The Morning that the Red Demon Comes Out
In early dawn, we had to leave for our labor. It was still dark. The Soviet guards began to check documents and began to calculate how many people were necessary for the day's labor. Since they were not good at math, the time they wasted was beyond our imagination.
One of them had a nickname, "Red Demon." While we were waiting for the long calculation to finish, he used to pick on sick or weak Japanese men in line and thrust them away or kick them. He was enjoying the fact that he was allowed to be brutal. I can never forget that disgusting red-faced Soviet guard. We were not scared of him, but were really vexed by the fact we could be kicked or pushed away without any reason. It was happening around July of 1946, right before we were taken to the interior of the Soviet Union.
July, 1946