra
Hi Sue, Thanks for writing. I've copied your note over here to your mother's page.
Your mother was mentioned a few times in diaries written in Stanley: https://gwulo.com/node/10875/backlinks
Though the last two entries are records of classical concerts and just have the name "Corra". Any idea whether that was Christine or her mother playing?
Regards, David
Corra
Hi David
Sorry for the delay in replying! The pianist mentioned would have been Poldi (Leopoldine) Corra playing. She was a wonderful pianist. My mother, Christine Corra did not play an instrument and was tone deaf but a wonderful artist especially using the medium of pastels - hence the pastel drawing of Bob Tatz.
Regards.
Sue
re: Corra
Thanks Sue, it's hard to know who's being referred to in the diaries, so thanks for clearing that up.
I've made a page for your grandmother at https://gwulo.com/node/40832
It's under your account so please feel free to edit it if there is anything you'd like to add.
Regards, David
Thank you David. Actually I
Thank you David. Actually I have a very interesting family history of the Corra family and their days in Hongkong before, during and after the war . Communicating with Bob Tatz has made me reread it. It is some 35 pages long - what is the best thing to do with it? Scan it over to you? I also have various bits and pieces (lists from Stanley and Sham Shui Po) and photos - what to do with them too? They should be saved for posterity. I believe in the family we have quite a lot of film footage of Hongkong (my grandparents were the Bell and Howell Agents for Asia for many years). The film footage is in slightly random order, interspersed with other things! Any idea where that would be best placed? My family were connected with HK from the mid 20's to the mid 70's one way and another!
Many thanks. Sue Ponsford (nee Genders)
Family history
Hi Sue, sorry I missed your questions earlier. Yes please, if you can scan the family history and send it over I'll be interested to read it.
For lists & photos, a good first step is to scan / take digital photos of them too. That means you're protected if anything happens to the original paper. Once we've got digital copies we can also work out if they can be made available here on Gwulo, and which archive might be a good home for the originals.
Film footage is trickier. If you've already got digital copies, the easiest place to share them is to put them on Youtube. The Hong Kong Film Archive could be a good home for the original films: http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/ce/CulturalService/HKFA/en_US/web/hkfa/aboutus/d…
Regards, David
Leopoldina Corra Known as Poldi interned in Stanley camp HK.
I am her eldest granddaughter and would like to correct comments about her piano playing experiences.
She was a piano student at the Vienna Conservatory until she left Vienna and was taught by Marie Pretner- the most famous piano teacher of her time. Pretner had been the assistant of Leschetizky ( who was a teacher and virtuoso who taught Paderewski and Schnabel) and taught using his methods - where the student sat upright at the piano and made no inessential movements. The main characteristics achieved by this method were a beautiful tone from the brain rather than the hands; listening to the inward singing of a phrase ; and playing musically with agile fingers and supple wrists to bring out the beauty and spirit of a composition. Our grandmother achieved all of these things and was held up by Marie as the best student she had ever taught. So much so that Marie sent a constant stream of her students ( when on concert tours) to visit Poldi in HK after the war.
Poldi could play anything she heard by ear and was a wonderful asset at any gathering or party where there was a piano. She played whenever she had time and the concert platform’s loss was the gain of all who heard her. We were very privileged to hear her play throughout our childhood.
Non British interns in Stanley - treatment of
Regarding The two women who became my mother (Christine Genders nee Corra) and my grandmother ( PoldiCorra) after the war ended. I have listened to their stories of their time in Stanley as POW’s since being a small child living in HK and feel that the British need a long hard look at the diary entries as they e.g Barbara Anslow, appear to have ignored them to a greater extent. When the internees were offered some small compensation by the British Government for e.g.Their time inthe volunteer nursing corp towards the latter end of the 1900s - their inclusion in the list was voted down by the “British POWs) as they were not British at the time ( In Stanley in the war ). A travesty that those involved should be ashamed of- if they are still alive).
I feel that my family members can not have been the only ones to be reviled in this hurtful manner despite them having had an even worse internment without British food parcels and support. A matter of great shame on many of the other British ( “master race”) women.
during internmenttheir talentswere underused e.g. Poldi’s prowess on the piano and in many other ways, and Christine for her artistic skills and for her teaching of the children. I know that the odd mention of them has been made in some the diaries e.g. chandlers, particularly and Barbara anslow re a Viennese waltz routine.
as it happens the Corra’s had all handed in their Austrian passports to the then Governor of HK before the war started - as the first steps towards taking BritishNationality. They were therefore stateless when HK fell - despite this the British were more than happy to accept them as Volunteer nurses and Heinz Corra ( my grandfather interned in Shamshuipo) as a LanceBombadier in the HKDefence Force who fought in a pillbox to the surrender. They were fast tracked by the governor of the time after the war ended- having a good war record and being a very well respected members of the wider HK community , than those just in the forces.
they were sent as refugees to Australia ( having lost a house onshousonhill,a business in Marina House and all their worldly goods to the ravages of the Japanese ( and others) who slashed the family portraits and other pictures ( that had had to have permission from Austria’s Minister of Culture to allow their removal from Vienna/Austria); destroyed and pillaged a museum of Chinese antiques collected by Heinz Corra and poldi) in their previous travels through China; they andtheir families were knowledgeable andwell respected in Viennese High Society.
they returned to HK with £50 issued to all volunteer nurses inHK ;remade their lives; and lived there till their deaths.
they all spoke Cantonese whilst poldi could also speak Mandarin fluently and also could write Chinese fluently. They were all great linguists.
the reasonI have detailed all this is because your diary entries are very biased in outlook and underpin the less desirable attribute of many British( at the time) ; that of supposed superiority due to birthright! It is the least worthy and endearing attribute and so often ill founded.
it would be good if you could find and included diary entries of those who are not “British” ( I would include those from the antipodes ) and others who suffered equally or worse e.g Chinese , not having the protection of being”British”.
I must end by saying that my mother and grandparents were proud ,well respected members of the BritishEstablishment throughout their lives, once accepted in 1946 . Christine had no Austrian accent which helped her integration once she got past being “ a foreigner”.
This is not criticism of your diaries part of the website but just a raison d’etre for a bit of balance.
yours
lizHK