Date of letter:April 30, 1992
Address of author:Baoding City, Hebei Province
Date of event:Not mentioned
Location of event:Not mentioned
Name of author:Zhang Youdong
Name(s) of victim(s):Not mentioned
Type of atrocity:Others, Slave Laborers(SL, OT)
Other details:I have seen your name in many newspapers. The mentioned signature compaign was really exciting. I learnt a lot after visiting the slave laborer Liu Lianren in Shandong. I will spend my efforts to help you in the days to come.
Mr. Tong,
Hello!
On April 11th, I met Mr. Lin Bohui again, and he gave me some Japanese newspapers which reported that the People’s Congress of Chongqing and other cities, provinces approved the proposal of civil reparation claim against Japan (for the masscre of million of Chinese during WWII). A ‘one hundred million signature campaign’ was getting ready (for justice for the victims). Each news and document (about civil compensation) has mentioned your name, which is encouraging. Currently, the overall atmosphere is developing at a favorable direction. Your efforts will produce good results one day and be remembered by people forever.
From 12th, I accompanied Kenji NOZOE, author of Hanaoka Incident, to visit Liu Lianren in Shandong. We met the families of Mr. Liu and Chen Zongfu who escaped with Liu from Meiji Mine and survives till now. From this, I knew more about Liu’s deeds and learnt a lot of new things. But I was also remorseful that as a Chinese, I could not make a small contribution for the fellows. From now on, I would like to do my best to follow your will and direction The holding of Hanaoka Incident Exhibition may still have some obstacles (the Ministry of Culture may be the only barrier). On May 6th, the younger brother of Mr. Lin ‘Pigsy’ (pen name) will go to Beijing to negotiate with the Museum of the War of People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression again. I will go there too; I will report to you if there is new progress.
Yesterday, I received the new issue of Research on Aging released on April 15th, in which my translation was published. Thanks to Mr. Editor’s modification and correction, the article is well written. Please send my gratefulness to him. Since most of my friends are aged and they would like to read this article as well, could the magazine office send me more copies? I will pay the expense if necessary. If the copies are limited, it’s fine; I can make some copies!
In addition, there is another theme article ‘Longevity and Aging’ on Japanese Society Issue 1 in 1992, which can be a supplement for the former article. If necessary, I will spend some time to translate it and send it to the editorial office for review.
Now I am translating Hanaoka Incident, which is promised to finish before the summer holiday. I will try hard to publish it before the exhibition. Wish everything is fine with you. Hope you could exchange ideas with me and enlighten me. Wish you healthy and work smoothly!
Zhang Youdong
April 30th, noon
