Collection Summary
Sindberg, Bernhard Arp, 1911-1983
Bernhard Arp Sindberg Papers and Photography
Collection
1937-1985
PH-02638
394 items
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin
The collections consists of 394
photographs, most of which were taken during the Nanjing Massacre, or Rape of Nanking, in 1937 and 1938. Many of the photographs are
in an album compiled by Sindberg, and some have typed or handwritten annotations. The
collection is supplemented by a small amount of manuscript material that includes
correspondence, employment and military service records, an autobiographical account in
typescript, and a collection of newspaper articles.
English and Dutch
Biographical Sketch
Bernard Arp Barney Sindberg (19 February 1911-1983) was a
Danish national employed in China in 1937 by the Kiang Nan Cement Factory. He first served
in the Second Sino-Japanese War as a volunteer with Chinese forces during the Siege of
Shanghai (September-November 1937) by the superior Japanese forces. Assigned to take over a
cement factory in Nanjing, China, he arrived in that city shortly before the infamous
Japanese invasion at the end of that same year. When the Japanese army routed the Chinese
defenders and entered the walled city on December 13, Sindberg, working both alone and with
other foreign nationals, sought to find ways to protect portions of the civilian population
from what would eventually become known as the Rape of
Nanking, or the Nanjing Massacre. During the course of the atrocities that went on
until March 1938 and resulted in upwards of 300,000 civilian deaths, Sindberg provided a
safe haven and improvised hospital within his cement works for approximately 10,000 Chinese
civilians. Like his more famous counterpart, John Rabe (the
Wallenberg of Nanking), Sindberg used his foreign status and resourcefulness to
save the lives of countless civilians from the marauding Japanese army.
An amateur photographer and friend of a number of foreign newsmen, Sindberg carried his
camera everywhere during this period, snapping often graphic scenes of civilian massacres
and public destruction. In Shanghai, Sindberg served as a driver for Philip Pembroke
Stephens (1903–1937), a journalist for the Daily Telegraph.
Stephens was killed in November 1937 by stray sniper fire from the Japanese. Sindberg was
present when Stephens was shot and documented his death in several photographs. In order to
protect himself from the Japanese, Sindberg smuggled the undeveloped film out in company
shipments, where it was developed by others in his company. Following the end of the war, he
reclaimed his previously unseen prints and realized that he had produced one of the few
photographic records of Nanjing's destruction. Over the subsequent decades, during which he
served as a merchant seaman on a variety of ships, he retained a significant portion of the
photographs. It is this extant visual record -- supplemented by his notes and captions --
which makes up this important, amateur photojournalistic collection.
Scope and Contents
The collections consists of 394 photographs, most of which were taken during the Nanjing
Massacre, or Rape of Nanking, in 1937 and 1938. Many of
the photographs are in an album compiled by Sindberg, and some have typed or handwritten
annotations. Many of the images are extremely graphic, and capture the dead and dismembered
bodies of men, women, and children, including infants. Of note are several photographs
capturing the death of journalist Philip Pembroke Stephens. The photographs are gelatin
silver prints and, with the except of one panoramic photograph, range in size from 2.8 x 4
cm (1.1 x 1.6 inches) to 12.3 x 17.4 cm (5 x 7 inches). The collection is supplemented by a
small amount of manuscript material That includes correspondence, employment and military
service records, an autobiographical account in typescript, and a collection of newspaper
articles.
Acquisition:
Gift, 2006 (R 12520)
Access:
Open for research. Researchers must create an online Research Account and agree to the
Materials Use Policy before using archival materials.
Use Policies:
Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information
that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers
are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living
individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals may have
legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may
arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed
highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University of
Texas at Austin assume no responsibility.
Restrictions on Use:
Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the owner of
the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder
which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Ransom
Centers' Open Access and Use Policies.
Index Terms
People
Sindberg , Bernhard Arp, 1911- .
Subjects
Atrocities.
Documentary photography.
Merchant marine.
Nanking Massacre, Nanjing, Jiangsu Sheng, China,
1937.
Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945.
War photography.
Places
Nanjing (Jiangsu Sheng, China).
Shanghai (China).
Document Types
Clippings.
Gelatin silver prints.
Panoramic photographs.
Photograph albums.
Preferred Citation
Bernhard Arp Sindberg Papers and Photography Collection (PH-02638). Harry Ransom Center,
The University of Texas at Austin.
Processed by:
Elizabeth E. Preston, 2019
Container List
Series I. Photographs, circa 1937
Box 1.1
2006:0026:0001-0072
Miniature prints,
circa 1937.
Gelatin silver prints, 2.8 x 4 cm (1.1 x 1.6
inches).
Box 1.2
2006:0026:0073-0096
Nanjing,
1937.
Gelatin silver prints.
Box 1.3
2006:0026:0097-0111
Nanjing,
1937.
Gelatin silver prints.
Box 1.4
2006:0026:0112-0127
Nanjing,
1937.
Gelatin silver prints.
Box 1.5
2006:0026:0128-0143
Nanjing,
1937.
Gelatin silver prints.
Box 1.6
2006:0026:0144-0159
Nanjing,
1937.
Gelatin silver prints.
Box 1.7
2006:0026:0160-0175
Nanjing,
1937.
Gelatin silver prints.
Box 1.8
2006:0026:0176-0191
Nanjing,
1937.
Gelatin silver prints.
Box 1.9
2006:0026:0192-0207
Nanjing,
1937.
Gelatin silver prints.
Box 1.10
2006:0026:0208-0216
Nanjing,
1937.
Gelatin silver prints.
Box 1.11
2006:0026:0217-0224
Nanjing,
1937.
Gelatin silver prints.
Box 1.12
2006:0026:0225-0231
Nanjing,
1937.
Gelatin silver prints.
Box 1.13
2006:0026:0391-0393
Materials removed from scrapbook, Nanjing,
1937.
Gelatin silver prints.
Flat File
2006:0026:0394
Panoramic photograph,
circa 1937
Gelatin silver print.
Box 2
2006:0026:00232-0390
Scrapbook containing photographs by Sindberg documenting the Nanjing
Massacre. Many of the photographs are duplicates of images found elsewhere in the
collection. Some of the photographs in the first section of the scrapbook have
handwritten captions by Sindberg. The second section of the scrapbook contains
photographs that are stills from an amateur motion picture shot on 16 mm film. A
typescript introduction explains that the photographs were taken by a neutral foreigner and were taken
ma[n]y days after the actual fall of the city. The photographs have
typescript captions,
1937-1938.
Series II. Papers, 1937-1985
Box 1.14
Certificates of Discharge to Merchant Marines,
1943-1973.
Box 1.15
Correspondence,
1941-1985.
Box 1.16-17
Employment and Military Service,
1937-1963.
Box 1.18
Enroute [sic] To The Battle-zones,
typescript autobiographical account of Sindberg's travel to Shanghai in 1937,
circa 1940.
Box 1.19
Legal documents (divorce decree, cancelled will, and coroner's release),
1942, 1983.
Box 1.20
Newspaper clippings in English and Dutch,
1937-circa 1980.
Box 1.21
Photocopies of news articles, photographs, and identification
papers.
Box 1.22
Empty mailing envelope.