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Post by librarylady on Jul 10, 2017 15:09:48 GMT
Such a sad story that women were forced into having sex with the soldiers. It would be awful, but especially if you thought the men were enemies of your country. www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40552812 |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:09:19 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2017 15:24:22 GMT
It's appalling. They should also be referred to as rape victims rather than 'comfort women'.
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Post by melanell on Jul 10, 2017 15:38:21 GMT
 It's definitely a very heartbreaking and awful story. It seems no matter the time or place, human history is just full of awful heartbreaking ways in which we have treated one another. |
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Post by pondrunner on Jul 10, 2017 15:39:50 GMT
This still happens today in the Middle East and Africa.
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Post by librarylady on Jul 10, 2017 15:40:09 GMT
It's appalling. They should also be referred to as rape victims rather than 'comfort women'. I agree. |
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Post by myshelly on Jul 10, 2017 15:40:24 GMT
The sex wasn't the worst of it. The violence and torture done to these women (and girls, it wasn't unusual for them to be 12-13 years old) rivals things the Nazis did. ETA: one survivor's tale (warning: graphic) foxtalk.tistory.com/m/98 |
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stittsygirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,664 
Location: In the leaves and rain.
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Post by stittsygirl on Jul 10, 2017 16:06:33 GMT
The sex wasn't the worst of it. The violence and torture done to these women (and girls, it wasn't unusual for them to be 12-13 years old) rivals things the Nazis did. ETA: one survivor's tale (warning: graphic) foxtalk.tistory.com/m/98I couldn't even finish that. I'm crying. So much evil... |
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Post by myshelly on Jul 10, 2017 16:19:18 GMT
The sex wasn't the worst of it. The violence and torture done to these women (and girls, it wasn't unusual for them to be 12-13 years old) rivals things the Nazis did. ETA: one survivor's tale (warning: graphic) foxtalk.tistory.com/m/98I couldn't even finish that. I'm crying. So much evil... It is horrific. Many people just don't know this aspect of WWII history. Everyone studies the Nazis and the Holocaust, and rightfully so. But the Japanese also had concentration camps, forced labor camps, torture squads. They conducted medical experiments on prisoners on a larger scale than the Nazis. Treated POWs brutally, enslaved and massacred populations. It's just interesting to me how/why history focuses on one and not the other. |
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Post by questioning on Jul 10, 2017 17:40:09 GMT
I couldn't even finish that. I'm crying. So much evil... It is horrific. Many people just don't know this aspect of WWII history. Everyone studies the Nazis and the Holocaust, and rightfully so. But the Japanese also had concentration camps, forced labor camps, torture squads. They conducted medical experiments on prisoners on a larger scale than the Nazis. Treated POWs brutally, enslaved and massacred populations. It's just interesting to me how/why history focuses on one and not the other. Because US dropped the bomb on one, but not the other. It was mutually beneficial to both countries to focus on moving forward, not rehashing atrocities. Later addition: Thank you myshelly although that was a horrific story, and shocking to see photos of the woman depicted, it was valuable. "People who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it. " Wise words for our time. |
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jul 10, 2017 18:05:45 GMT
The sex wasn't the worst of it. The violence and torture done to these women (and girls, it wasn't unusual for them to be 12-13 years old) rivals things the Nazis did. ETA: one survivor's tale (warning: graphic) foxtalk.tistory.com/m/98That was the most horrible thing I have ever read. |
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Post by Amelia Bedelia on Jul 10, 2017 18:21:55 GMT
I heard a story on NPR on this topic probably a decade ago that has haunted me. I can't recall if it was an translated interview with the survivor or if it was an author who had written her story. I remember her talking about the kidnapping, and nerve damage she suffered from her first rape. I think she escaped and returned home, but had to keep what happened hidden so she wouldn't be shunned by her family and community. I can't imagine a more horrible betrayal than surviving that, then being shunned and abused if they make it home.
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Post by ntsf on Jul 10, 2017 19:56:23 GMT
read life and death in shanghai.. pretty bad too.. the japanese invasion of china was brutal.
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momo1333
One Post Wonder
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Post by momo1333 on Jul 10, 2017 21:05:38 GMT
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Post by pierogi on Jul 10, 2017 23:27:08 GMT
Powerful.
What the Japanese did during the war was unspeakable. Sadly, that's not the worst thing I've read about their treatment of conquered civilians. If you think that's unbearable, don't ever read about Nanking.
When American troops reached Okinawa in 1945, they couldn't understand why locals ran from them and committed suicide rather than fall into enemy hands. Mothers grabbed babies and small children and threw themselves from the cliffs. And this is pretty much why. They fully expected the same treatment in return.
Thank you for posting this woman's story. People need to hear it.
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:09:19 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2017 23:43:30 GMT
This still happens today in the Middle East and Africa. It still happens in South East Asia. It's horrible. There are some very popular tourist destinations which I will avoid going to because of what I know and have seen goes on there. What makes it even more sickening for me is that I know it is men from my own country that are feeding the sex trade in those countries. I wish there was more could be done to address the problem  There is actually an ongoing legal battle here in Australia over a Comfort Women memorial which has been erected outside a Church in Sydney. www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-14/japanese-group-launches-18c-case-against-uniting-church/8117234 |
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Post by Delta Dawn on Jul 11, 2017 0:39:40 GMT
I heard about this 20+ years ago and it's still an issue. I don't know when or how Japan will ever be able to make it right. I don't think they really want to, either, they are just hoping the Koreans/Nanjing people will forget about it with the next generation.
In China we found that they don't call World War II but that name but the War Against Japan. Interesting.
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Nanner
Drama Llama
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Post by Nanner on Jul 11, 2017 0:51:56 GMT
OMG, that is just horrifying. I can't even.
Those poor women
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It's definitely a very heartbreaking and awful story. It seems no matter the time or place, human history is just full of awful heartbreaking ways in which we have treated one another. 
