Photo of Elsa Soares Balcerzak (bottom right) with her brother (upper left) his wife (lower right) and unidentified person (upper right).

Elsa Soares Balcerzak (1910-1978) was born in Hong Kong into a family of Portuguese-Macanese origin. Shortly after the Japanese military executed her husband, Elsa gave birth to their daughter. Two months after giving birth, the Japanese military detained, tortured, and raped her for refusing to divulge information on her husband’s resistance efforts. According to her family, she told her interrogators that, "I don't know anything, and if I did know something I wouldn't tell you." After World War II Elsa briefly worked at the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong before moving to the United States. Elsa loved tennis, movies, and the music of Fats Domino. She passed away in San Bernardino, California in 1978.

According to Elsa's neice, Maria Soares, this picture was taken in Hong Kong after World War II. The person on the upper left is Elsa's brother (and Maria's father) and his wife is on the lower left. Maria couldn't identify the person on the upper right, but Elsa did remarry after she moved to the United States (Balcerzak is the last name she took from her second husband) so perhaps that is the person on the upper right?