Date of letter:1993-05
Address of author:Yongqing County, Langfang City, Hebei Province
Date of event:1942
Location of event:Daqing River, Hebei Province
Name of author:Zhao Guoxi
Name(s) of victim(s):Zhao Guoxi
Type of atrocity:Slave Laborers（SL）
Other details:In 1942, I was caught by the Japanese invaders to act as a Slave Laborers for 4 years. We dug caves from dawn to dusk every day, and were often beaten wtih whips. Some people could not stand the inhuman torture and escaped, but were bit to death and eaten by dogs of the Japanese soldiers if caught again. I strongly urge the Japanese government to pay my wages and medical treatment expenses in compensation.
Petition Demanding the Japanese Government to Compensate Wages to Chinese Laborers
To the current Japanese government,
China has only given up war compensation between governments instead of civilian compensation.
I am Zhao Guoxi. In 1942, many people including me were captured by the invading Japanese army during a raid in northern Daqinghe, northern China and sent to Tanggu Camp. Later we were sent to the railway station of Tsukino, Tone, Gunma Japan. We were forced to labor for 4 years in a ravine 3km southern of the railway station. We dug caves through the mountains every day from early in the morning to late at night. The caves were said to be used for hydraulic power generation. We did heavy work every day but ate pig food. Instead of being provided with warm clothes in winter and thin clothes in summer, we were only given a crotch cloth. The Japanese foremen often beat the Chinese laborers with sticks and whips like they did to cattle and horses and called them morons. I saw with my own eyes how a Chinese laborer was beaten to death by Japanese foremen. Some laborers managed to escape because they couldn’t stand the torture anymore, but they could hardly survive if they were caught back. The foremen would send Japanese dogs out to bite them and eat them alive. They have no humanity at all. If the laborers got sick, the Japanese foremen would just let them die instead of giving them medicine or rest. In a word, the 4-year laboring life made us truly experience the cruelty of fascists. We weren’t given any wages and only 130 out of 400 laborers survived in 1945. I caught a cold while laboring in Japan and nearly died as I wasn’t provided with treatment. I still suffer from the aftereffects of the disease and spend much money on medicine every year.
I strongly demand the current Japanese government to compensate me 50,000 USD for my wages, injury and medicine costs.
Other surviving laborers who worked with me include:
Li Wanzhong: No. 6, 42nd Row, Dunhuafang Erji Dormitory, Taiyuan, Shanxi
He Chengshou: Laoyoutun, Bieguzhuang, Yongqing, Hebei
Wang Yongyi: Dengjiawu, Houyi, Yongqing, Hebei
Bu Zhongyuan: Sanshengkou, Yongqing, Hebei
Victimized laborer: Zhao Guoxi (Personal seal, fingerprint)
Current address: Lifengxian, Houyi, Yongqing, Hebei, China
May 1993
Villagers’ Committee of Lifengxian, Houyi, Yongqing
(Villagers’ Committee seal)
