The Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and Archives at Queensborough Community College has joined forces with the Korean American Voters Council to present a new exhibit, “Come from the Shadows,” which tells the story of Korea’s “Comfort Women.”
A group of leading Korean artists, working with photography, watercolors, and other media, created the exhibit to seek justice and to ensure the women won’t be forgotten.
Comfort Women were young Koreans rounded up when Japan invaded Korea during World War II to “serve” the Japanese army. The women were forced into brothels for the duration of the war. More than 70 years later, Japan refuses to acknowledge these events.
“If you wait long enough all the victims die off and you have no one who is a witness,” said Dr. Arthur Flug, the center’s executive director.
Most of the victims, now in their 80s and 90s, still seek justice and an apology from the Japanese government.
“This is not forthcoming,” Flug said, despite requests from the U.S. government.
He indicated the genesis for “Come from the Shadows” came after KAVC members saw an earlier exhibit at the center commemorating the Nanking, China massacre — also known as the Rape of Nanking — in which 400,000 people were killed and tens of thousands of women raped.
Interest in the Korean exhibit, which opened last week, has been mounting.
About 100 people attended the opening, including “a large contingent of Korean residents from Queens,” said Alice Doyle, a QCC spokeswoman. Most were first-time visitors, many of them teenagers and children. The Korean consul general to the United Nations and area officials were also on hand.
“Everyone has a different favorite piece,” Doyle said. Hers is made of paper that “drops down like a waterfall. It tells the story of a young Korean woman who has died. She represents all the souls of the Comfort Women,” she said. It’s “an ethereal, spiritual, powerful image.”
“The one that gets me the most is a picture of a young girl, wearing a loose slip, bent over in pain, with a Japanese soldier next to her,” Flug said. Famed artist Steve Cavallo created the piece, called “Where Have You Been My Daughter.”
Both Doyle and Flug are confident the exhibit will help keep the memory of the historic episode alive. “Many people don’t even know about it,” Doyle said.
Already, a number of professors at the college have scheduled visits to the museum for their fall classes.
“People will know what took place,” Flug said.
‘Come from the Shadows’
When: Through Sept. 29.
Mon-Fri, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., call ahead to schedule tours.
Where: Queensborough Community College, 222-05 56 Ave., Bayside
Tickets:Free
(718) 281-5770
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