Date of Letter:1993-7-5
Address of Author:Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province
Date of Event:1942-1
Location of Event:Daqing River, Hebei Province
Name of Author:Li Wanzhong
Name(s) of victim(s):9 victims including Li Wanzhong, He Chengyan, Li Shuhuai, etc.
Type of atrocity:Slave Laborers（SL）
Other Details:In the time of Japanese invasion and raids, many people were conscripted as slave laborers. Some of them died of hunger, some inhumanely beaten to death.
Petition
Demanding the Japanese government to pay compensation salary to Chinese forced laborers
China only forgoes the war compensation between governments, it has never given up non-governmental persecution compensations.
In recollection of my unforgettable pain, in January 1942, Japanese invaders captured many laborers during the sweeping action north of Daqing River in Hebei Province and sent them to Tanggu Concentration Camp. I was one of the captured laborers, later they sent me to Tsukino Village, Tone County, Gunma Prefecture in Japan. Getting off at Gokan Railway Station, walking 6 li to the south, in the valley, they forced me to work as laborer for 4 years. Each day I was forced to dig a cave, which is over 30 li long in from the east to west, for the purpose of hydraulic engineering and power generation. Each day Chinese laborers entered the cave to do heavy work, and were fed with swine feed, chaff ball, which was far from enough. In winter, no padded coats were distributed, while in summer no unlined clothing was distributed; instead each one got one roll of loin cloth, in other words, Chinese laborers had to work with bare body. Japanese foreman often beat Chinese laborers with sticks and whips, just like beating cattle, while at the same time cursing Chinese “idiots”, and “damned”. Many Chinese laborers were beaten to death by Japanese foreman. The inhuman hell-like life was too much to tolerate, some committed suicide, others jumped off mountain after fleeing, and those who were captured again were attacked to death by imported hounds. Japanese foreman said: “There is no way that you Chinese can escape, you are the food of our Japanese dogs”. Many Chinese laborers died from abuse, there were also blind people and disabled people who were injured when working in the cave. The scar on my left wrist was the result of iron wire binding by the Japanese army, and the bone was damaged. Among the 400 plus Chinese laborers, only 130 were still alive at the end of 1945 when the Japanese surrendered. In March 1946, with the help from the US Army, we returned to Qingdao in motherland, and was received by the Red Cross Society. For more detail we will talk face to face.
Names of Japanese foreman: Sato, Sataka, two persons.
I demand compensation from the Japanese government;
1. I worked as laborer in Japan for 4 years, 4 years of hard labor, I should receive 4 years of salary totaling USD 40,000 as compensation
2. USD 5,000 compensation for the bone injury of my left wrist
3. USD 5,000 as compensation for mental anguish
Totaling USD 50,000
Chinese laborer victim Lui Wanzhong
Address: No. 6, Row 42, Erji Dormitory, Dunhua Fang, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province
93.7.5
Reference:
Here is a list of people who worked with me as laborer in Japan and are still alive.
He Chengyan, address: Laoyoutun Village, Bieguzhuang Town, Yongqing County, Hebei Province.
Li Shuhuai, address: Qianliu Wuying Village, Bieguzhuang Town, Yongqing County, Hebei Province.
Song Shuzhi, address: Shizhuang Village, Matou Town, Anci District, Langfang, Hebei Province.
Liu Shuge, address: Shangwuzhuang Village, Sanshengkou, Yongqing County, Hebei Province.
Ma Ruifu, address: Shangwuzhuang Village, Sanshengkou, Yongqing County, Hebei Province.
Wang Yongyi, address: Dengjiawu Village, Houyi Town, Yongqing County, Hebei Province.
Li Zhongyuan, address: Sanshengkou Xianglao Village, Yongqing County, Hebei Province.
Liu Yongqing, address: Tuanjuzhuang Village, Houyi Town, Yongqing County, Hebei Province.
