Date of letter:1993-03-15
Address of author:Changsha City, Hunan Province
Date of event:1944
Location of event:Changsha City, Hunan Province
Name of author:Zhou Zhenqiu
Name(s) of victim(s):Zhou Zhenqiu’s mother and cousin
Type of atrocity:Rapes, Other Massacres(RA, OM）
Other details:I was a witness to the death of my fellows under Japanese swords and guns in three battles happened in Changsha. On the 13th of the 7th lunar month of 1944, dozens of women including my mother, hands tied in the back, were stripped and stabbed to death with bayonet. My mother was stabbed for eight times before thrown into the Xiangjiang River. My cousin (only 13-year-old) were gang-raped by three Japanese, with her vagina cut open.
Mr. Tong Zeng:
How have you been?
First of all, I’d like to send you my highest regards and wish you a good health and a long life. I admire you so much for righteously, bravely maintaining the benefits of Chinese people, pursuing justice for dead victims and speaking out what’s in our mind for decades.
I’ve read the article titled On-Going Civilian Claims for Compensation Against Japan from 515 Issue of Women’s News and learned that the program was launched by you. I am so happy and strongly support you. Thank you.
I grew up as an orphan and a victim of the Japanese army. I have a profound hatred of the Japanese army and I am so ready to claim for compensation against them for decades. When I was young, I swore before my mother’s tomb for many times that when I grew up, I would kill every Japanese people I encounter, the more the better, otherwise I am not her son. But after the People’s Liberation, I’ve realized the difference between Japanese imperialism and the Japanese people through the (Communist) Party’s education. Besides, the Japanese army was kicked out of China, so I didn’t keep my promise. But I’ve taken the following measures:
1. I named my son Zhou Xiangyang (named after Li Xiangyang in the movie Guerilla of the Plain who vigorously attacked the Japanese army) and my offspring were all given an anti-Japanese name.
2. We observe a vegetarian regimen on the anniversaries of the day my mother was killed. We will carry on the tradition until we eat the flesh of the Japanese some day.
3. I’ve established the Japanese War Crimes Archive and collected reports about crimes committed by the Japanese army, which will be passed down generation after generation. I also created public awareness of the Japanese war crimes.
4. I can sing all the revolutionary songs I know about from the anti-Japanese war period. I’ve also recorded these songs for my future generations and asked my descendants to play the songs after I die.
5. I’ve educated my offspring to never forget our hatred of Japan and that if Japan invades us again, we must unite and kill them.
6. I salute the tombs of anti-Japanese martyrs.
7. When I was young, I destroyed the tombs of Japanese soldiers and wrote letters to the Guerrilla.
For decades, when it comes to the days of my mothers’ death, I am always sad and cry a lot. Why do I hate the Japanese army so much?
Because the Japanese army are the most hateful beasts in the world. I witnessed my compatriots being cruelly killed by the Japanese army using guns or bayonets in the three battles in Changsha. It was indeed “corpses laying everywhere and blood flowing into a river”. My family then lived by the Xiang River and drank water from the river. At that time, the river water tasted of blood as dead bodies flowed constantly from the south to the north along the river.
Take my family for example, we lived by the river at Xinhe, Changsha. On the afternoon of lunar July 13, 1944, the Japanese troop codenamed Changdi 6113 Troops (The troops were headed by Mr. KAMIKUMA and Mr. KIYOKAWA, etc. It’s said that they were beaten to death by the masses after Japan’s surrender because of their atrocities) tied the hands of several innocent women including my mother at their back, took off their clothes and bayoneted them to death. My mother was bayoneted 8 times before she was thrown into Xiang River. As my father had died early, my younger brother and I had to lead a vagrant life and my younger brother was frozen to death. Among those killed was a widowed elderly woman. She was bayoneted and thrown into Xiang River along with my mother. As nobody had collected her remains, her corpse was floated onto the bank by the waves and eaten by a group of crows bit by bit. The remaining bones were dragged away by dogs. I had a 13-year-old elder female cousin who was captured and raped in turns by the Japanese soldiers. They cut open her vagina because she was too young. I’ve seen and heard of so many atrocities of the Japanese army about which I could talk for days. How could any human being not hate such human beasts? I hate the Japanese army as well as the small number of scum– traitors and pro-Japanese Chinese.
Recently, I’ve learned from a magazine that Acheng of Heilongjiang allowed the establishment of a monument for the dead Japanese from the Reclamation Group. I wonder if relevant leaders know about the crimes of Unit 731, if they think about compatriots killed in the Nanjing Massacre, or the people suffered from the “Three Alls” policy? Establishing such a monument is giving an honor in disguise to the invaders and insulting we Chinese people!
I don’t have a chance to go to Acheng. If I do, I will smash the monument to show my protest.
I’ve done some anti-Japanese work in my life but my biggest regret is not having personally killed Japanese soldiers. Therefore, please tell the Japanese government that the offspring of millions of victims will never be done with them if they don’t apologize to Chinese people and compensate the losses of Chinese victims. We must demand the payment of debt against Japan.
Thank you for your help. Please continue to work for our people and dead compatriots. I look forward to your reply.
Best regards,
Victim
Zhou Zhenqiu
March 15, 1993
