On May 17, 1951, the first group of more than 1,000 political prisoners was sent to the “Freshman Disciplinary Camp” on Green Island, also called “New Life Camp,“ effectively marking the beginning of the White Terror era. With two people to a group, handcuffs were placed on one person’s left wrist and the other person’s right wrist during the sultry, tumultuous boat ride from Taiwan proper. Not sure of their whereabouts, the prisoners disembarked at Green Island’s Chungliao Harbor and walked along an unpaved road to the reeducation camp, commencing their grievous lives in captivity.
Sixty-two years later, a memorial concert was held on May 17 as part of the 2013 Green Island Human Rights Arts Festival, organized by the National Human Rights Museum’s Preparatory Office under the Ministry of Culture, during which the Shih Chien University Symphony Orchestra performed under the baton of Ou Yang Hui-kang.
This year young people are invited to come experience the pain and suffering that their elders went through as prisoners by actually traversing the island, starting at Chungliao Harbor and then visiting their living quarters. Apart from facing the trials and tribulations of staying alive, the prisoners also had to deal with the fear of not knowing what the future had in store for them, says National Human Rights Museum Preparatory Office director Wang Yi-chun. Having young people come experience what life was like on the island will hopefully allow them to understand that the adversities people faced during the White Terror era are part of the nation’s collective memory and not merely individual experiences, he says.
Photo: Hu Shun-hsiang, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者胡舜翔
“It was really quite terrible,” says octogenarian Chang Chang-mei, whose face is still filled with emotion as she remembers the period. Chang and her husband Ou Yang Chien-hua were political prisoners on the island at the same time. They got married after being released and had one daughter and three sons. One of their sons, Ou Yang Hui-kang, is a famous violinist, while their daughter Ou Yang Hui-chen is a dancer. The images of torture that her husband, who has already passed away, left behind serve as valuable historical documents. What Chang finds particularly baffling is how the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which held the utmost animosity toward the Chinese Communist Party, could persecute Taiwanese in this way and then today fawn upon the communists to no end.
The festival also has a photography exhibit of works by Chen Meng-ho, an exhibit of paintings by Ou Yang Wen as well as an exhibit of more than 400 paintings completed by Yang Chin-hai while in prison, all of which will be on dispaly until October 15.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
Photo: Hu Shun-hsiang, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者胡舜翔
一九五一年五月十七日,首批超過一千位政治受難者發監至綠島「新生訓導處」,開始白色恐怖經歷,他們兩人一組,左、右手銬在一起,經歷悶熱、顛波的船行,不知道自己身在何處,在綠島中寮下船之後,沿著牛車路走進新生之家,開始悲痛的囚禁生活。
在六十二年後的現在,文化部國家人權博物館籌備處舉辦「二0一三綠島人權藝術季」,五月十七日已舉辦綠島人權藝術季紀念音樂會,歐陽慧剛帶著實踐大學交響樂團演出。
今年便將實際體驗登島步行,邀請青年朋友以步行方式從綠島中寮為起點,走進「新生之家」,感受前輩們的悲傷與無奈。籌備處主任王逸群說,政治受難前輩抵達綠島,除了活著的嘆息,還有對未知未來的恐懼。這樣的體驗,希望讓年輕朋友了解,白色恐怖時期所留下的不只是個人的受難經驗,而是國民集體的共同記憶。
「真的是很恐怖!」已經八十多歲的政治受難者張常美回想起來,仍然眉頭深鎖,她與先生歐陽劍華同為政治受難者,兩人在出獄結婚。兩人育有一女三男,歐陽慧剛目前是知名小提琴家,歐陽慧珍則是舞蹈家。歐陽劍華已經過世,但留下了當年各式刑求場景,成為珍貴的史料。但更讓張常美至今依然錯亂的是,「當年最痛恨中國共產黨的國民黨,這樣迫害台灣人民,但是今日最媚共的,也是國民黨。」
綠島人權藝術季還有陳孟和的攝影作品展、歐陽文的畫作展以及楊金海的四百多幅獄中畫作,展期至十月十五日。
(自由時報記者趙靜瑜)
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