"Today's Japanese army headquarters and Japan * * *, as well as most Japanese nationals who don't know the truth, will strongly curse us as traitors and disdains and even hates us. But for us today, this is exactly what we expected, and we feel honored. This is because the road we take is the real road of justice, which is in line with the interests of the Japanese country and nation. 」
My speech was translated by Mr. Qi Changke, then Minister of Enemy Works. Studying in Japan before the war, he was arrested and imprisoned by * * * after returning home. Later, the two parties formed an anti-Japanese national United front, and Mr. Qi was released from prison. Immediately after he was released from prison, he joined the Eighth Route Army.
When Teacher Qi explained my speech, the meeting was silent. After hearing this, the officers and men of the Eighth Route Army applauded warmly and shouted slogans. At this time, a tall Eighth Route Army sitting in front stood up, walked slowly onto the stage and shook hands with us warmly. This man is General Zhu De, commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army. This is the first time we have seen him. After shaking hands with us, Commander-in-Chief Zhu spoke to all the officers and men, stressing the importance of strictly implementing the Eighth Route Army's prisoner policy. He said: "On behalf of the whole army, I welcome these three Japanese youths to join the army. The actions of these three Japanese youths today have proved the correctness of our Eighth Route Army captive policy. Although there are only three people today, there will be dozens and hundreds in the future. 」
General Zhu De, who seems to be in his fifties, said the following words firmly: "As long as we can stand the test of difficulties in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and persist in this struggle, the final victory will definitely belong to us. This problem was thoroughly discussed by Chairman Mao in the article "On Protracted War". This war will end with the victory of the Japanese people, the collapse of Japanese warlords and the birth of a new Japan, which is in the fundamental interests of the Chinese and Japanese peoples. 」
We never imagined that our participation in the Eighth Route Army would be personally welcomed by Commander-in-Chief Zhu De. The scene of this day is deeply engraved in my heart and will never be forgotten.
From 65438 to 0939, the war entered its third year. At this time, the anti-Japanese base area expanded and the strength of the Eighth Route Army developed rapidly. On the other hand, the Japanese attack momentum weakened, the strength contrast between the two sides changed, War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression entered a stalemate stage, and guerrilla warfare became increasingly active. Therefore, our propaganda work for Japanese soldiers also needs to be carried out extensively.
At that time, some anti-war leaflets came from the * * * ruling area. It can be seen that Mr. Lu Digen and others organized the Japanese anti-war alliance in Chongqing and carried out activities. At that time, we were very happy and further strengthened our confidence. At the same time, we also realized the necessity and possibility of the Japanese in the Eighth Route Army to carry out mass anti-war movements. The Eighth Route Army also said that it would do everything possible to help us. They hope that we can get in touch with Mr. Lu Digen in Chongqing as soon as possible and set up an anti-war alliance here, so that we can join hands in anti-war activities. With great hope, we sent telegrams and letters to Chongqing several times, but unfortunately those telegrams and letters have all fallen into the sea, which is mostly an obstacle set by * *.
In this case, the Eighth Route Army suggested to us that the liaison work with Chongqing had to be put on hold for the time being. Later, we decided to set up our own organization. In this way, Kobayashi, Takagi, Matsui, Ishizuka and other seven people, as sponsors, began the work of establishing Japanese anti-war groups. Although it is not enough, it is determined that the purpose of establishing an anti-war group is to "expel the Japanese aggressors from the land of China and strive to end the war at an early date" and draft the articles of association of the group. We held the inaugural meeting in southeastern Shanxi on the October Revolution Festival of1939+0/kloc-0.
It was originally called the Awakening League. The reason is very simple, that is, we Japanese who realized early have the responsibility to make many Japanese soldiers realize late. But later, I always felt that it was not appropriate to call it the Awakening Alliance, and it was soon changed to the Awakening Alliance.
Although the group's activities have improved, because of our low political level, lack of work experience and being novices, we need the strong support of China and the Eighth Route Army, and we should ask them for help in publicity activities and all other necessary expenses. It is almost impossible for the publicity materials we made to be distributed to the Japanese troops scattered in a wide area only through the hands of a few of us. In any case, we have to rely on the assistance of the Eighth Route Army soldiers and local armed forces. The Eighth Route Army and democracy gladly gave us all assistance. To be sure, without the assistance of internationalism, the Awakening Alliance will be extremely difficult to exist.
After the front-line propaganda tour, we returned to the Field Political Department of the Eighth Route Army. We told Okada our determination, and he totally agreed. Comrades of the enemy's war department gave full support to our determination and reported our determination to the director of the field political department and the front command. Soon we received the notice of "Welcome to join the Eighth Route Army". So we published the declaration of joining the army on 1940 to celebrate New Year's Day. This is more than five months after we were captured.
I made up my mind to join the Eighth Route Army. In addition to learning to improve my consciousness and seeing the brutality of the Japanese army with my own eyes, there is another important reason. Since I was captured, the Eighth Route Army has always given me cordial care in the spirit of humanitarianism, which deeply touched my heart and made me feel that the nature of the Eighth Route Army is really different from other troops.
The Eighth Route Army is an incredible army, and no other army can compare with it. When I arrive at the Eighth Route Army, I will be fascinated by their fine style and never want to leave this team again. I think it is the happiness of my life to see the concrete embodiment of * * * thought with my own eyes in the Eighth Route Army and to participate in practice in person.
When we were in the front headquarters, the director of the Field Political Department was Mr. Fu Zhong, and the deputy director was Mr. Luo Ruiqing. Gave us great care and love.
Then in the summer of 194 1, Shui Ye Jingfu, who was active in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan area at the junction of Shandong Province and Hebei Province, established the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Branch. There is also the establishment of the southern branch of Hebei Province centered on Mr. Akiyama Yiming, who is active in the southern plain of Hebei Province. Jinan Branch has made great achievements in creative publicity activities. By June of the same year 165438+ 10, the number of members of the alliance had increased eight times. At the conference held shortly after the outbreak of the Pacific War to commemorate the first anniversary of the establishment of the South Hebei Branch, I received a long congratulatory message from Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, which read, "... over the past year, you have helped the Eighth Route Army win Japanese soldiers in the front line of South Hebei, and achieved remarkable results. On the eve of victory in the anti-fascist struggle, I hope you will work harder. ……」
Later, the Awakening Alliance established branches in Shandong and other regions.
Mr. Yoshida was transferred from the headquarters to the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University as a Japanese teacher. Mr. Yamada was once a lieutenant military doctor of the Japanese army and was active in the hospital behind the Eighth Route Army.
In this way, the organization and activities of the League have developed greatly, and its influence on Japanese soldiers has gradually expanded. For the Japanese military, the existence of the alliance has become a threat, which can be seen from the intrigue of the Japanese military. In order to destroy the Awakening League from the inside, they took the initiative to surrender and deliberately acted as prisoners, and sent agents to plan activities to assassinate members of the League and destroy the organization.
The Awakening League was active until the summer of 942. In the various activities carried out during this period, although there are still some imperfections, some experience has been accumulated. When the Japanese anti-war groups in North China were unified into the "North China Japan Anti-war Alliance Federation" in Yan 'an in the same year, the experience of the Awakening Alliance became the basis for formulating the work policy of the anti-war alliance, and these experiences were effectively used in the subsequent anti-war alliance activities.