Date of letter:1993-02-14 (date on envelope)
Address of author:Wanrong County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province
Date of event:1942-04-15
Location of event:Wanrong County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province
Name of author:Sun Changlai
Name(s) of victim(s):83 people including Song Jiagui, Sun Tianping, etc., all Sun Changlai’s townsmen
Type of atrocity:Other Massacres (OM)
Other details:On April,15th 1942 on the lunar calendar, the Japanese troops were severely punished by the Chinese army. The enemy angrily surrounded Chenyan Village for revenge, shot 83 people in a row, including 69 who were then commemorated with monument. Among them, 14 people were from other places, whose names are unknown. Information of the 69 victims, their monument inscriptions and photos are provided in letter.
Comrade Tong Zeng:
Please find the attached summary of “April 15” Tragedy of Shanxi Province, Wanrong County, Niandi Town, Chenyan Village listing of victims and photographs of the stone plaques at the Memorial Hall.
Please confirm upon receipt and advise if you have further instructions.
Regards
Yours Faithfully
Initiator Sun Changlai
December 25 (lunar calendar)
Outline of the “April 15” Tragedy
In early morning of April 15, 1942, one unit of the Japanese Imperial Army suffered heavy casualties in the south of our village inflicted by the Chinese Army. The enemy flew into rage and surrounded our village, rounded up our villagers, who were stripped naked and in the Sun Family Ancestral Hall. They were killed either by bayonets or guns. On that rainy day, loud gun fires and desperate howls echoed in the sky, with human bodies littered the ground, blood and rain mixed to form pools. All eye-witnesses were extremely grieved. This massacre resulted in the death of eighty three persons. Eight families lost all members, and more than fifty families were left with orphans or widows.
To remember the victims, and to educate the future generations, citizens in our village donated funds to erect a stone plaque and build a Memorial Hall in 1990.
Registration Form of “April 15” Tragedy Victims of Chenyan Village, Niandi Town, Wanrong County, Shanxi Province in 1942
Registration Form of “April 15” Tragedy Victims of Chenyan Village, Niandi Town, Wanrong County, Shanxi Province in 1942
Registration Form of “April 15” Tragedy Victims of Chenyan Village, Niandi Town, Wanrong County, Shanxi Province in 1942
Registration Form of “April 15” Tragedy Victims of Chenyan Village, Niandi Town, Wanrong County, Shanxi Province in 1942
Registration Form of “April 15” Tragedy Victims of Chenyan Village, Niandi Town, Wanrong County, Shanxi Province in 1942
Registration Form of “April 15” Tragedy Victims of Chenyan Village, Niandi Town, Wanrong County, Shanxi Province in 1942
Registration Form of “April 15” Tragedy Victims of Chenyan Village, Niandi Town, Wanrong County, Shanxi Province in 1942
Registration Form of “April 15” Tragedy Victims of Chenyan Village, Niandi Town, Wanrong County, Shanxi Province in 1942
Registration Form of “April 15” Tragedy Victims of Chenyan Village, Niandi Town, Wanrong County, Shanxi Province in 1942
Registration Form of “April 15” Tragedy Victims of Chenyan Village, Niandi Town, Wanrong County, Shanxi Province in 1942
