Exhibition on Korean 'Comfort Women' Opens at QCC

The Kupferberg Holocaust Center held the unveiling of a searing new exhibit Monday evening with the help of the Korean-American Voters Council.

The new exhibit, Come From The Shadows is the result of a collaboration of artists, activists, and academics who have found common ground in keeping the memory of all war victims alive.

'Comfort women,' as they have come to be called are the survivors of sexual enslavement by the Japanese military during World War II. 

These young women were as young as 12 years old and were often raped thirty times a day, said Woo Sung Lee, Director of the Korean Culture Service NY. “These are the women who were taken away from their families and friends against their will and were abused both physically and mentally by the war crimes that preyed upon innocent Korean women,” he said.

A group of cutting edge Korean artists have submitted their designs to portray the horrors suffered by the Comfort Women, now on display at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center.

The Voters Council hopes the partnership will raise awareness of the atrocity while pursuing an official apology from the Japanese government.

“This is another example of denial of events that really took place,” explained Dr. Arthur Flug, Executive Director of the Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center at Queensborough Community College. “We are stopping history, an enormous hate crime that no one has atoned for,” he said.

While none of the Comfort Women were present at the unveiling, Nuri Han, Assistant Program Director for the Korean-American Voters Council explained that while many of the victims have immigrated into the United States, it is shame that keeps them from coming forward.

“In Korea there is more activism,” she said while explaining that protests occur every Wednesday in front of the Japanese Embassy in South Korea by a multitude of victim’s rights groups.

While outreach efforts in the states are in the formation stage, “This is just the beginning,” said Han.

Check back with Patch for photos from the exhibition.

Update, 4:08p.m.: The organization that jointly ran the event, the Korean-American Voters Council, wishes to add that among 'comfort women' were Chinese, Vietnamese, Dutch, German and South Asian captives as young as age 12, taken in all the areas that Japan occupied during World War II. They also wish to clarify that a distinguished guest at the event, Woo Sung Lee, is the Director of the Korean Culture Service NY.