The Study of China
In 1994, I began to study Sinology in a University
in Germany.
Three years later, I moved to mainland China
and continued my studies in Nanking
,
where I stayed for around 10 months.
Besides the great benefit for my studies, I was also fortunate to meet some very special people native to China who introduced me to the astonishing world of Chinese culture, philosophy and history.
Aided by teachers and friends, I learned a great deal about China and its people, about their way of thinking, their mentality and their opinion on different issues of life.
Although I knew those Chinese friends only for a short time, they accepted me as a very close relative - in this regard, my stay was a totally unique experience, which I will never forget.
Thanks to those Chinese friends, but also the other people whom I met on the streets of Nanking , in the markets or in the shops, the city of Nanking became my second home.
When in 1999 I was looking for a topic for my MA essay, I found a very interesting subject:
namely the story of John Rabe.
After graduating university in 2002, I published a book about John Rabe in Germany.
(Original title: "John Rabe und seine Rezeption in China" - The way John Rabe is perceived in China.)
The book in German language can be ordered from Shaker Verlag, Germany.
At the same time, I was looking for a topic for a doctoral thesis and, after searching for a suitable subject quite a long time, I decided to write about the Chinese and Taiwanese "Comfort Women".
After reading some western and Japanese books about this subject, I had noticed that most of them write predominantly about the Korean victims and hardly even mention the Chinese and Taiwanese "Comfort Women". I was very interested in finding out why, and so I started researching.
Around the end of December 2001 I went to The Hague, Netherlands, to join the "Women's International War Crimes Tribunal On Japan's Military Sexual Slavery". During this conference I made the acquaintance of Prof. Su Zhiliang, a Chinese history professor, who has written several books about the Chinese "Comfort Women" and who is still researching on this matter.
In 2002, I went to China, where I met Prof. Su again in Shanghai and he offered me to join him on a visit to former comfort women in Wuhan. I also met some other Chinese journalists and historians - among others - who gave me some material concerning this matter.
After leaving Mainland China I went to Taiwan. The "Taiwan Women Rescue Foundation" works with former Taiwanese "Comfort Women". The people at this foundation were very helpful and gave me a lot of interesting material so that, with their help, I could meet two former "Comfort Women" and interview them. Also, with a lot of other people in Taiwan linked somehow to this matter I lead some highly interesting conversations and interviews.
Back home in Germany, I started to analyse the material I had brought with me and to translate it all into German.
"Comfort women" in China and Taiwan
To the start. Kontakt