Date of letter:1994-01-13
Address of author:Lingshou County, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province
Date of event:1942-09-05
Location of event:Lingshou County, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province
Name of author:Jia Wenrong, Zhang Xinyan, Zhang Chengxiang and other people
Name(s) of victim(s):Jia Xiaowu (Jia Wenrong’s father), Zhang Dongxiang (Zhang Xinyan’s father), Zhang Jingrui (Zhang Chengxiang’s father)
Type of atrocity:Murders, Others, Slave Laborers（MU, OT, SL）
Other details:On September 5, 1942, the Japanese troops caught our villagers Jia Xiaowu, Zhang Dongxiang, Zhang Jingrui and Zhang Ermeng in their mopping-up. The villagers were cruelly tortured by the Japanese soldiers, leaving their wounds rotten and their bodies covered with maggots. A few days later Zhang Ermeng was killed, and the rest were sent to Japan to do hard labor. The property in their houses was almost looted by the Japanese soldiers. The Japanese soldiers did things that are against reason and nature and hurt innocent people. As the victims’ offspring, we have the right to claim for compensation and seek justice from the Japanese government. Note: The envelope was lost.
Pursuing Justice Against Japan
Demanding Compensation Against the Japanese Government
On September 5, 1942, the Japanese raided Jiazhuang Village, burning, killing, plundering and capturing many young and middle-aged people. The Japanese soldiers tied up villagers Zhang Jingrui, Zhang Dongxiang, Jia Xiaowu and Zhang Ermeng, beat them at the village primary school with guns and whips, tortured them by pressing their heads into a large pit with water in the yard and then escorted them to the blockhouse in Shikan Village, where they were bitten badly by Japanese dogs. Afterwards, they were held in a cellar to rot and given only a meal a day. Several days later, Zhang Ermeng was killed and his head was hung off the drawbridge. Over 10 days later, the rest of them were escorted on a vehicles and taken to Shijiazhuang and then to Japan to be forced laborers. We lost their whereabouts after that.
In 1942, Zhang Dongxiang just turned 19 and her family members were only 2 old people of 60 or 70 and a child of over 1. Their grain and little donkey were robbed by the Japanese. There was no food at their house and no one to work in the fields. They suffered greatly from hunger. Then, 2 elderly people died one after another, leaving her and her child to suffer a bad life alone.
In 1942, after the over 40-year-old Zhang Jingrui was captured, his family had only 4 kids, the oldest of which was 13 years old. They begged to live and were skinny due to starvation and too weak to stand up. They ate all barks and leaves of near-by trees. They cried every day.
After Zhang Ermeng was taken away, his wife cried all day long and she cried so badly that she didn’t have breast milk to feed the 1-year-old child. The child was starved to death. Zhang Ermeng’s father went mad due to the loss of his son and fought trouble with the Japanese every day for revenge. He died with hate within his heart soon. Zhang Ermeng’s wife had to remarry. The household just disappeared like that.
In 1942, after Jia Xiaowu was captured away, the Japanese robbed his family of all property, so his father had to take Jia Xiaowu’s 3 kids to beg for life. His oldest kid was only 11. They begged all the way to Shanxi. Jia Xiaowu’s wife suffered from illness and hunger and died.
At that time, many people from Lingshou County were taken away, but only Liu Erlan from Gaoyongwan came back alive after we won the war (Japan surrendered). According to him, after they were escorted to Shijiazhuang, they were forced on a train and sent to a large coal mine in Japan. Most of them died of exhaustion and only a few survived. Later, Liu Erlan joined the army and sacrificed on their way towards the south.
The Japanese killed many innocent, kind Chinese people and broke many Chinese families, causing severe mental damage to the Chinese people. We should pursue justice against the Japanese and demand compensation for our serious mental and physical losses, otherwise the god won’t forgive them.
Complainants: Jia Xiaowu’s daughter Jia Wenrong
Jia Xiaowu’s son Jia Yintai
Zhang Dongxiang’s son Zhang Xinyan
Zhang Jingrui’s son Zhang Chengxiang
Lunar January 13, 1994
Villagers’ Committee of Jiazhuang, Tashang, Lingshou
(Villagers’ Committee seal)
