'Comfort women' still waiting for apology

Zhuo Tianmei, with her daughter-in-law, covers her face and weeps while describing her ordeal as a "comfort woman", the term for those forced into sexual slavery during wartime by Japanese soldiers, at her home in Sufeng village, Lingshui county, in 2005. Zhuo, who was born in 1926, has passed away. HUANG YIMING/CHINA DAILY

In June 1944, she finally escaped from the comfort station by lying that she had to hurry back for her father's funeral, with her family saying she had died of grief after her father's death. The family even built two graves near their home to fool the Japanese.

Huang and her family tried to lead a new life by moving to Baoting, a county more than 100 km from her home. But she feared she would be recaptured even when she moved back to her hometown after the war.

Chen Yabian, another former comfort woman from Lingshui county, suffered six miscarriages before having her only child.

She said that for many years she refused to say anything to her family about the time she spent at the comfort station from 1941 to 1943.

"I often woke up and cried in the evening," she said, tears streaming down her face. "I was always in pain, physically and mentally. Nothing could help me cure this pain."

She said her hatred of the Japanese only deepens every time she recalls these times.

Su, the Shanghai Normal University professor, said: "Many victims were no longer physically able to make a living. Some of them were also looked down on by other people, especially those who knew little about their suffering."