Date of letter:1993-04-28
Address of author:Xiangtan City, Hunan Province
Date of event:1944-08-01
Location of event:Xiangtan City, Hunan Province
Name of author:Cai Yumei
Name(s) of victim(s):Cai Yumei’s uncle and villagers
Type of atrocity:Murders, Others（MU, OT）
Other details:On the morning of August 1, 1944, the Japanese devils wanted to cross the river. My uncle and three villagers shipped them to the upstream and then were shot dead by the them, with their eyes dug out and hands cut away and thrown into the river. When my grandfather burst into tears seeing this, the Japanese soldiers beat him bad. I want to seek justice from Japan and require the Japanese government to compensate for the debt of blood.
Mr. Tong Zeng,
I am Cai Yumei, female, 41 and live in Xinxiang Group, Xinyue Village, Changcheng Town, Yuhu District, Xiangtan City, Hunan Province. After reading the article “Civil Claims for Compensation from Japan Are Underway in China” from Hunan Women’s News on February 25, 1993, my whole family became quite indignant towards the invading Japanese army and grateful to you. We became indignant because Japanese invaders massacred countless compatriots using various cruel means, including my uncle Cai Nangui and three neighbors Duan Shengcai, Duan Guobing and Zhang Maoyi. My uncle’s death caused great pain to my family and we hate the Japanese invaders to the core for that.
Although nearly 50 years have passed, nobody has ever launched a righteous campaign to pursue justice and demand apology and compensation from the Japanese government for millions of compatriots killed by the Japanese army until you who excel in international law. I am a family member of a victim of the Japanese army and I am writing with gratitude to provide information about how my uncle and other 3 people were killed.
Before the People’s Liberation, my family lived in a place called Xiangdukou by Lianshui River in the middle reach of Xiang River. Back then, my family had 7 members including my grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, uncle and two aunts. The whole family made a living by carrying people across the river with a small boat and doing small businesses. In 1944, the invading Japanese army came to our place and was stationed in Lv’s Residence. Since then, they began to kill, burn, rape and loot, shattering the peace of our hometown.
My uncle Cai Nangui and neighbors Duan Shengcai, his son Duan Guobing and Zhang Maoyan all made a living by rowing a boat. At that time, the Japanese called them “Boat Rower”. The Japanese soldiers asked my uncle and his neighbors to row them across the river for several times, but they refused. The Japanese soldiers couldn’t cross the river, so they hated my uncle and his neighbors very much.
Their methods of fighting the enemies were whistling and digging a hole in the boat. When the Japanese soldiers came, they pulled off the stuff that blocked the hole and let the boat sink in the river. If the Japanese soldiers weren’t present, they would properly block the hole and row the Chinese people across the river.
Before dawn on the morning of lunar August 1, 1944, the rowers had only ferried people for two rounds and four Japanese soldiers armed with guns came to the river. They shouted and ordered the boat rowers to stand still downstream the river and the people who wanted to cross the river upstream the river. Then, they immediately shot the four boat rowers. But that didn’t satisfy them. After shooting them, the Japanese soldiers gauged out their eyes, cut off their limbs and threw them into the river. All the other people on the site cried bitterly after watching them being cruelly killed. When my grandfather, who was then over 60, hurried to the river and saw his son’s corpse, he cried his heart out. Unexpectedly, the Japanese soldiers took my grandfather’s iron smoke pipe from him and used it to hit his head hard until my grandfather bled badly and blacked out. Later, kind neighbors carried my grandfather home and buried my only 18-year-old uncle with my whole family. In the same year, my father suffered from malaria and was later paralyzed as my uncle died and the family had no money to treat him. So, as my uncle was killed, my father became paralyzed and my grandparents were old, the family’s burden was all down to the shoulders of my mother. Due to Japan’s invasion of China, my mother endured great suffering for dozens of years.
Now, my mother is over 70, but she never forgets the heinous crimes committed by the Japanese soldiers. The Japanese invaders have caused much pain and loss to numerous Chinese families. We demand compensation.
Mr. Tong Zeng, please pursue justice and demand apology and compensation from the Japanese government for the innocent victims and their family members. I’d like to extend my gratitude to you on behalf of my family and the families of all victims.
Thank you.
Please help us.
Victim’s family member: Cai Yumei
April 28, 1993
P.S. Mr. Tong Zeng, please take time to reply to us. Bye!
