Minah
Born in Sulawesi, Indonesia, Drafted year: 1942, 15y/o, for 2 years
About 4-5 of them came every day.
I got pregnant twice there,
but miscarried both times.
I was on my way to work at a coffee farm with two friends of mine. Suddenly, Japanese soldiers forced us into a vehicle, saying that we had to go somewhere to do farming. There were already several women in the vehicle. They took us to a remote place, washed us, changed our clothes, and sent each of us into one of the rooms.
Then, five soldiers came into the room one at a time, and raped me. About 4-5 of them came every day. I got pregnant twice there, but miscarried both times. Japanese doctors, 1 male and 1 female, gave me medical treatment and medicine, but it didn’t help at all but made me feel more pain.
One day, after being raped by five soldiers, and my vagina swelled up and it was extremely painful. Then, another soldier was about to do it, I felt so much pain, so I screamed. He got so angry and started punching me until my eyes bled.
Only then, the soldier told me to go home. I walked along the mountain path for 8 days and returned home. Since then, I can’t see well with my left eye, and I completely lost vision in my right eye. I still see a doctor for my eyes these days.
Besides, I have difficulty breathing, and whenever I think about those days, I get a headache. I truly want the Japanese government to apologize for those horrible things Japanese soldiers did to me.
* This Grandma is a relative of Darmawi who supports the victims in Sulawesi. She lived alone until 2015, but as her eye vision degenerated, she now lives with Darmawi’s sister.