Date of letter:1992-12-31
Address of author:Yunnan Province
Date of event:1938-1944
Location of event:Linxi County, Xingtai City, Hebei Province
Name of author:Wang Zhenlong
Name(s) of victim(s):Wang Zhenlong and his father, Wang Zhangyi, etc.
Type of atrocity:Murders, Others(MU, OT）
Other details:My father, a civilian, was taken as a member of the Eighth Route Army and killed by Japanese with a bayonet on March 5, 1938. Young people Zhang (surname) and Wang Zhangyi were beaten to death. A dozen people including Wang Zhenjia and I were beaten. Later the Japanese attacked the Dingzhuang Village, Linxi County at night and killed 2 people. After that, one night in the autumn of 1944, the Japanese plundered a lot of belongings and arrested many people including me. I was later taken back with ransom money. Wang Xinglong, an old man died of disease in jail. The property lost worth about 100,000 yuan.
Mr. Tong:
How are you?
Your reply, prepared in your busy schedule, has been received. Thank you.
The crimes committed by the invading Japanese army and the suffering of the Chinese people are severely endless.
My father died on March 5, 1938. At that time, some soldiers of the Eighth Route Army lived in my village. On that day, the invading Japanese army suddenly attacked my village (Dingzhuang, Linxi). The enemy was strong, so the Eighth Route Army had to retreat. There was only one Chinese soldier who unrelentingly resisted the Japanese army and got killed on the battlefield. Then, the invading Japanese army entered my village, claimed that my father was an Eighth Route soldier and bayoneted him to death (In fact, my father was a civilian). Another young man surnamed Zhang (about 18. I couldn’t remember his first name because I left my hometown long time ago) from my village was also killed on that day.
In 1943, the Japanese Lackey army attacked Dingzhuang, and the villagers hid in their houses. A young man named Wang Zhangyi was beaten to death by the Japanese Lackey army with a wood stick and another man named Wang Zhenjia was seriously injured (in the chest). I, then only 14 years old, was also brutally beaten, and the soldiers took my coat away. Over 10 people were brutally beaten at that time.
One night in the autumn of 1944, the Japanese Puppet army attacked Dingzhuang again. They took away our cattle, clothes and bedclothes as well as cattle, sheep and property from other households. They also arrested many people and held them as hostages. I was held hostage for about half a year and released by paying a ransom. An old man named Wang Xinglong had acute cholera, but the Japanese Puppet army didn’t want to give him any medical treatment, so he died in the prison.
All the aforementioned victims were civilians. The property they had lost is estimated at hundreds of thousand yuan.
I hereby sign my name on behalf of the following 16 people who are relatives of the victims:
Wang Zhenlong, Wang Zhenkui, Wang Zhenmei, Wang Yian, Wang Qi, Wang Yulian, Wang Yuping, Wang Xiaoyin, Wang Yizhen, Wang Yixiang, Wang Yufeng, Wang Zhangcheng, Wang Renzong, Wu Xiuzhen, Tan Xiaoqin, Wang Aimin, Wang Huansheng and Wang Xiaoyu.
Mr. Tong, I would like to express my deep appreciation for your claiming compensation, on behalf of millions of victimized Chinese people, and pursuing justice against the Japanese government..
Wish you a happy New Year of the Rooster!
Wish you all the best.
Relative of the victim
Wang Zhenlong
December 31, 1992
