Date of letter:1992-12-26
Address of author:Rong County, Zigong City, Sichuan Province
Date of event:1939-08-19
Location of event:Leshan City, Sichuan Province
Name of author:Gao Yongshou
Name(s) of victim(s):Gao Yongshou’s grandmother, big sister and uncle
Type of atrocity:Air Bombings (AB)
Other details:On Aug. 19, 1939, Gao Yongshou’s grandmother, big sister and uncle were killed in Japanese bombing, which was recorded in Leshan Ancient Anthology.
Comrade Tong Zeng:
I’m very glad to receive your reply dated December 13. Everyone in my younger brother’s family and I are moved by your righteous action on behalf of victims’ family members.
I have been to Leshan, because my grandma, eldest sister, and youngest uncle were all burned to death after bombing by the Japanese aircrafts in Leshan. I left Leshan in 1948, and haven’t been there for decades. In this journey, I found very few people who knew the history of WWII. Only two of my father’s friends and their family members who were over 80 still remembered the scenes in those years. Many local people had no idea about what you are doing. My younger brother who is in Chengdu was also ignorant of the news. I informed him of the situation, and now he is also working on filing claims. We want to sign our names but don’t know how. Because we cannot find other victims, I let my younger brother find victims in Chengdu and ask them to sign claims. Then I will mail them to you. I now mail you abstract photocopy of the Leshan’s “Leshan Historical Annals” for your reference. It carried detailed records and photos of the Japanese bombing of Leshan during the Anti-Japanese war period. My family members were killed during the Japanese bombing at noon on August 19, 1939 (July 5th on the lunar calendar, Saturday, the 28th year of the Republic of China). The bodies were burned to charcoal, and too horrible to look at. Back then my home was in Xiashuncheng Street. My father’s store was razed to ground at Yutang Street. Everything was burned to scorched earth. The entire Leshan town’s central business district and downtown area were bombed and were engulfed in fire. On that day my father took my younger brother (about five), Gao Jiafu to Chen Zhuang and avoided the bombing disaster. My mother took me (about eight) out of town and thus avoided tragic deaths. This is another debt of blood owed by the Japanese invaders to the Chinese people, which deserve compensation from Japan.
Please let me know if there is anything you’ll need. Please find the attached an one-yuan stamp for postage. Since you have to pay postage to return so many letters, it would be too much for you to bear the expense all by yourself.
Regards
Yours faithfully
Gao Yongxiao
December 26
