Date of letter:1992-12-19
Address of author:Anping County, Hengshui City, Hebei Province
Date of event:1942-08
Location of event:Anping County, Hengshui City, Hebei Province
Name of author:Qiao Xinpan, Qiao Guoxing
Name(s) of victim(s):Qiao Xinpan, Qiao Guoxing
Type of atrocity:Others (OT)
Other details:One day in August 1942, the Japanese residing in Anping County captured Qiao Xinpan and Qiao Guoxing working in the fields to the crossroad and beat them up. In June 1943, the two people were again beaten up and imprisoned by Japanese, not released after some time. The dampness and torture in dungeon resulted their bad health.
Comrade Tong Zeng:
How have you been?
We two are from Zhangshe, Daziwen, Anping, Hebei.
Qiao Xinpan, male, born in 1925, farmer.
Qiao Guoxing, male, born in 1923, farmer.
We hereby charge the invading Japanese army with inhuman crimes through our personal experience.
In August 1942, the Japanese army stationed in Anping raided our village. We were then working in the fields. The soldiers captured us to the village and brutally beat us at the crossroads. Qiao Guoxing blacked out on site and woke up himself afterwards, while Qiao Xinpan was brought to Anping, where he was beaten and put in the dungeon of the Puppet Police Station for 32 days before released. Both of us were badly tortured physically and mentally. It took us half-year house rest before we could do any light work again.
In June 1943, the Japanese army stationed at Daziwen raided our village. We two were captured to their blockhouse at Daziwen, beaten and put in dungeon. The dungeon was a pit as big as half a house with a wooden roof and a broken reed mat on the ground. We were not given anything to eat or drink for 3 days. Then, they brutally tortured us by pouring cold water into our mouth. Each of us blacked out 2 or 3 times. Our clothes were in pieces and covered with blood. Then, the puppet coordination office would send us some food. We ate, slept and relieve the bowels in the prison. There were no toilets or cloths. We spend a whole month in the dark, damp dungeon before we were transferred to the 4th Branch of the Puppet Police Station as it was flooded by water. At that time, we looked like ghosts due to the torturing. We had long hair, dirty faces, moldy thin clothes that turned from white to black grey and smelt badly.
Qiao Xinpan was released after he was detained in the 4th Branch for a month and Qiao Guoxing after two months. We could only do some light work after taking a rest at home for over half a year. Our waist and leg pain caused by long-term prison in the dark, damp dungeon after torturing couldn’t be treated or recovered. Qiao Guoxing lost the ability to work at age 63. Both of our families live a miserable life since. All these are caused by the invading Japanese army and the Japanese government should be liable for compensating us for our losses.
Best regards,
Qiao Xinpan (Personal seal)
Qiao Guoxing (Personal seal)
December 19, 1992
