Julie made one of the most unexpected discoveries. The most heartbreaking things of her life were in a box of Halloween trinkets. When the woman started unpacking party decorations to use to decorate her daughter’s house for her birthday, she found a note that said « Sir.
The author of the letter did not give his name but said he was in the Masanjia labor camp in Shenyang, China. He had to work 15 hours a day under the threat of torture.
The woman therefore immediately rushed to accede to the request of the author of the letter and sent a photo of the leaflet to the human rights activists at Human Rights Watch.
The story made a lot of noise and Julie had to face an influx of commentators on the web who condemned her actions. Many felt that by publishing the letter, the woman had put the author in great danger.
« I started doubting myself and crying. Didn’t I do what the letter writer wanted me to do? » – Julie Keith remembers. Six months later, the person who had written the note contacted me.
He turned out to be a dedicated Falun Gong engineer named Sun Yi, who had been arrested in Beijing in 2008. He was immensely grateful to Julie for her help and told her he would always be indebted to her. In 2018, a documentary film, The Letter from Masanjia, which recounts these events, was premiered.
The case of the American is not the only one. A few years later, a British woman, Rebecca Gallagher, had a similar experience.
