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.