The Transitional Justice Commission has shared the last words written by three victims of the White Terror era after the recently released horror film Detention (返校) featured a fictional letter written by a victim to his student.
In the film, which is set in the White Terror era, the character, Mr Chang (張老師), leaves a letter for his student Fang Ray Shin (方芮欣) before his execution, the commission wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
Likewise, victims of the White Terror era used a variety of means to leave their memories and ideas behind, the commission said.
Some victims said their last words in the final statements they made before a court ruling, while others, in the hours between the time they were sentenced to death and the time of their execution, did everything they could to leave a letter to their families, even asking other victims who had not been sentenced to death to help pass them on, it said.
In their final words, some victims thanked their parents for raising them and asked for forgiveness for being “unfilial”; some wanted their wives to remarry so as to not burden them and their children; some expressed their love for Taiwanese society; and some said they hoped that their families could live happily, the commission said.
The words they left behind show the mental state of political victims facing death and allow readers to better appreciate that these were living people, with their own emotions, wills and words that they wanted to communicate, it said.
In one of the three letters shared by the commission, Chen Chih-hsiung (陳智雄) said he “died for Taiwanese,” and asked the receiver of the letter to take care of his three children.
Through records and interviews, the commission plans to continue to uncover the truth, expose illegal behavior by the then-authoritarian government and clarify who the perpetrators were, the commission said.
Only by knowing the truth can society face the past together, it said, adding that through social dialogue and education, it looks forward to inspiring people to reflect on the White Terror era.
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