Tragedy of ‘comfort women’
The “comfort women” system was established by the Japanese Imperial Army before and during World War II. Under this infamous system the Japanese government and its army abducted women from occupied countries and forced them to serve their troops as sex slaves.
Looking back on the history of human civilization, it is hard to find a more deplorable example of such barbaric and brutal slavery as what the Japanese army imposed on women from victimized countries and its colonized territories. The system fully exposed the true nature of Japanese militarism and constitutes a shameful chapter in human history.
The following reports record the tragic experiences of dozens of former Chinese “comfort women” and their lives that were forever changed. Their painful stories illustrate how enslaved Chinese women survived after Japanese aggression and are a mirror of the China’s misery as a whole. This part of history has left an indelible scar on every Chinese person. (Click on each photo to learn more about the woman in the picture.)
"When will they (Japanese government) apologize to me? Will I live long enough for that day?"
Almost all of the former sex slaves asked me these questions after they shared their painful stories and wiped away tears with aged, wrinkled hands. I didn't know how to answer them. I'm still not sure when that day will come.
Looking back at history, we don't expect our people to live in hatred. In a healthy and mature civilization, hatred should never be in the center of people's mind.
More than 50 years ago, the Chinese judge Mei Ru'ao, who attended the Tokyo Trial, said: "I'm not a revanchist, and I have no desire to write down the bloodshed debts the Japanese imperialists owed us under the name of Japanese people. But forgetting the past bitterness might bring about catastrophe."