The National Human Rights Museum (NHRM) organized an event in Yilan County on Nov. 25, inviting victims of the White Terror and their family members to retell their encounters. This event was held at the Chilin Education Foundation (慈林教育基金會) and Chung Hsing Cultural and Creative Park (中興文化創意園區).
In order to build a serene environment for the attendees, the event started with a “family photobook DIY” activity. In the process, the participants reconstructed the history of their family members who suffered during the White Terror by piecing together their pictures and recounting the memories tied to each family.
Veteran Jhou Shun-ji (周順吉) attended this event. As a political victim himself, he shared the pictures of Oasis Villa (綠洲山莊) in Green Island, where political prisoners were incarcerated during the martial law period. He hopes that the historical remains of the White Terror will be properly preserved.
Hong Syue-hua (洪雪華), the daughter of a female political victim Chen Cin (陳勤), displayed pictures of her mother visiting Green Island during the 2000s, saying that she didn’t know about her mother’s misery in the past until she was 40. She hopes that the stories of female political victims can be brought to light.
Jian Jae-yan (簡嘉彥), the artistic director of Da Yen Theater Group (大硯劇團), shared the life of his grandfather Jian Wun-sian (簡文憲), who was executed in the Luodong Paper Factory Incident (羅東紙廠案) in 1952. The artistic director curated an exhibition at the Chung Hsing Cultural and Creative Park (formerly Luodong Paper Factory) in 2022 to document the history during the martial law era. It was well-received by local communities.
Noting that the 38-year martial law rule in Taiwan has had a profound impact on people’s life, the NHRM said a scarred history may be hidden at the seemingly ordinary sites and places. Hence, through the event of revisiting the historic sites tied to the White Terror and recreating those memories, the NHRM hopes these victims and their family members will open their hearts to retrieve those memories from the traumatic history.
Sources：Ministry Of Culture
