Date of Letter:1993-01-18
Address of Author:Hanyang, Wuhan City, Hubei Province
Date of Event:Not mentioned
Location of Event:Not mentioned
Name of Author:Hong Aizhen
Name(s) of victim(s):Hong Aizhen
Type of atrocity:Sex Slaves (SS)
Other Details:I was very impressed that this October people sent by you came to visit me – a south Korean victim drifting outside for fifty years. I will come to visit you in Beijing when it gets warmer.
My Great Benefactor Mr. Tong Zeng:
First, wish you a Happy New Year! Wish you and your family peace, good health and happiness!
In early October this year, you dispatched five people, including Mr. Li, Miss Li and Miss Ruan, from Beijing to Wuhan to visit me at my home. As a South Korean victim [Editor’s note: She was taken as a comfort woman for Japanese soldiers in China] who has been drifting around for nearly 50 years, my tears rushed out like rain. It seemed as if I was living in a dream. For several days, I lived in a state of bewilderment. On November 14, I finally met you in Beijing. There were so many things that I wanted to tell you at the time, but I found myself unable to speak. I was too emotional and too excited. However, during the dozens of days since I returned to Wuhan, I felt very uneasy. The reason is as follows: Among the three South Korean friends [Editor’s note: all comfort women] who together visited Beijing, Hong Honglin’s son accompanied us. But when reporting expenses, he did something dishonest. He asked the owner of the Korean restaurant, located opposite to the guest house, to make out a receipt that was higher than the actual amount. He also included money spent buying clothes and shoes while in Beijing. He even pocketed the money for food onboard the train as well as the taxi fare. This Yang Zhencai did not spend one penny of his own. I thought Senior Chen [Editor’s note: He was the one who informed Mr. Tong that there was a group of Korean comfort women in Wuhan], like you, had tried his utmost working for the cause of demanding compensation from Japan. He used his own money to do things for us. Here I would also like to thank Mr. Li. Miss Li, and others. Because I’m old, and it is very cold in Beijing in winter, I will surely go to Beijing to see you when the weather is warmer. Today, I write this letter to give New Year’s greetings to those gentlemen and ladies in Beijing who are working diligently for the victims. Wish everyone a Happy New Year!
All the best.
South Korean Expatriate Comfort Woman
Hong Aizhen
Yours sincerely
January 18, 1993
