World War II was a real total war, and every participating country put all its resources into the war. Several of the major participating countries mobilized several million troops, and the United States and the Soviet Union exceeded ten million. In the end, the Allies were able to win the war, and in addition to justice, they mainly relied on stronger national strength.
Germany and Japan in the fascist camp, because their populations were far less than those of the Allied powers, their mobilization level was even greater than that of other countries, and the number of troops in the total population greatly exceeded the accepted 10% mobilization limit. This forced Germany and Japan to make heavy use of prisoners of war and foreign labor to fill the labor gap at home.
According to statistics, during World War II, Nazi Germany forcibly recruited about 12 million laborers from the occupied areas to work in German enterprises. In 1944, 30 percent of workers in German companies were foreign workers. Now well-known German companies, such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, etc., have a disgraceful record in this regard.
Schindler, who saved thousands of Jews, saved them from slaughter in the name of laborers. Even foreign workers working in military factories resisted the production of killing machines for the Nazis in their own way.
A British bomber was hit by an anti-aircraft shell over Germany, but it did not explode. When he returned to the base to remove the shell, he found that the shell was not filled with explosives, only a note. There was a sentence written in Czech and we could only help so much. It was apparent that the Czech laborers deliberately did not charge the bombers in order to save the bomber.
After World War II, German companies and governments paid billions of euros in compensation to these workers. Compared with these European laborers, the fate of the Chinese and North Korean laborers who were forcibly recruited by Japan was much more miserable.
The Japanese army requisitioned a large number of laborers in both China and North Korea to serve the war, and the slightest resistance was life-threatening. Many of the national defense fortifications built by the Japanese army in the northeast were built by Chinese. Once completed, these Chinese laborers will be killed and exterminated. In this alone, the number of Chinese killed has reached more than 100,000.
Many others were taken to Japan to make up for the shortage of local Japanese labor. According to current data, nearly 40,000 Chinese laborers were arrested in Japan during World War II to work for Japanese companies. The oldest of these is 78 years old and the youngest is 11 years old. According to the Japanese side, only 6,830 of these laborers died. As for the true number of deaths, I am afraid that no one will ever be able to figure it out.
The 2017 South Korean film "Gunkanjima" depicts thousands of Chinese and North Korean laborers digging coal on the island, with mines more than a thousand meters underground, and a total of 722 Chinese laborers and 1,422 North Korean laborers died. This is just the death toll of a coal mine, more places that have not been discovered, and I don't know how many Chinese and North Korean laborers have died tragically.
In stark contrast to the German government, the Japanese government has not compensated the victims, or even apologized. More than seventy years have passed since World War II, and there is still a long way to go to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of war victims.
Among the many Chinese laborers who were arrested and sent to Japan, Liu Lianren's experience was the most peculiar. Not only did he escape from the Japanese labor camp, but he also hid in the mountains of Japan for more than a decade, until he was rescued in 1958.
Liu Lianren is a native of Gaomi, Shandong. In September 1944, Japanese soldiers broke into his village and arrested him for no reason. At that time, Liu Lianren's wife was seven months pregnant, and this separation almost became a permanent separation.
More than 800 Chinese laborers were arrested with Liu Lianren, some of whom were killed on the road for fleeing. The survivors were taken to a coal mine in Yuryu County, Hokkaido, Japan, where they dug coal day and night like slaves. Fatigue, illness and mistreatment by Japanese soldiers led to an increasing number of deaths.
In July 1945, Liu Lianren took advantage of the laxity of guards to escape from the coal mine and hide in the mountains. Although he managed to escape, this was Hokkaido and he couldn't get any help. He did not dare to go out of the mountains, for fear of being discovered by the Japanese people and reported to the military police, so he could only hide in the mountains and make a living by collecting wild vegetables and wild fruits.
Hokkaido is a cold place, and in winter the snow closes the mountains, and the snow is several feet thick. We can't imagine how Liu Lianren spent one winter after another. Over the years, he was ragged and hairy, exactly like a wild man. Once, even the bear was scared away by him. It seems that the beasts of Japan are kinder than the Japanese people.
At the end of January 1958, Liu Lianren was finally discovered by Japanese hunters and called the police to arrest Liu Lianren, who had been burrowing for 13 years. On April 15, Liu Lianren finally returned to his homeland, and tens of thousands of people welcomed him back at the docks, including his wife and son, whom he had never met.
Later, in order to expose the crimes of Japanese militarism, Liu Lianren went to Japan six times to make claims for his compatriots. On September 2, 2000, Liu Lianren died of illness. On April 7, 2013, Gaomi City held a 100-year memorial service for Liu Lianren, Chinese people will never forget the victims of these wars.
[References: "Chinese Laborers in World War II", "Liu Lianren"]