Memorial service for WWII female post office workers

Memorial service for WWII female post office workers

SAPPORO, Japan - Chieko Kuriyama speaks in front of the photos of her nine former colleagues at a post office in Maoka (currently Kholmsk in Sakhalin, Russia) during a memorial service held for them in Wakkanai on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Aug. 8, 2014. Working as telephone exchange operators, the nine young Japanese women committed suicide by taking poison on the same date in 1945 when Russian forces invaded the town. (Photo by Daisuke Suzuki)

Memorial remembers suicides of 9 women before Soviet invasion

Memorial remembers suicides of 9 women before Soviet invasion

WAKKANAI, Japan - A memorial service is held in Wakkanai in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on Aug. 20, 2014, for nine female postal office workers who killed themselves on the same day in 1945 in a town in the southern half of the Russian Far East island of Sakhalin, then controlled by Japan, in the face of an invasion by Soviet troops during the closing days of World War II. The town, then known as Maoka, is called Kholmsk today.

Chorus remembers suicides of 9 women before Soviet invasion

Chorus remembers suicides of 9 women before Soviet invasion

WAKKANAI, Japan - Women sing in chorus at a memorial service held in Wakkanai in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on Aug. 20, 2014, for nine female postal office workers who killed themselves on the same day in 1945 in a town in the southern half of the Russian Far East island of Sakhalin, then controlled by Japan, in the face of an invasion by Soviet troops during the closing days of World War II. The town, then known as Maoka, is called Kholmsk today.

Suicides of Japanese women after WWII surrender remembered

Suicides of Japanese women after WWII surrender remembered

Women recite a poem at a memorial service in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, northern Japan, on Aug. 20, 2015, for nine female telephone operators at a Japanese post office in Maoka, now Kholmsk, on the southern portion of the island of Sakhalin, who committed suicide on Aug. 20, 1945, during a Soviet attack in the area after Japan's surrender in World War II. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Suicides of Japanese women after WWII surrender remembered

Suicides of Japanese women after WWII surrender remembered

Chieko Kuriyama puts her palms together on Aug. 20, 2015, in front of a cenotaph in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, northern Japan, dedicated to nine female telephone operators at a Japanese post office in Maoka, now Kholmsk, on the southern portion of the island of Sakhalin, who committed suicide on Aug. 20, 1945, during a Soviet attack in the area after Japan's surrender in World War II. Kuriyama was a coworker of the nine. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Memorial service for WWII female post office workers

Memorial service for WWII female post office workers

SAPPORO, Japan - Chieko Kuriyama speaks in front of the photos of her nine former colleagues at a post office in Maoka (currently Kholmsk in Sakhalin, Russia) during a memorial service held for them in Wakkanai on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Aug. 8, 2014. Working as telephone exchange operators, the nine young Japanese women committed suicide by taking poison on the same date in 1945 when Russian forces invaded the town. (Photo by Daisuke Suzuki) (Kyodo)

Chorus remembers suicides of 9 women before Soviet invasion

Chorus remembers suicides of 9 women before Soviet invasion

WAKKANAI, Japan - Women sing in chorus at a memorial service held in Wakkanai in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on Aug. 20, 2014, for nine female postal office workers who killed themselves on the same day in 1945 in a town in the southern half of the Russian Far East island of Sakhalin, then controlled by Japan, in the face of an invasion by Soviet troops during the closing days of World War II. The town, then known as Maoka, is called Kholmsk today. (Kyodo)