P
Pia
Guest
They put me in a tiny cramped cell
The stench was suffocating
They made me crawl through a small trap door for my interrogation
They pushed me down onto a frame of sharp-edged wood
They tied my hands behind my back and to my legs
They stripped me to the waist so my breasts were bare
They attached wires and ran electric currents through me
The shocks sent my body into spasms
My tears and mucus flowed uncontrollably
The pain was awful
They pumped my belly full of water
The feeling of it gushing out of my body was hardly bearable
Outside the cell tortured prisoners lay in the corridor
They howled in pain... The cries pierced my heart
The officer slapped my face.
I felt absolutely helpless
They released me finally
My eyes could hardly open as I stood in the sun
My mind was a compete blank
I stood in the clothes I had worn for 200 days
I felt I had returned from death
words spoken by a survivor
of the Japanese occupation
of
Singapore
inspired by a visit
to the Old Ford Factory Museum
Bukit Timah
Singapore
The stench was suffocating
They made me crawl through a small trap door for my interrogation
They pushed me down onto a frame of sharp-edged wood
They tied my hands behind my back and to my legs
They stripped me to the waist so my breasts were bare
They attached wires and ran electric currents through me
The shocks sent my body into spasms
My tears and mucus flowed uncontrollably
The pain was awful
They pumped my belly full of water
The feeling of it gushing out of my body was hardly bearable
Outside the cell tortured prisoners lay in the corridor
They howled in pain... The cries pierced my heart
The officer slapped my face.
I felt absolutely helpless
They released me finally
My eyes could hardly open as I stood in the sun
My mind was a compete blank
I stood in the clothes I had worn for 200 days
I felt I had returned from death
words spoken by a survivor
of the Japanese occupation
of
Singapore
inspired by a visit
to the Old Ford Factory Museum
Bukit Timah
Singapore