Date of letter:1993-03-21
Address of author:Leiyang City (county-level city), Hengyang City, Hunan Province
Date of event:1940-1943
Location of event:Hunan Province
Name of author:Liu Yuechu
Name(s) of victim(s):Liu Yuechu’s father, Liu Zhi (Liu Yuechu’s uncle) and their townsmen
Type of atrocity:Others, Slave Laborers, Air Bombings, Murders, Rapes(OT, SL, AB, MU, RA）
Other details:Hunan Province is my father Liu Minggao’s ancestral home. During the Japanese invasion of China, my father was engaged in the shipping business between Nanjing and Shanghai. My father’s ship was plundered by the Japanese soldiers. In July, 1940, my father’s shop in Hengyang City was bombed by the Japanese soldiers, and my uncle Liu Zhi was killed during the bombing. In 1943, my hometown was occupied by the Japanese soldiers who committed all manner of crimes. My father was caught and forced to work as a porter. He escaped at night and survived. During the Japanese invasion of China, I was a middle school student. I witnessed the Japanese soldiers rape women, plundere property, and disperse bacteria, from which even all people died in some villages.
Charging Japanese Militarists with Crimes Committed During their Invasion of China
My father Liu Minggao (also Liu Zhihe) was born in Xiaojiangkou, Hengnan, Hunan. He used to make a living by driving a ship. He had a salt ship of his own that could transport 300 tons of goods along the route of Nanjing and Shanghai. During Japan’s war of aggression against China, the Kuomintang government sank some large ships in the river as a defense to stop the Japanese navy. My father’s ship was one of them. My father accepted the ship-sinking proposal for the sake of national benefits.
To make a living, my father raised some money and partnered with my grandfather to open a grain store named Yutaiheng on Niwanhe Street, Hengyang (now North Yanjiang Road). My father was the manager and in charge of finance. After they had some deposits, they bought a mansion of 0ver 1,000 square meters at Xiaoxihuamen (now Remin Road), Hengyang. The front building was rented and we lived in the building behind it. In July 1940, Yutaiheng grain store was destroyed by Japanese fire bombs. All supplies such as rice, cotton, soybeans, tung oil and brown sugar and everything else in the store were gone. More tragically, my uncle Liu Zhiyue was killed by the bombing. He was an apprentice and left to watch the store while others hid in an air-raid shelter. He was unable to flee out of the store and bombed to death. He was 18 then. In October of the same year, our mansion at Xiaoxihuamen was also destroyed to ruins. My whole family was in agony. The disaster took away lives and property. We had no choice but return to our hometown. My family bought a roadside building on Guanshi Street, Hengnan County as a place to live.
In 1943, my hometown fell to the Japanese army. They did all crimes such as burning, killing, plundering and raping. My father was captured on the way of fleeing for shelter and robbed of valuables on him such as jewelry, pearl and agate. Besides, he was forced to carry things for them. Luckily, my father escaped at night, hid around and then returned home several days later. My grandmother got ill due to the loss of a son and property and died with hate in the winter of 1944. My family’s loss of property during Japan’s war of aggression against China is estimated at over 250 million yuan based on the current valuation. In addition to that there was a young man’s life which is beyond valuation.
Although it’s been a long time, we will never forget the atrocities of the invading Japanese army. Like millions of other Chinese families, my family suffered greatly from the war and it’s completely just for us to file a claim for compensation against the Japanese government. Only by prospering our country and improving its international influence under the proper leadership of the Communist Party of China can numerous victims like us file a claim for compensation. I think this program is reasonable and just and can erase our national shame and mental trauma. We should be compensated materially. I strongly appeal that all Chinese victims should stand up and claim for compensation against the Japanese government to protect our national dignity, erase national shame and relieve the severe trauma that the war caused to us.
I was a middle school student when Japan invaded China. I witnessed the Japanese soldiers rape women, rob people’s property, burn houses and furniture, kill innocent people and spread bacteria that caused many people and villages to suffer and die from malaria and dysentery. How cruel is that! As common people, we struggled on the brink of death. The Japanese used traitors to establish a Maintenance Organization which collected money from the people and forced women to be “comfort women” for the Japanese. The national shame and hate makes everyone suffer. The past memories are still fresh to me. I will educate my offspring with my own experience so that they won’t forget the national shame and pain of their ancestors and make them understand that there is no safe family without a strong country so as to inspire their patriotism, efforts and devotion to our country’s prosperity.
Laiyang Transportation Station, Hunan Coal Company
Claimant
Liu Yuechu
March 31, 1993
