“My third younger brother Cen Xiaosan, who was less than two years old then, was burned alive by the Japanese troops.”

In 1930, my father Ceng Xiulou and mother Mrs. Cen Gao took me and my second younger sister Ceng Honglan, the second younger brother Cen Hongzhen and the third younger brother fled from famine to Nanjing from our hometown Pi County in northern Jiangsu province (now the Balu Town of Pizhou City). We lived near the city wall in Beihuachang Street outside the Hanzhong Gate of Nanjing, and we made a living by doing hard labor.

In December 1937, the Japanese army burned down the straw houses along the foot of city wall outside Hanzhong Gate. My parents took me, my second younger sister and second younger brother to escape from the fire. At that time, my third younger brother Cen Xiaosan (nickname) who was less than 2 years old then was sleeping in the house. The Japanese army stopped my parents from returning inside to rescue him, and my poor younger brother was burned alive in this way.

I was 13 years old at that time, the Japanese soldiers shouted: “Child, child, good boy!” And they pushed me into the fire. My trouser legs were set on fire, and my legs got burnt, the scars on which could still be seen today. The Japanese army shot at my father who was holding my second younger sister. The bullet passed between the two and grazed my second younger sister's jaw, which immediately began to bleed. Then, the Japanese army took my father and several other men away, asking them to find the “flower girl” (beautiful woman). I took my wounded second younger sister, my mother and second younger brother to take refuge in a bomb shelter near the city wall. It was lucky that my father came back alive and found us in the bomb shelter at Hanzhong Gate. 

In order to survive, our family ran to the riverside in Xiaguan overnight. With the help of my father's friends, we crossed the river. We fled to Pukou in the north of the Yangtze River and walked along the field for more than 10 days, finally returning to our hometown of Pi County, Anhui Province.