Date of letter:March 1, 1993
Address of author:Yangqu County, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province
Date of event:November, 1937
Location of event:Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province
Name of author:Wang Xifu (Scrivener: Wang Jianping)
Name(s) of victim(s):Wang Xifu’s grandfather and other several villagers
Type of atrocity:Murders (MU)
Other details:One day in November, 1937, Japanese invaders invaded the village and all the villagers moved to the mountain and hid in the caves for a whole day. To find some food and water for the old and young, my grandfather and several villagers came out of the caves and went into the village. Unfortunately, they were found by the Japanese invaders on their way back to the mountain and got killed.
Comrade Tong,
Hello!
When I was reading an article (‘The History Doesn’t Forget – a report on Chinese people’s claim to Japan for reparations for victims) on Reader’s Digest, which described the tragic historical process of China’s suffering like being in the deep water and hot fire, I remembered a true and sad story told by my father.
The story happened one day in November, 1937 when the Japanese invaded the village and all the villagers moved to the mountain and hid in the caves. They were short of water and food for an entire day, and the old, women and children had not eaten anything for a day. At that time, my grandmother and grandfather (Wang Shuandi) was holding my father, who was only an infant of 10 months. To find some food and water for the old and young, my grandfather and several villagers came out of the caves and went into the village quietly at the risk of being killed by the Japanese. They then found some food and water and were on their way back to the mountain. Then the Japanese found them and started to shoot at them. Some villagers were killed, but my grandfather was only injured. However, the brutal Japanese didn’t let my grandfather go; they cut off his head instead.
My father was 10 months old at that time, and the family which had led a hard life before was further pushed into cold darkness. My grandmother got remarried because of the unbearable hardship, so my young father started to live with my great grandfather and step great grandmother. He had never enjoyed father’s love as a child, which left a shadow on his mind. He was only 10 years old when his great grandparents passed away one after the other. Then he was fostered at my second grandfather’s home (the younger brother of my grandfather), living lonelily without kin’s care. As time passed by, my father grew up into a man, but he became introvert and stubborn, burying all the sorrows at the bottom of his heart. He left home at an early age and came to the Duerping Mineral. It is the Chinese Communist Party that gives my father a warm home and enables him to live in a society full of love.
Comrade Tong, this phase of history is an epitome of Japan’s aggression in China. During 1931 – 1945, the disasters and victims brought about by Japanese invaders were countless. Now I strongly urge to give victims the rightful and fair reparations, so I actively respond to the civil signature campaign for reparation for victims. I would like to show my gratitude to the civil public activist Tong Zeng.
I wish you good health, work smoothly, and an early success
Sincerely,
Signer: Saoyuan Village, Yangqu County, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province
(Wang Xifu)
Scrivener: son Wang Jianping
March 1st, 1993
Mail address: Electrician Team, Duerping Mineral Transportation Division, Xishan Mining Bureau, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province Receiver: Wang Jianping
Postcode: 030022
