Forgetting the Past Is a Crime
Feng Yidai

Today remnants of the Japanese militarists still refuse to admit the aggression against China and other Asian countries by Japanese imperialism. As a Chinese, however, I can never forget the blood debts owed by the Japanese military to the Chinese people. During the eight-year War of Resistance Against Japan, Japanese troops killed a total of more than 20 million Chinese. In the Rape of Nanking alone, they slaughtered as many as 300,000, most of them old and weak and women and children. The monstrous crimes of the Japanese military have been evidenced by hard facts. And what’s more, some Japanese ex-soldiers who took part in massacres, brutal acts of burying people alive, rapes or murders, have now been aroused by conscience to confess their crimes and show repentance. Could all that be covered up or blotted out by remnants of the Japanese militarists and a handful of Japanese politicians?

During the eight years when the Japanese invaders were running amok in China, they took the lives of three of my relatives. Today, in my declining years, I can still occasionally recall their features distinctly. No matter how hard the Japanese butchers may try to gloss over their wartime savagery in the name of patriotism or loyalty to the Mikado, the people of China will never forget their past crimes.

My uncle Feng Qiangshi, a returned student from Japan, was by profession a doctor. At first, while working at Zhejiang Hospital in Hangzhou, he took great pride in doing a job aimed at healing the wounded and rescuing the dying, and regarded the medical profession as transcending national boundaries. Later, through recommendation of a Japanese teacher of his, he became a physician in charge at Qingdao Sifang Hospiatl affiliated to the Qingdao-Jinan Railway until after the outbreak of the July 7 Incident of 1937, an incident staged by the Japanese imperialists in initiating their all-out war of aggression against China. After the Japanese navy occupied our territory along the Qingdao-Jinan Railway, he had no choice but to resign on a pretext and return to Shanghai because he could no longer put up with the arrogance of Japanese ronin and army-men. At that time, my father happened to have been evacuated to Shanghai from Hankou, so he and uncle now both made a home in the then foreign settlement. My uncle, however, was unwilling to be a “docile subject” under foreign rule, so he set out with an old friend for Chongqing via Zhejiang and Jiangxi Provinces. But, unfortunately, while on the way through Jiangxi, he died of serious wounds during a Japanese bombing raid. I was then in Chongqing and, after receiving a letter form him, had been eagerly awaiting his arrival only to be stunned by the sad news of his tragic death. Up to now, I still don’t know the details of his death, nor do I know where his bones were laid. Often a feeling of sadness will come over me when I think of him. He was among one of the early groups of returned students form Japan, but he bitterly resented the Japanese invasion of China and never expected himself to end up in a tragic death in the hands of the Japanese militarists.

My uncle had a mentally retarded daughter by his former wife. Unfortunately, she fell a victim to the bestiality of Japanese soldiers when they ransacked the city of Hangzhou. The whereabouts of the poor little girl have since remained unknown. She disappeared at the age of barely over twenty.

Another relative of mine missing in the war was Cousin RenYu, my aunt’s only son. Having lost his father in his childhood and being physically handicapped, he had long been living in my home. After the outbreak of the war, he crossed the Qiantang River with some of his friends to join the East Zhejiang Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Detachment organized by the Communist Party of China. Since then, we have never heard from him. Presumably he has laid down his young life for his motherland.

The remnant Japanese militarists and a handful of shameless Japanese politicians have been bent on making believe that Japan was the victim of World War II and the liberator of Asia. What a pack of lies! The death of 20 million Chinese is irrefutable evidence of barbaric atrocities committed by Japanese militarism. The remnant Japanese militarists and a handful of Japanese politicians have been trying in every possible way to deny their crimes, but the people of China and other Asia counties will never forget the untold sufferings they went through during the war. We will unremittingly condemn the brutalities of the Japanese imperialists, and, meanwhile, call on the Japanese people to see through their deceptions and keep a vigilant watch on their clamor. All that is crucial for the peace-loving people of Japan.