Date of letter:1993-08-26
Address of author:Xiangtan City, Hunan Province
Date of event:1944-07
Location of event:Hunan Province
Name of author:Qiu Jinyun
Name(s) of victim(s):Qiu Jinyun’s relatives
Type of atrocity:Air Bombings, Slave Laborers, Others(AB, SL, OT）
Other details:When I was a child, I witnessed that the Japanese soldiers destroyed my home. In July 1944, the Japanese army bombed Xiangtan City. My house was destroyed, and my uncle was killed unfortunately. My father took us to flee from calamity, but he was caught by the Japanese soldiers and forced to do hard labor. He was beaten cruelly. My grandmother was more than 70 years old. She was beaten in the back by the Japanese soldiers with the club, spit out blood at that time and her waist could not be straightened since then. My cousin was also beaten, with his head injured.
Comrade Tong Zeng:
How are you?
First of all, please let me express my highest respect to you in an indescribable mood. Your great article entitled “Pursuing Justice Against Japan” has injected vigor in our quiet life and awaken the victims who were once tortured and caused homeless by the invading Japanese army. It is time we pursued justice against Japan. The Chinese people resent Japanese militarism deeply for its brutality in destroying our homeland. I am deeply touched by your kindest spirits of helping those victims and their family members. My family also suffered a lot, but I don’t know the specific procedures to pursue justice against Japan, so I am writing to ask for your help. Hopefully, you will help me.
I am 60 years old, but the memories of witnessing Japanese soldiers destroy our home when I was young are still vivid to me. It is a sad experience and has buried the seeds of hatred in my young mind.
One morning in July 1944, Japanese planes flew above the sky and indiscriminately bombed Xiangtan, my hometown by the Xiang River. Soon, the dust blocked the sun and rubbles were all over the ground. My family’s 22 houses and 2 buildings located at No. 7, 12 Zongcaijia Alley, Xiangtan (now Lianghu Road) were all burned to the ground. At that time, my family’s two generations were engaged in trade. My family ran Qiuhesheng Mountain products Store that operated a variety of mountain products. The store had much stock such as 50 tons of long-necked bottles and glass products, 1.5 tons of copper, 20 tons of coal, 150 leather cases, over 100 items of wooden and copper fittings and over 20 tons of iron. They were all gone with the bombing by Japanese planes. My uncle was killed. My father could only moaned and groaned in front of the ruins and had to take us, the 8 family members to escape from our hometown. My eldest brother and younger sister died on the way because we had no money.. My father was captured by Japanese soldiers and forced to be a slave laborer. The Japanese soldiers brutally and repeatedly beat him and he passed out many times. My grandmother was over 70 years old then, but the Japanese soldiers wouldn’t even show mercy to her. They snatched her walking stick and hit hard on her back with it. She threw up blood on the spot and could never straighten her back after that. She was bedridden since, often coughed up blood and died in less than 5 years. The walking stick had a handle of a delicate copper bird. The Japanese soldiers used it to hit my cousin’s and my heads with the copper bird’s beak. My cousin’s head was cracked open and his face was covered with blood. It was quite scary. The Japanese army committed heinous crimes on our land, madly looted our property, killed people and destroyed our houses, causing a great disaster and immeasurable losses to the Chinese people. They made China suffered intolerable humiliation and outrageously insulted human civilization.
It is the Japanese militarism and the Japanese aggressors that tore my family apart and made us live a much worse life than before. I strongly demand that the Japanese government apologize for their crimes and compensate the Chinese people for launching the inhuman war of aggression against China. I demand the Japanese government to compensate me for my family’s loss of life and property.
Victim of Japan’s war of aggression against China
Qiu Jinyun
August 26, 1993
Postal code: 411100
Qiu Ling, 1201 Workshop, Jianglu Machinery Factory, Xiangtan, Hunan
