【頁169】

Beb, meanwhile, reluctantly tries to prepare for the trip. What should they pack? How much luggage can they carry? How will they get suitcases? What happens to the belongings that are left behind? Where are they going? Will they be able to give the children an education? It is now clear that 4 other families will be going as well, namely, the families Lels, Leunis, Levenbach and Hasenstab. Beb consults with Annie Lels what they will take and when they actually need to be ready, because the date of departure is still kept secret.

【頁171】

On the night of January 24, 1944 the dreaded day has come. The Japanese choose to carry out these kind of transportations at night so that there is as little publicity as possible, but the whole camp knows that the group is leaving. Almost everyone has woken up to say goodbye. It is a heart touching farewell because nobody knows if they will ever see each other again.

【頁189】

On March 25, they finally arrive at the port of Moji, on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, and they remain all day at anchor. It's a good-sized sea　passage, which gives access to the Inland Sea. The coast is crowded and crammed, with many factories, small Japanese houses and a temple with a torii, a Japanese gate. All the passengers have to put their luggage on deck, but there is no news about moving on, so at seven thirty they put the hildren to bed and promptly at 8 PM the guards shout 'lekas, lekas' （quick, quick） and they have to go ashore. The entire harbor is lit up, no black out, no sign of war. They take a small ship to the customs warehouse, and are told to take out all their important papers, which are then stamped. Then they wait, and wait, and wait, with terribly sleepy toddlers and close to 11 o'clock they are suddenly returned to the SS Aramis with the same small boat. After long delays on board they can again go to sleep in their former cabins until six o'clock the next morning. They get an early breakfast, get back onto the small boat, and again go through customs. All the large baggage is put on the dock and must be opened. A courteous English speaking Japanese comes with their Kempe Tai guard, and without looking at the luggage, he declares everything as satisfactory and they can repack again. They are happy to be standing on solid ground.

【頁 190-192：門司港から東京へ　列車で移送】

Their destination is a ferry, a huge jam-packed ship with two floors, on which they cross the harbor to Shimonoseki, a port city on the main island of onshu. Upon arrival they walk through a long covered bridge over many railways. It takes them at least twenty minutes to arrive at the station from which their train will leave. They are allowed to sit in the hallway on the ground and wait for the train to leave at nine o'clock in the evening. The train goes to Tokyo. Is that their final destination? Kishida continues to monitor them constantly but Takahashi and Tsutsia go and get some food. The bamboo boxes they bring back contain a ball of rice, some side dishes and of course two neatly wrapped chopsticks. They get a lot of attention and they see masses of traveling Japanese people. Most wear European clothes but there are also women in kimonos that are rarely colored. Many walk on 'getas', the Japanese clogs, a board with two cross pieces of wood underneath and two bands that go between one's toes. They do not yet know that they too will walk on these getas later on.

On the train they sit at the front and there is place for everyone. All windows and curtains must be completely shut. That's okay because it is constantly cold. They keep their coats on and wrap themselves up in the blankets and try to get some sleep. The train ride will last 22 hours and they will travel along the Inland sea overnight. That is where the largest naval port of Japan is located, so of course they are not allowed to look outside. The curtains are allowed to be opened fifteen minutes after sunrise and then they get their first impressions of the country of Japan. The train runs along the east coast of the Big Island and they see that the morning is bleak and gray with cities that are also bleak and gray. The cities are in fact Kobe and Osaka with connected neighborhoods with densely built housing. This is what they see for hours on end. It looks like a stressed, overpopulated country.

Sometimes they see green fields with some crops and a multitude of small farmhouses with thatched roofs. There are many fences and hedges, and it seems that everything is hidden, except their little temples along the road. They are served food out of baskets again, but also a few rolls which are very dry but still appreciated. In the afternoon they see Mount Fuji in the istance, the famous holy mountain with its white top and green slopes. Other mountains are also still full of snow, but in the foreground they see the plum trees that already bloom. At six o'clock they pass through the fully lit city of Yokohama after which they reach the main station in Tokyo. They have hardly disembarked when all the lights go out due to an air defense exercise. Part of the group can see where the Japanese guide goes and follows him to the exit, but the Hasenstab family, who are the only ones to have been in Tokyo before, have not seen him and get terribly lost. The Japanese guard is close to a fit. He fears they will escape to their old friends. It is an anxious quarter of an hour for the guide, but then the family is found. Nobody seems to be available to pick up the group, so they are again made to sit in a corner on the ground. The children are terribly sleepy because they did not get enough sleep on the train or on board the ship. The Japanese have to make a phone call and look for contact-persons in the big dark station with only a single tiny emergency light. They wait and wait until 11 o'clock when finally a representative from the Sumitomo company arrives to take them to a station on a beltline. They are told that the train stops only briefly and therefore they need to get on quickly. The three guards go first followed by Henk, Murk, Beb and Tineke, while the Hasenstab family, all five of them, slip inside another door. The door slams shut and the train leaves. The rest of the group remains on the platform with the Sumitomo-man, who speaks only Japanese. Again, the Japanese guards are close to a fit and at the next stop, two of them quickly get off and go back. The first part of the group is instructed to get off at Meguro station and wait for the others. They arrive half an hour later. By then it is March 28.

【頁193-194：日本での生活開始】

To make matters worse it starts to rain. Finally, they turn into a side　road and see an illuminated entry but are not allowed to go in. One　cannot enter a Japanese house with your shoes on, so all the shoes　must be left on the sidewalk before they are allowed to enter the　'Hallowed halls'. The group enters a fairly large, clean but unheated　room with a few chairs and many benches on which they can sit and　wait. Japanese girls walk to and fro and they ask for tea, which they get;　finally, something warm. The group is divided. The Levenbach and　Einthoven families remain in the first house, the other families go to a　second house in the same yard. The Einthoven family are assigned two　rooms on the first floor: one for Wim and Beb and one for the four　children. The luggage is not there yet, so they decide to lie down with　their clothes on under the silk comforters in European style beds, and they all fall asleep. They sleep late, which is just as well because there　is no breakfast. The staff was unable to arrange that this quickly. They　get some lunch, which is typical Japanese served from black lacquered　pots. Everyone is exhausted and sick. They have lost weight and have　hollow, thin faces. The bad food aboard the SS Aramis and the nights　on deck have taken their toll and Sumitomo is shocked by their　sugar　for　condition. The following days they are served oatmeal with　breakfast, and both lunch and dinner come from the Imperial Hotel.