Date of letter:1993-05-01
Address of author:Yongqing County, Langfang City, Hebei Province
Date of event:1942-01
Location of event:Daqing River, Hebei Province
Name of author:Liu Zhenkun
Name(s) of victim(s):Liu Zhenkun
Type of atrocity:Slave Laborers（SL）
Other details:In 1942, the Japanese army mopped up in Daqing River area in Hebei, and caught many people. We were forced to go to Japan to do hard labor. Every day we went into caves to work, but didn’t have enough food to eat. We were not provided with cotton-padded clothes to keep us warm in winter and suffered all kinds of misery. Some workers got sick, but could not see a doctor. We were also often beaten by them. Some committed suicide, and some escaped but were beaten to death after being caught again. I strongly require the Japanese government to compensate me.
Petition Demanding the Japanese Government to Compensate Wages to Chinese Laborers
China has only given up war compensation between governments instead of civilian compensation. The following are my unforgettable painful memories of laboring in Japan. In January 1942, many people including me were captured by the invading Japanese army during a raid in northern Daqinghe, Hebei and sent to Tanggu Camp. Later I was sent to the railway station of Tsukino, Tone, Gunma, Japan. I was forced to labor for 4 years in a ravine 3 km southern of the railway station. I dug a cave every day, which was over 15 km long from east to west and used for hydraulic power generation. We did heavy work every day but ate pig feed; we were always starved. Instead of being provided with warm clothes in winter and thin clothes in summer, we were only given a crotch cloth every day to work naked. The Japanese foremen often beat the Chinese laborers with sticks and whips as they did to cattle and horses and called them morons. I was badly beaten that caused my waist disability, depriving me of the ability to live independently. There was one time that the Japanese foremen swung an axe at us, but luckily for me I escaped. Things like this happened often and to other laborers too. Many Chinese laborers were beaten to death by the Japanese foremen. The life was inhuman and hard. Some laborers killed themselves, some escaped but then killed themselves by jumping off a mountain, and some escapees were arrested back and killed alive by Japanese dogs. The Japanese foremen said, “You Chinese people cannot run away. You are just food of Japanese dogs.” Some Chinese laborers died of injury while working and some were blinded or disabled. When Japan surrendered in late 1945, only over 130 out of over 400 Chinese laborers were still alive. We returned to our motherland in March 1946 with the help of the American army and were received by the Red Cross of Qingdao, China.
We may talk about the details in person.
The two Japanese foremen were called XX SATO and XX SATAKA respectively.
(I strongly demand compensation against the Japanese government.)
1. My father worked as a laborer for 4 years in Japan and suffered 4 years, so he should be compensated a 4-year wage of 40,000 USD.
2. He should be compensated 10,000 USD for spiritual suffering.
3. He should be compensated 40,000 USD for being killed by the Japanese foremen.
(Died in Japan) Chinese victim: Liu Xu
Address: Binggao, Sanshengkou, Yongqing, Hebei
Witness: Li Xianting (Shuqing) (Personal seal) Chu Jinpeng (Fingerprint) Li Shuming (Personal seal)
Heir: Liu Zhenkun (Personal seal)
Current address: Binggao, Sanshengkou, Yongqing, Hebei
May 1, 1993
Villagers’ Committee of Bingjiao, Sanshengkou, Yongqing
(Villagers’ Committee seal)
