ZHUO Tian-mei 卓天妹

ZHUO Tian-mei

卓天妹

Born in Hainan, China, Drafted year: 1940, 15y/o, for 4 years

The interpreter who was a traitor

that took me there told me

that I would have to sing

and dance of the Li people黎族

and I could be raped by soldiers at night.

In September, the Japanese army came into town. I was fifteen but they forcibly took me away. There were twenty other women there. The interpreter who was a traitor that took me there told me that I would have to sing and dance of the Li people黎族 and I could be raped by soldiers at night.

After a brutal rape, I bled heavily. The bleeding didn’t stop the next day, and they sent me home.

I had to go to the Japanese base 4-5 times a month. I stayed there for 4-5 days every time I went. I cleaned and drew water during the day, and they forced me to sleep with 3-4 soldiers in the evening.

I saw women who got pregnant or had an abortion. Several Japanese demons raped and killed a woman.

They put boards and divided a large room into three compartments. The door was locked from outside and there were women in each compartment. I spent a year like that.

Later, I was sent to a mountain where we collected stones for railroad tracks. I worked on the roads during the day, and I was raped at night.

I spent more than three years doing that before I ran away, hid in the mountains and returned home. I couldn’t meet my parents for 4 years because the Japanese soldiers were monitoring us.

I could be captured again because I ran away. I stayed in the mountains until Japan surrendered and then returned home.

* Her family live in the Li village, farming. Because there is no other houses around her house, there is no place to go to socialize. Probably that’s why she was very welcoming even if I was a stranger.

LI Mei-jin 李美金

Born in Hainan, China, Drafted year: 1940, 16y/o, for 3 months

Rumors went around in the village

that I suffered such thing.

I was ashamed as a woman.

..... .they would think I was a traitor, a Japanese prostitute.

When the Japanese military invaded our village, I ran to the hill with the villagers. I was captured on my way back home, thinking that the Japanese soldiers had left. Everyone was mobilized to create an airfield. People were made to live in wood houses in the mountain, but I was made to live in a thatched warehouse, 200 meters away.

Two, three soldiers came at night holding guns. I was afraid and couldn’t resist. There were five, six other women, but we couldn’t talk or look at each other because of the surveillance.

They had men and women work separately. Had we met them during the daytime, we could’ve tell them about someone coming and raping us at night. We were fed rice gruel or rice in salty water only.

A newlywed couple also came to work, but the husband died. I pretended I was a family member of the couple to get in the funeral procession and escaped.

Rumors went around in the village that I suffered such thing. I was ashamed as a woman. People considered me shameless since they would think I was a traitor, a Japanese prostitute.

My back hurts, and I’m suffering from arthritis. I get tense with indignation when I see Japanese people. If another war breaks out with the Japanese, I’ll be the first one to go out and fight.

* Until a few years ago, I could see several thin beams of light coming down from the ceiling. Now with the recent repair, it doesn’t leak anymore. However, the cement is still exposed that bad smell and poison seem to rise when it’s damp and dank. Next time, I will paper the wall as a final touch.

WEI Shao-lan 韦绍兰

WEI Shao-lan

韦绍兰

Born in Guangxi, China), Drafted year: 1944, 24y/o, for 3 months

I was pregnant with a Japanese soldier's baby,

and the baby was born.

My mother-in-law said this baby was a bad luck

and wanted to kill it after birth,

but let it live.....

I had already been married with a one-year-old daughter when Japanese soldiers came to the village. I was captured by the Japanese soldiers with my daughter on my back. Four other women and I were forced into a military truck.

Two of them resisted and they were shot to death. I was worried about my daughter so I just had to get in the truck.

I cannot forget the first time I was raped. The Japanese soldier lay down my child on the ground, and didn’t care if she cried while he did it to me.

I could not fight back out of fear that the soldier might hurt my baby or kill me. Four to five soldiers came per day.

About 3 months later, I ran away in the middle of the night with my child on my back who was asleep. When I came home, my father told me not to blame myself, because it wasn’t my fault.

My daughter had a stomach ache, but I couldn’t take her to the hospital because we didn’t have money. She died after three months. At the time, I was pregnant with a Japanese soldier's baby, and the baby was born.

My mother-in-law said this baby was a bad luck and wanted to kill it after birth, but let it live because it was a boy that she thought he could grow up and work.

* The villagers despise the mother and son(Luo Shanxue罗善学) for a ridiculous reason that he looks like a Japanese soldier. He couldn’t go to school regularly, and the two of them make living doing odd jobs in the village. Even now, it is obvious that their relatives look down on them.

REN Lan-e 任兰娥

Born in Sanxi, China), Drafted year: 1944, 13y/o, for 15 days + 2 months(2times)

I don’t think Japan is the only problem

when it comes to this issue.

The Chinese government is the problem as well.

What I've been through is never a good thing.

I don’t want to talk about it,

because I am ashamed.

My father and a cousin were soldiers of the Eighth Route Army. A traitor had snitched on us, and the Japanese soldiers came to my house. They set a fire on my cousin's head, and my mother and I went on our knees and begged the soldiers not to abuse him.

But they dragged me into a room and raped me, and hauled me to Nangouchun南沟村.

There were two other women there.

One woman fought back and got stabbed to death, and the other women was so shocked that she became mentally ill. I, being the only one left, was raped by more than ten soldiers every single day.

I was released only after my family gave the traitor money and food. When I was dragged away the second time, there were 10 women there. This time, I ran away in a chaotic pitfall when the Eighth Route Army attacked the Japanese military base. After I got out, I hid in the attic every time the Japanese army came to town.

I don’t think Japan is the only problem when it comes to this issue. The Chinese government is the problem as well. What I've been through is never a good thing. I don’t want to talk about it, because I am ashamed.

In the past, there were times when some people brought me clothes and gifts. When my neighbors asked me why they gave me gifts, I didn’t tell them the truth.

* She had died once in 2013, but she woke up in the shroud after one hour. She forgot how to speak and could not say a word for a long while. She thinks she will not die again, because she has already died once.

LI Lan-hai 李兰孩

Born in Sanxi, China, Drafted year: 1945, 15y/o, for 10 days

The girls who had both parents at home

were released after gifting meat, food, and money

to the Japanese soldiers,

but my family couldn’t afford it.

Several days passed and my father gave the local leader.....

My father raised me. Japanese soldiers came and took many women. They only kept those who were 15 and 16 years-old among those women. Only myself and the other three were the ones.In order to avoid being raped by the Japanese soldiers, we searched for a way to escape from the yard.

The Japanese soldiers forced us into rooms and raped us. After they captured us, they did not give us enough water and food.

The girls who had both parents at home were released after gifting meat, food, and money to the Japanese soldiers, but my family couldn’t afford it. Several days passed and my father gave the local leader a few things and money, only then I was released.

After returning home, I stayed in bed because we didn’t have money to go see a doctor. The villagers collected money for me, so I could go to the hospital. It took me half a year to feel better after taking the medicine called #606 (an injection).

My husband, who belonged to the Eighth Route Army, lost one of his arms when a Japanese bomb exploded. My husband died early from a stomach cancer, and I worked for a textile factory.

* Her son lives in the city, but she lives alone because she prefers the countryside. She lives on the dumplings her son brings for her from time to time. She has a large picture of MAO Zedong毛澤東 in her room, whom she thinks of someone that defeated the Japanese military during the war.