VOSHN 301

<body><a href="../index.html">HOME</a><br><table summary="280"><tr><td class="etesti">280</td><td class="edate">August 15<sup>th</sup>, 1945.</td><td class="eage">I didn't feel anything about Japan's defeat.</td></tr><tr><td class="ei_midasi" colspan=3>16 years old at that time</td></tr></table><table summary="haikei"><tr><td class="bg" background="../../photo/img702.jpg"><div class="large"><p>I heard that in Tokyo people cried in front of the Imperial Palace to hear the news of defeat, but I didn't feel sad or frustrated.  I was too devastated to think.</p><br><p>I was living in a hut.  Since it had only a roof and a board instead of the floor and there was no wall, we soaked to the bone when it rained.  When it rained hard, we could not sleep.</p><br><p>My grandfather, my uncle as well, groaned in pain all the time, both of them were badly injured in their backs.  Most of our neighbors were in the same situation and I could hear groans from every hut.  Koreans cried every night, saying "Aigo.  Aigo."  A young man who lived in the hut opposite ours suffered a severe injury and I heard him so many times cry out "Kill me with the sword!" for unbearable pain.</p><br><p>My grandfather also begged me to kill him.  He said his back hurt badly.  His severe burn injury looked like the surface of fried tempura batter.  His back was crawling with a number of maggots.  We spent days after days like this so I didn't feel anything about Japan's defeat.</p><div class="greens">Translation by another person.</div><div class="large"><span class="orangered">I wasn't bothered when I heard that Japan had lost the war.</span></div><br><p>In Tokyo, many people cried in the Imperial palace plaza when they found out that Japan had been defeated in the war.  I neither felt regret nor felt sad, because I was stunned by the news.  I could not afford to think that far.</p><br><p>I lived in a shanty.  It if rained, we got completely soaked as there was nothing to protect us.  There were only some boards for the floor and roof.  If it rained a lot, we could not sleep.</p><br><p>My grandfather and uncle were moaning in pain, because their injured backs hurt.  Korean people cried out every evening, "Oh! My goodness!  Oh! My goodness!"  The man who lived across from my house was in great pain and he shouted, "Kill me with a Japanese sword."</p><br><p>My grandfather also said to me, "Kill me!"  It seemed that his injured parts hurt very much.  They had become like the coatings of deep fried fish and vegetables.  Maggots were crawling in his injuries.  We were having such an awful daily life that when we heard that we had lost the war, it didn't affect my heart at all.  Yes, indeed.</p></div></td></tr></table></body>