HA Sang-sook 하상숙

하상숙

HA Sang-sook

Born in South Chungcheong, Kore, Drafted year: 1944, 16y/o, for 8 months. left in Wuhan, China

First, a military doctor examined my body

and gave me a contraceptive shot.

When I tried to pee after the first three soldiers,

I had an extremely sharp pain.

One day, a neighbor girl who was older than I came over wearing nice makeup. She told me she made money at a Japanese factory, and this time she was going to Shanghai上海. She asked me to go with her. I said I would. A few days later, two men came.

We boarded a train to Kyongsung(now Seoul), and took another train with 40 other women to Dandong丹东 and Nanjing南京, and then went to Wuhan武汉 by boat.

When we arrived in Jiqing-ri积庆里, Hankou汉口, I was at a loss since it was very different from what I was told.

First, a military doctor examined my body and gave me a contraceptive shot. When I tried to pee after the first three soldiers, I had an extremely sharp pain.

My room was on the second floor, and the soldiers picked a girl based on the pictures of us hanging downstairs. On Sundays, the soldiers lined up outside. The rule said one hour per person, so the owner scolded me if it went over an hour.

The rule said one hour per person, so the owner scolded me if it went over an hour. After the war, Koreans gathered in Jiching-ri. Many women returned to Korea,

but I didn’t go, thinking what would I do with this body? I could not bear a child, so I married a Chinese man with three children.

* In 2001, I went to Wuhan to meet her for the first time. I still remember how she stitched my pants, standing, because my pants caught the corner of a desk and got torn. She said a man shouldn’t dress like that. In 2015, she tripped and fell from the second floor staircase that she has been transferred to Korea and now is receiving treatment.

Senga

Sen-ga

Born in Sulawesi, Indonesia, Drafted year: 1945, 15y/o, for 2 months

I didn’t have any specific disease

but my vagina was itchy and occasionally bled.

I did not get any medical treatment

because there was no doctor.

My parents were farmers. The three sibling with my older and younger brother, we were happy.

When I was 15, Japanese soldiers came and asked my parents to call me out. Five Japanese soldiers came, and I could not understand what they were saying.

I was forcibly taken away and it was scarier because I did not know where I was being taken to.

I was taken to the jungle and locked in a Barak (a house made of bamboo, sometimes refers to a “comfort station” in Indonesia).

Two soldiers came every day. When they did it to me, I felt so lost. I felt I was losing my soul, and I could not remember anything.

I didn’t try to remember who and how many of them did it to me a day. I didn’t have any specific disease but my vagina was itchy and occasionally bled. I did not get any medical treatment because there was no doctor.

There were 4 more women besides me in the barak, and the Japanese soldiers controlled and monitored us.

I was raped for 2 months even without condoms, but luckily, I never got pregnant. When the Japanese military left after the defeat, they never gave me any money or goods.

When I came home, my father asked me what happened, and I told him I just cooked for the Japanese soldiers. Even after the marriage, I told my husband the same.

* There is an old sewing machine at the entrance to the house. She makes her own clothes and even bed curtains.

Ines de Jesus

Born in Beco, East-Timor, Drafted year: 1942, 13y/o estimates, for 2 years

I also got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter.

3 months after giving birth, Japanese soldiers returned home.

I was on my way home with my daughter

when I ran into a Japanese soldier,he took my daughter forcibly.

When many Japanese soldiers showed up, so the village foreman sent me away. There were two houses there, and I was locked in a room next to a coop for chickens and pigs. During the day, I cut trees and made roads.

At night, many Japanese soldiers came. At least 4, as many as 8 soldiers came. It was so painful down there, I couldn’t even walk. I had a Japanese name, but I do not remember.

The soldiers didn’t even feed me. My mother cooked for me and brought food every day. Out of fear of what might happen if she gets caught, she had to come in secret.

There were pregnant women and many gave birth to babies. I also got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. 3 months after giving birth, Japanese soldiers returned home.

I was on my way home with my daughter when I ran into a Japanese soldier, he took my daughter forcibly. I don’t know what happened to the baby since then.

I didn’t tell my father when I got home. I got married in my twenties, but I didn’t tell my husband, either.

20 years ago when a Japanese priest came, everything was told and my children also found out. I have back pain and I have hard of hearing. I need a house and money.

* The road to her home was so rough that I went with her son who lives in the city. The son named Leonel Barreto said he couldn’t accept what happened to his mother at first, and he still feels the same. He said the Japanese government is bad.