Titanic survivors were reviled and endured for the rest of their lives to reveal the truth
In 1939, the only survivor of the Titanic, Masafumi Hosano, passed away, and he had spent time in countless abuses and insults. What's so special about Hosono Masamune?
It turned out that he was the real person in the movie "Titanic", who pretended to be the first person to grab the lifeboat.
In 1912, the Titanic was hit by an iceberg, and due to the limited number of lifeboats, almost all adult males chose to stick to the ship, leaving the chance of survival to women and children.
Among them are the world's richest man, Astor IV, the world's second richest man, Strauss, and the founder of the Astor family. With their lives, they completed the last chivalry.
The tragedy was widely discussed around the world, and the heroic deeds of the victims were remembered by countless people, but Hosono Masafumi, who was mixed with women and children, became the target of public criticism and was regarded as a coward.
For the rest of Hosono's life, not only did he himself become the object of everyone's spurning, but even the descendants of his people were discriminated against. Until his death, these accusations did not stop.
A diary reveals the truth of history, but when the truth comes out, nothing can be changed. Did Hosono Masamune really steal his life back then? What really happened at that life-and-death escape scene?
The test of human nature in the face of death,"Wake up! The boat is sinking, put on a life jacket and assemble on deck! "In the middle of the night on April 14, 1912, Masafumi Hosono woke up in a noisy atmosphere, he opened the door in his pajamas, rubbed his eyes, and immediately came to his senses.
The hallway was filled with panicked crowds, and the attendants quickly threw life jackets while shouting for everyone to assemble on the deck.
Masafumi Hosono confessed that he was involved in this nightmare, and he followed ** into the deck of the third-class cabin. The sight before him was so terrifying that it almost made him fall to the ground.
In the darkness of the night, the waves crashed wildly against the capsized ship, the cold air filled the air with the smell of burning, and the crowd on deck was suffocatingly silent.
And the sailors held the ** to maintain order, on the one hand, to prevent anyone from rushing forward to cause chaos, and on the other hand, because of the captain's orders. When they found out that the Titanic hit an iceberg and was about to sink, Captain Smith immediately ordered the crew to start arranging escape measures, however, they soon faced a problem.
Perhaps it was because of the overconfidence in this luxury giant ship that no one cared about the amount of life-saving equipment before the departure. At the moment, there are only 16 lifeboats on board, each capable of carrying up to 60 people, while there are more than 2,000 passengers on board.
Faced with this critical situation, Smith did not hesitate too much, and he boldly ordered the crew to stay, including himself, and arrange for the passengers to escape, and he repeatedly emphasized: "Give priority to the old and weak, women and children, and I am sure that gentlemen will do the same." ”
As a result, there was a scene seen by Hosono Masafumi, where many men voluntarily and reluctantly gave up their chances of survival and sent their wives, children, and others to lifeboats.
In the face of the sudden arrival of death, Hosono Masafumi's heart is full of fear, but he tries to maintain his apparent calmness and demeanor, because he understands that he represents Japan and cannot lose the dignity of a Japanese man.
On the verge of life and death, he decided to write his final farewell for his wife and children, and at this moment, his heart was ready to die, and he was not the only brave person.
The relentless waves frantically eroded the ship, and in the face of this terrifying threat, the nobles and wealthy merchants who lived in the first class clinged to an ancient spirit—the spirit of gentlemen.
The Astor mentioned at the beginning was worth more than 100 million, and if he wanted to board the lifeboat, the hierarchy of that era would not stop him. However, he chose to put his wife and maid on the lifeboat, then calmly wrote his will, and finally chose to stay on the ship, leaving his place to the children he did not know.
Mr. and Mrs. Strauss, the founders of the Fusse department store, chose to live and die with the ship in the face of disaster, and they touched the world with their firm faith and selfless love. However, in the same disaster, Hosono Masafumi chose to escape.
He thought he was ready to face death, but eventually revealed his secret in his diary and letters - he got into a lifeboat "disguised as a man". This thought-provoking scene gives us a new understanding of life and death.
Masafumi Hosono, a 42-year-old director of the Japan Railway Institute, is enjoying the high-quality service of the second class on the Titanic. However, he encountered some unpleasant things during his journey.
Although he grabbed a ticket, as an Asian, he felt excluded and discriminated against. In this era, there was a clear hierarchy of society, and only the nobles, the rich, and the ** could enter the first class and enjoy luxurious facilities and excellent service.
In contrast, second class is much more ordinary. However, despite these difficulties, Hosono Masafumi remained optimistic and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the journey.
In the third-class cabins, where the people at the bottom lived, cramped spaces and scarce recreational facilities became the norm, and most of the people living here were laborers or poor people waiting to be dispatched.
This hierarchical cabin system continued after the accident, so Hosono Masafumi had no chance of escaping in the first place. The reason behind all this was that in the eyes of the sailors, the lives of the nobles of the first and second classes were not equal to those of the commoner class, and they were more concerned with the protection of noble lives.
In addition to the well-known principle of "women and children first", the captains and sailors also adhered to another strict criterion - people in the third class were not allowed to enter the escape cabin.
In Hosono Masafumi's diary, there are detailed records showing that the sailors were armed with firearms, partly to prevent men from fighting for positions, but more importantly to warn the people in the third class not to riot.
It's powerless and sad. Because of this, Hosono Masafumi, who was mixed in the third-class crowd, could not escape at all, and in desperation, he wrote a suicide note and the whole story on the paper of the Titanic, hoping to let future generations know the truth.
It was also because of these papers with the Titanic mark that these transcripts were later recognized by the Titanic Research Foundation. After writing the suicide note, Hosono Masafumi came to the deck again, looking at the distress flowers lit up in the air, he couldn't help but show a mocking expression when he thought of his wife and children at home.
Originally, when the Titanic set off, no one was worried about its sinking, so that even the distress signal was not prepared, and could only rely on the salute to send a distress signal, but this obviously had little effect, more like a "farewell" for the passengers.
Hosono Masafumi stares at the vast sea and prays for a miracle. Suddenly, he heard the sailor shouting: "There are still two places here, and two more people can go up!" This sentence instantly inspired his firm belief in survival, and he no longer considered the dignity of the country and the decency of men, and the only thing he cared about was whether he could survive.
He squeezed to the front as hard as he could, claiming that he was a second-class passenger and had the right to get into the escape boat. In the midst of the chaos, Masafumi Hosono jumped into the escape boat, he was not sure if the sailors would kill him, after all, the rules of the escape boat were to give priority to women and children, and although he was a second-class passenger, he was a man.
However, he still decided to give it a go, hoping to get away with it.
Probably because of the Japanese-style pajamas on his body, the people around him mistook this short Asian for a woman, so they all remained silent. This became the reason why he was later accused of "pretending to be a man", but in fact, his fear of death, as well as his performance, were not "brave" and "decent" enough, but this was not his intention to pretend to be a woman.
As a result, Hosono Masafumi became the only surviving Japanese, but he faced endless torture and trouble. This "Japanese shame" who survived the sinking of the Titanic, in the end, in the sea, the Titanic sank, and more than 1,500 people were killed, and only 705 survived.
These lucky survivors were sent back to their hometowns, but not all of them were warmly welcomed.
When Masafumi Hosono returned home, his family and the Japanese ** breathed a sigh of relief, seeing his survival as a miracle. ** also took the opportunity to vigorously promote him as the "Chosen One".
However, a report in the United Kingdom turned all that on its head. A British survivor revealed that Masafumi Hosono deliberately disguised himself as a woman to blend in with the women's group in order to survive.
This despicable act caused a ** storm. The British violently blamed and ridiculed him, while also praising other men who had sacrificed. This has made the ** in Japan completely turned.
For the Japanese, who value face and honor very much, Hosono Masafumi's behavior is undoubtedly a disgrace to the country. As a result, countless people began to insult this "selfish villain" who lacked the spirit of the samurai, and some even asked him to commit suicide by cutting his stomach to show repentance.
Countless letters poured into Hosono Masafumi's home, mixed with threats and intimidation, claiming that they were "going to kill you at the right opportunity" and, we would say today, he suffered severe cyberbullying.
These discrimination and insults caused him to lose his position and status as a samurai, and he had to hide in his home. His family even showed him contempt, and even his father spoke ill of him, saying that he should not have such a son.
Under such pressure, Hosono Masamune has always been silent, even if there is an interview, he is reluctant to mention the words "Titanic", which further confirms those rumors.
Since then, he and his family have become "street rats" in Japan, and he has been a symbol of shame in various films and textbooks, and this scolding has not stopped even after his death.
On the verge of life and death, surviving is undoubtedly the greatest luck. However, Japan** interprets Hosono Masafumi's life as "I'd rather die than live a few more years".
But this is not the case, and after experiencing the threat of death, Hosono Masafumi no longer pays too much attention to the evaluation of the outside world. He chose to work at a school and spend the rest of his life in a low-key manner.
After his death, when the children and grandchildren sorted through his belongings, they found his diary and many documents. When they read the record of that life and death experience, they were all deeply shocked.
According to the diary, Hosono Masafumi boarded lifeboat No. 10, but the British passenger who accused the Japanese of "forcibly boarding the ship" was on lifeboat No. 13.
This couldn't help but make them wonder, how could he see Hosono Mamoto?
According to the "third-class cabin cannot be boarded" regulation at the time, lifeboats with two seats should actually be used first by second-class passengers Hosono Masafumi. Despite his cowardice, he did not preempt the survival of others.
However, if these things did happen, then why did he always carry the label of guilt on his back? We have no way of knowing what Hosono really thought in his heart, and perhaps in his heart, he was indeed "guilty" compared to those passengers who were killed, so he chose to remain silent.
Later, the descendants of the Hosono family made this information public, hoping to remove Hosono Masafumi's name from reports and textbooks and restore his reputation.
Hosono Masafumi's son had fallen into a misunderstanding, and there was little attention and understanding of his deeds. Years later, however, an exhibition took note of this truth when it was held, sparking a "conspiracy theory" discussion about the matter.
In fact, Europeans at the time generally misunderstood Asians and believed that only "whites" had noble qualities. So when the passenger revealed the truth, European countries praised the heroic deeds of the gentlemen while criticizing the Japanese for their lack of gentlemanly demeanor, a label that is actually a common misconception of Asians.
This conclusion is supported by facts. In addition to Hosono Masafumi, six other Chinese were also misunderstood. They were laborers on the ship and did not have a chance to board the escape boat, but were lucky enough to wait for rescue through the door panel and the broken boat.
The rewritten copy retains the core idea of the original copy, which is the misconception and labeling of Asians by Europeans, while emphasizing the impact of this misunderstanding on Masafumi Hosono and the six Chinese laborers.
Chinese survivors were denied access to the United States under the anti-Chinese policy at the time, and were instead detained and sent to Cuba to work. However, in the reports of the West**, they are portrayed as despicable villains who snatch the positions of women and children, with those who are revered as"White heroes"of people in stark contrast.
This kind of image of inferior nations undoubtedly reveals the lack of objectivity of some Western ** in reporting facts. Therefore, there may really be no so-called Hosono text"Despicable survival"Behavior.
However, regardless of the truth, the people involved in the accident have passed away, and the merits have been diluted by time. However, whoever is lying, we should all see the dangers of rumors.
In the digital age, online violence is on the rise, even leading to the loss of some lives. Before the situation becomes clear, we must keep thinking rationally and not let our words become a sharp weapon to hurt the innocent.
Just like the wreck of the Titanic, it reminds us to value every life and avoid making the Internet a hotbed of crime and violence.