Date of letter:1993-03-07
Address of author:Deyang City, Sichuan Province
Date of event:1931
Location of event:Yingkou City, Liaoning Province
Name of author:Wang Wencheng (sent by Wu Peng)
Name(s) of victim(s):Wang Enpu（Wang Wencheng’s father）
Type of atrocity:Slave Laborers, Others（SL, OT）
Other details:In 1931, the Japanese army occupied my hometown. They caught my father and looted our horses and carriage. The Japanese soldiers forced my father to carry the goods. Many times I saw they beat my father. One day in February of 1942, the Japanese soldiers forced my father to carry rice straw. Due to overload, my father and the carriage fell down from the 2-meter high bridge. The Japanese soldiers did nothing to save my father, so he was drowned. The flagrant crime committed by the Japanese soldiers to my family must be repaid. I want to accuse the Japanese invaders and require the Japanese government to compensate. The signature form of my family is attached.
Letter of Claim Against Japan from a Chinese Civilian
To the Japanese government:
On September 18, 1937, Japanese invaders occupied Northeast China, including my hometown Baicao, Shuiyuan, Yingkou, Liaoning, causing severe life and property losses to my family. I hereby demand the Japanese government to compensate RMB 1 million.
The detailed information is provided below.
My father Wang Enpu, male, born in 1899 and was a farmer. After the evil Japanese army occupied my hometown Baicao, Shuiyuan, Yingkou, Liaoning in 1931, they expropriated my father and my family’s 2-horse driven cart to transport goods for them. The Japanese army didn’t treat my father as a human. I witnessed several times that they beat him with guns or kicked with boots. The inhuman torturing that my father suffered is unspeakable!
I will never forget in my lifetime the heinous crimes that the invading Japanese army committed to my family on a day in early February 1940. Early that day, they forced my father to transport rice straw for them without having breakfast. It was difficult to drive the overloaded cart. When reaching Sanchakou Bridge outside the village, my father fell under the over 2-meter-tall bridge along with the cart. My father was crushed down the cart in the cold water, but the two Japanese soldiers escorting them didn’t save him. So my father was drowned alive. This is a heinous crime that the invading Japanese army committed to me and my family as well as another example of the Japanese army trampling the lives of Chinese poor people. Thereafter, I and my relatives have lived in extreme agony and we have never forgotten the tragic death of my father for decades. Meanwhile, the invading Japanese army has caused irreparable spiritual and economic losses to me and my family. I was only 9 at that time and I’ve always hoped that the Chinese government will pursue justice for me and my relatives.
The above facts are true. My cousin Wang Wenxue, male, born in 1929, is still alive and lives in Baicao, Shuiyuan, Yingkou, Liaoning. He can be a witness.
Therefore, as a Chinese civilian victim of the invading Japanese army, I strongly demand the Japanese government to find the killers and punish them severely to pursue justice for us and maintain the dignity and respect of Chinese people and also demand the current Japanese government to apologize to and compensate me and my relatives for the spiritual and economic losses caused the then invading Japanese army.
Chinese citizen and claimant: Wang Wencheng
March 7, 1993
Address: Retirement Department, Dongfang Electrical Machinery Factory, Deyang, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China
We firmly support the claim for compensation against the Japanese.
Wife: Qiu Changzhi
Eldest daughter: Wang Yanchun
Grandson: Chen Xiaoxiao
Eldest son-in-law: Chen Jian
Eldest son: Wang Yanjiang
Eldest daughter-in-law: Liang Qinghua
Eldest granddaughter: Wang Naixin
Second eldest daughter: Wang Yanqiu
Second eldest son-in-law: Chen Xiong
Granddaughter: Chen Xiaolei
Third eldest granddaughter: Wang Yanhua
Granddaughter: Zou Miao
Wang Wencheng
June 1, 1993
