Date of letter:1992-06-11
Address of author:Xiangheng County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province
Date of event:1940, 1941-04-19
Location of event:Wuxiang County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province
Name of author:Dou Fengshu, Dou Fengming
Name(s) of victim(s):Dou Zhiren, Dou Zhigao and villagers
Type of atrocity:Murders, Others（MU, OT)
Other details:I thank you for speaking out what’s on the victims’ mind and I strongly urge compensation from the Japanese. In 1940 the Japanese occupied the Wuxiang County and practiced the notorious “Burn All, Kill All, Loot All” policy. My father Dou Zhirene and uncle Dou Zhigao and other two villagers were caught by the Japanese on April 19, 1941. Later one of them was released, while my father, uncle, and chairman of the village farming committee were killed. We were even not allowed to take away the bodies.
Comrades Tong Zeng and Chen Jian:
I’d like to thank you for delivering the petitions of millions of Chinese people who sacrificed their lives in the war of resistance against Japan, and the petitions of tens of millions of victims to Prime Minister Kaifu and for speaking up for the victims. We strongly demand damage compensation from Japan.
My father and my third eldest uncle were killed by Japanese soldiers.
My father Dou Zhiren and my third eldest uncle Dou Zhigao were underground Party members and passionate young men in their early 20s. After taking Wuxiang in 1940, the Japanese army implemented the “Three Alls” policy: loot all; burn all; and kill all. On April 19, 1941, the Japanese soldiers arrested my father, my third eldest uncle and Chairman of the Village Farmers’ Association Duan Deyuan and villager Dou Fusheng and detained them at the Japanese Red Department of the county, where they were brutally interrogated and tortured. Dou Fusheng was released shortly after, but the rest were executed in June. We couldn’t take dead bodies back for a proper burial due to the security lock down. People from our village felt really sorry for my family’s misfortune.
After my father and my third eldest uncle were captured, other family members, relatives and friends tried to get them released by pooling their savings for a rescue, but that didn’t work. Their death devastated my grandparents and mother. My grandfather cried his eyes blind; my grandmother went insane with insomnia. Unable to make ends meet, my mother remarried in 1943. Due to the blindness, my grandfather was burned to death because he couldn’t see that his bed caught fire from the firewood. He was wrapped in a mat and buried without a coffin. My brother and I started to herd sheep for people in the village to earn a living for my family when I was 6 and my brother was 8. Our suffering was beyond description. The Japanese imperialist aggressors caused my family to fall apart. When can this blood debt be repaid? The debt of blood might not be collected for the sake of a Sino-Japanese friendship going forward, but the economic losses should be compensated.
What I have reported above is completely true. There are evidence materials in the Civil Affairs Bureau of Wuxiang County. I will take full responsibility for the disclosed information aforementioned. I joined the railway corps of the People’s Liberation Army in 1957 to revenge my father and third eldest uncle’s death. I was transferred to work in the Northeast Farm in 1970 and later transferred back to the Tax Bureau of Xiangheng County. I am now 53 years old. I am a Party member and cadre.
Tong Zeng and Chen Jian, my family thank you sincerely for what you’ve done. Please let me know what other materials you might need. I am looking forward to your reply.
We restate our claim for compensation against Japan.
Victim Dou Zhiren’s son Dou Fengshu (Fingerprint)
Victim Dou Zhigao’s son Dou Fengming (Fingerprint)
June 11, 1992
