Date of letter:April 12, 1993
Address of author:Not mentioned
Date of event:March, 1945
Location of event:Xinxiang City, Henan Province
Name of author:Zhu Qinglin
Name(s) of victim(s):Zhu Zian (Zhu Qinglin’s father) and other 31 people.
Type of atrocity:Air Bombings (AB)
Other details:In the middle of March, 1945, dozens of airplanes bombed the Xinxiang Railway Station in Japanese control. The air-raid shelter was collapsed by the bombed building, causing Zhu Zian, Zhu Liushi and other 30 people to be suffocated, including 6 relatives.
Comrade Tong
My name is Zhu Qinglin, a staff member of railway affairs multi-operation office, Anyang City, Henan Province, 58 years old. My hometown is Xiguanhuashi Street, and now I live in the backyard of sofa cushion factory on Xihuancheng Road, Anyang City.
My father Zhu Zian was a warehouse material keeper of Xinxiang Railway Affairs Division during Japanese army’s occupation. In the middle of March, 1945, tens of US aircrafts bombed the Xinxiang Railway Station which was in the area controlled by Japanese, destroying the three-story building of the affairs division. The collapsed building crushed the shelter inside the Lis Yard near the residential area, causing my father Zhu Zian and the other, a total of 31 people, suffocated to death, including my mother Liu, my younger sister Zhu Baofu, my younger brother Zhu Baocheng, my uncle and aunt totally 6 people of my family.
I became an orphan when I was only 10, and two years later in 1947, my house was torn down by the Kuomintang for building fortifications. I became homeless, so I was raised by my third uncle Zhu Jinhai afterwards. Zhu Jinhai, a former head engineer of Xinxiang Maintenance Affairs Division, is now retired and living in No. 9 Jiaotong Alley, Xinxiang City. Postcode: 453000.
After liberation, I participated in the railway work in 1956. I have cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases with a debt from medical fees of several thousand yuan and am living a hard life. So in this letter I ask help from you and urge Japan to indemnify for the losses of my family of 6 people and millions of fellows caused by them.
Please let me know how to process the documents and materials needed for the claim in your reply. If it is necessary, my families or I can meet you in Beijing. Please notify it in the letter, and I can pay relevant expenses for your assistance. Thank you!
Hope everything go well with you!
Zhu Qinglin
April 12th, 1993
Mail Address: Backyard of Sofa Cushion Factory, Xihuancheng Road, Anyang City, Henan Province Recipient: Zhu Qinglin, Meng Haozhen
Postcode: 455000
Comrade Tong,
Hello!
We would like to show our sincere respect and admiration to you and your fellow workers for your hard work to claim reparations against Japan.
We support the signature campaign of 100 million Chinese people requesting for Japan’s reparations.
We are planning to organize signature activities in Anyang and Xinxiang, in cooperation with the whole campaign. But we do not know the detailed forms and approaches to carry on. This letter is sent to keep contact.
Zhu Qinglin, Meng Haozhen
April 12th, 1993
