Ludu Daw Amar - Wartime Kyipwa Yay

Wartime Kyipwa Yay

The family fled to the countryside north of Mandalay when the Second World War broke out in the East in 1942, but the magazine continued to come out. Daw Amar translated one of the three wartime bestsellers of the Japanese soldier writer Hino Ashihei called Wheat and Soldiers (ဂျုံနှင့်စစ်သား, Gyon hnint sittha) and published it together with the other two translated by her husband. She also translated The Rainbow (သက်တံရောင်, Thettant yaung) by the Czechoslovak writer Wanda Wasilewska in 1945, printed on blue matchbox wrapping paper, the only kind of paper available at the time. Both husband and wife became involved in the Resistance movement against the Japanese Occupation, and formed the Asha Lu Nge (အာရှလူငယ်, Asia Youth) organisation in Mandalay. Her husband was arrested briefly by the military authorities after the recapture of the city by the British Fourteenth Army on account of the Hino Ashihei books.