It is difficult to forget the harrowing photograph of Jih Chin-chun (日進春) that shows him laughing before his execution.
On Aug. 29, 1952, Jih was shot five times by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) military police by a river, his corpse left among a pile of bodies in today’s Liuzhangli (六張犁) area of Taipei.
Jih, a member of the Saisiyat community, was reportedly the first Aborigine to fall victim to the authoritarian regime’s White Terror atrocities, when anyone could “disappear” over suspicion that they were reading banned books, badmouthing the government, associating with communists or other activities.