Date of letter:1993-08-20
Address of author:Yuanshi County, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province
Date of event:1944-1945
Location of event:Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province
Name of author:Hu Yanrong
Name(s) of victim(s):Hu Yanrong
Type of atrocity:Slave Laborers(SL)
Other details:In 1944 when I was at Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan railway, I was caught by the Japanese gendarmerie for no reason. I suffered cruel torture and was taken to the North China Labor training place. It was winter, and we ate food mixed with ice. Any carelessness might result in receiving a beating. I was taken to Japan to do Slave Laborers later and finally returned home in October 1945.
Comrade Tong Zeng:
Comrade Li Erlou recently returned from Beijing to our county and told us about your care and support for victims of the invading Japanese army and their family members. We really appreciate it.
We have written materials about our suffering, but there may be some mistakes as we have a limited knowledge of various situations. We are now sending a copy to you for review. Please inform us of any mistakes. We will correct them before sending again to you and the Japanese embassy in China.
We apologize for the trouble and sincerely expect your guide. Thank you.
Best wishes to your work and health.
Niu Xiting, Niu Shuting, Hu Yanrong
August 18, 1993
Address: Dongjia, Wucun, Yuanshi, Hebei
Postal code: 051134
Demanding Compensation
I am Hu Yanrong, 71, from Dongjia, Wucun, Yuanshi, Hebei. I was insulted and victimized by the invading Japanese army. I hereby demand Japan to apologize to and compensate me.
My suffering is described below. In August 1944, I was arrested without a reason by the invading Japanese gendarmerie stationed there at Weishui Station of Shitai Railway. They cruelly tortured me during illegal interrogation, causing me a tarsal bone fracture in the left leg and a dislocation in the right ankle. I was covered in blood and blacked out several times. Half a month later, I was recovered slightly and escorted to the North Labor Training Center (commonly known as South Military Camp) established by the Japanese army stationed in Shimen. The center was referred to as “a living hell” by the people. It was cold then, but we still wore broken thin blooded clothes taken off from the dead. We ate a small bowel of sorghum rice with ice cubes for each meal. Japanese soldiers and spies were everywhere. We would be beaten or starved if we made a small mistake and would be held in the prison if we made a big mistake. We must keep running from morning to night. I was often brutally beaten due to my leg injury. We slept on the ground without a bed or quilt. Although my wound was scarred then, my body was covered with sores due to the torture and the blood soaked my clothes. At night, my skin and flesh were mixed with clothes while in the daytime, they were torn apart when I moved. I was in so much pain, but I couldn’t say anything about it for fear of being thrown into the prison. In mid-October after half a month’s torture, I and other over 200 people were escorted from Shimen Railway Station to Qingdao by the armed Japanese army and forced on a Japanese ship.
We spent 7 days and nights on the sea. Life was no different from at the South Military Camp. Although there were no Japanese soldiers supervising us, the Japanese people on the ship didn’t treat us as humans. They made us squeeze in a small cabin full of raw iron. We didn’t have enough room to sit, let alone lie down. There was no fresh water on the sea, so we had to eat corn noodles mixed with seawater and drank seawater. We all looked dying when getting off the ship in Shimonoseki.
Then, we were sent to a mine in Kamaishi, Iwate, Japan to mine for iron ore. At the mine, Japanese policemen, guards and their masters implemented brutal fascist persecution against us. We lived in an airtight stinky house, ate a limited amount of unprocessed barley and wore worn clothes. When someone got sick, his food supply would be reduced to accelerate his death instead of being provided with treatment. Each of us was beaten and scolded. More sadly, each of us was brutally beaten on Chinese New Year’s Eve. That night, crying didn’t stop in our house. Despite the torture, we had to work all day. Due to the physical and mental torture, diseases, bad food, heavy work and homesickness, one third of the people died in a year. We lost hope and asked partners to bring our ash home if they luckily returned home. Fortunately, Japan surrendered unconditionally on August 15 and we survived and returned to China in October 1945.
I suffered from serious physical and mental trauma in the year, had scars all over my body and was sick for a long time. Up till today, I suffer from pain in the joints, difficulties in walking, trance and headache, and cannot take care of myself. I need to take medicine every day. My family has sold all land and property to save me. We now live a hard life in relatives and friends’ houses.
Therefore, I strongly demand Japan to apologize to and compensate us for the loss of our property and my medical expenses.
Victim: Hu Yanrong
August 1993
The above facts are true.
Villagers’ Committee, Dongjia, Wucun, Yuanshi
(Villagers’ Committee seal)
August 20, 1993
Demanding Compensation
My father Niu Erhong was arrested by Yuanshi gendarmerie in June 1944, and then tortured and interrogated before being sent to the North Labor Training Center (South Military Camp) in Shimen (Shijiazhuang). He suffered from inhuman “training” and was escorted to Tanggu, Tianjin a month later. After repeated interrogation, he was forced on a Japanese ship in August. He was given no food or water for 9 days on the ship and then reached Shimonoseki, Japan. After being disinfected, he was sent to Sagawa, Hokkaido and then Shikou Coal Mine. He dug for coal there for over a year, suffered a lot and lived an inhuman life. After Japan’s surrender, he took a ship at the Sasebo port, Nagasaki, Japan on November 10, 1945 and returned to Tianjin and then home.
My father and other laborers were brutally tortured by the Japanese in over a year. Each of them was only given some bun and wild vegetables to eat and was hungry all the time. Despite the cold weather in Hokkaido, always tens of degrees below zero, they only had thin clothes on. Many people lost fingers and toes due to the cold. Every time when they came out from the mine, the cold wind froze their clothes to ice. My father was badly tortured in Japan and got sick. He died of disease in 1948 at only 27. After his death, there was only my grandfather, grandmother, me and my younger brother. I was 4 then and my younger brother 2. Our life was so difficult. My family was indeed torn apart.
Therefore, I strongly demand Japan to compensate my family for our great losses.
Claimant: Niu Xiting, Niu Shuting
Dongjia, Wucun, Yuanshi, Hebei
August 18, 1993
The above facts are true.
Villagers’ Committee, Dongjia, Wucun, Yuanshi
(Villagers’ Committee seal)
August 20, 1993
