Sequence number:s0265
Date of Letter:1993-02-09
Address of Author:Chengdu City, Sichuan Province
Date of Event:1938-07-07 (lunar calendar)
Location of Event:Fenyang City (originally Fenyang County), Shanxi Province
Name of Author:Duan Peishen, et al.
Name(s) of victim(s):Duan Huanyou (Duan Peishen’s father), Duan Huanlong (Duan Peishen’s uncle) and other over 40 peoples
Type of atrocity Other Massacres (OM)
Other Details:On July 7, 1938 of lunar calendar, the Japanese army invaded my hometown and carried out a massacre. They caught and killed people from every houses. Over 100 people in my village were beaten. My father Duan Huanyou and uncle Duan Huanlong and other over 40 people were gathered and shot to death. The disaster was recorded in Fenyang County Annals.
Mr. Tong,
Hello!
I am very moved to learn from the news that you are fighting for compensation and justice for the victims and losses of lives during the Japanese invasion of China in World War II. I feel proud that there exists a courageous person like you in China. My family was also the victim of this war. Attached are the documents about my father Duan Huanyou and second uncle Duan Huanlong who were murdered by the Japanese army in support of my request for civil compensation from Japan. We look forward to receiving your strong support and help. On behalf of my family, I express our heartfelt gratitude to you and your associates, as well as my unreserved support for your action. We will stand with you firmly and are willing to sign our names on ‘100 million people’s signatures’. If you need any further material, please let me know. My address is:
Sichuan Ministry of Health, Chengdu City. Recipient: Duan Peishen. Postcode: 610041.
I look forward to hearing good news of justice from you.
Sincerely,
Attached are the names of my families
Victim: Duan Huanyou
Eldest son: Duan Peishen
Eldest daughter-in-law: Chang Jinying
Eldest grandson: Duan Haidong
Eldest granddaughter-in-law: Zhang Ling
Second grandson: Duan Haiming
Second granddaughter-in-law: Chen Lirong
Third grandson: Duan Haitao
Third granddaughter-in-law: Ge Leijun
Fourth grandson: Duan Changqing
Great grandsons: Duan Hao, Duan Ran, Duan Xia
The eldest son of victim Duan Huanyou, the nephew of Duan Huanlong, a retired man
Duan Peishen (name seal)
February 9th, 1993
Materials about my father Duan Huanyou and second uncle Duan Huanlong
being murdered by the Japanese army and
our request to receive civil reparations from Japan
On July 7th, 1938 of the lunar calendar, the flames of Japanese invasion scorched my hometown – Nanmazhuang Village, Fenyang County, Shanxi Province. In the very morning the Japanese army occupied our village. They started a ruthless massacre towards the innocent civilians in the village. My father Duan Huanyou and second uncle Duan Huanlong were the victims of the massacre. That day, upon entering the village, the Japanese army captured, beat up and killed people from door to door. After they broke into the yard of our house, they began to beat up everybody, and took everything from us. Being scared, we had no place to hide. They asked all of us to raise our hands. We were not allowed to move. Then, they tied up my father and my second uncle and carried them away. At that time, our village had over 200 households, over 100 people were brutally tortured by the Japanese soldiers. Among the 100, 40 young men were bound with ropes. They were lined up next to a huge water pit in our village. Inside the pit some area was dry. The captain of the Japanese gave orders to fire and shoot those unarmed villagers. The soldiers started to shoot them to death with rifles and machine guns. In seconds, 40 innocent young men fell into a pool of blood. The whole pit turned red. This is the ‘Nanmazhuang Massacre’ of Fenyang County which shocked the Middle Shanxi Area during the Japanese invasion. (This case is specifically recorded in Fenyang County Annals). My father Duan Huanyou, and my second uncle Duan Huanlong were murdered by the Japanese army in this appalling massacre. I was 7 at that time and I saw everything with my own eyes how my father and my second uncle were cruelly killed. I can never forget this horrible scene.
After my father and my second uncle’s death, my grandfather fell sick in fury, and passed away before long. The medical expenses and funeral costed us lots of money. And due to the extremely destitute condition, the bodies of my father and uncle were wrapped with grass mats and buried crudely. My mother wept her heart out all day long, but no one could look after her because we were too young (I was 7, my elder sister Duan Yufen was 9, and my younger brother Duan Peiti 3). My mother had bound feet and could not work, so the family could not make the ends meet. The family lost the life support after the death of my father. We became penniless. We drifted from place to place, had nothing to eat and nothing to wear. It was worse when winter came. We were dressed in rags, with our bare feet frozen, swollen and rotten. We were unable to walk. Suffering from cold and hunger, one day felt as long as a year. To survive, my mother sold all the belongings in the family. When there was nothing left to be sold, , my mother reluctantly remarried in desperation. I became an orphan, and had to beg to make a living.
The tragedy of my family was caused by the Japanese Imperialism, and the Japanese army’s murdering my father and my second uncle. They brought us long-term grave pain and disaster, making the young and old of my family struggle at the verge of death for more than ten years. We have suffered all kinds of physically and mental pains. Our family strongly urges Japan to apologize to the victims and pay civil reparations of 10,000,000 Japanese yen respectively to our families according to the international provisions related to civil reparations for victims. The aforementioned facts of our families’ tragedy and the ‘massacre’ of our village were witnessed by the head of our village’s Mr. Bo Tiande and more than 20 others. They can testify all the facts. The true history was recorded in Fenyang County Annals of Fenyang County, Shanxi Province.
The eldest son of victim Duan Huanyou, the nephew of victim Duan Huanlong, both of whom were killed by the Japanese army (name seal)
Duan Peishen (name seal)
February 9th, 1993
Please forward this to:
Mr. Ambassador of the Japanese Embassy in China
