Shanghai Daily news
Zhu Qiaomei,the country¡¯s oldest surviving sex slave, is
pictured in this file photo. She died on Sunday at 96. Zhu, who lived in
Chongming Island, was forced to be a so-called ¡°comfort woman¡±by Japanese troops
in 1938 when Japan attacked China and other Asian nations during the World War
II.(Photo: Shanghai Daily)
Zhu Qiaomei, the country's oldest surviving sex slave from
World War II, was cremated yesterday after dying on Sunday at the age of 96. She
was the only known "comfort woman" in the city.
"Her only wish was to get
justice," said Zhou Xin, 68, her son.
Zhu, who lived in Chongming County, was
forced to be a so-called comfort woman by Japanese troops in 1938 when Japan
attacked China and other Asian nations.
Along with seven other local women,
Zhu was forced to provide sexual services for Japanese soldiers for about two
years. At that time, she was two months pregnant.
"Their miserable experience
will not be forgotten," said Zhu Miaochun, a local lawyer who has volunteered to
help the women seek justice since 2000.
Zhu and his partner, Su Zhiliang,
director of the China Sex Slave Research Center, have helped several former sex
slaves around the country sign notarized papers intended to be official records
of their humiliation by the Japanese soldiers since 2001.
According to Su,
there are about 60 former sex slaves known in the country. Most haven't been
notarized.
"It is urgent to retain the evidence by means of notarization
since they are all in their 80s or 90s," Zhu said.
If they pass away, the
notarized statements have legal standing in court, officials from the
notarization office said.
If they don't document their past experience by
means of notarization, their history will be forgotten by society after their
death, Zhu said.
He added family members would be lacking in evidence when
filing a suit and demanding compensation later.
Zhu was notarized in
2001.
"If the Japanese government pays sex slaves compensation one day, Zhu
will be one of them," said the lawyer.
He pointed out that all the sex slaves
he contacted thought it was a supreme disgrace in the history of
mankind.
Materials provided by participants in an international symposium on
the issue of Chinese comfort women in 2000 showed that China was the country
that suffered the greatest harm from this shameful event.
Japanese troops
established 83 "comfort centers" in Shanghai alone.