Memorial to the Nanjing Massacre

A solemn afternoon visit to the Memorial Hall of the Massacre of Nanjing.  I'm going to include basic narrative (taken from the exhibit itself) between pictures. 

The Nanjing Massacre was committed by the Japanese invaders in China who openly violated international treaties and the basic moral principles of humanity.  During the six weeks from December 1937 to January 1938, Japanese troops committed a series of atrocities in Nanjing, including the cruel and brutal slaughter of innocent people as well as rape, looting and burning and the destruction of much of the city.  After then end of WWII, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Nanjing Military Tribunal (NMT) for the Trial of War Criminals both set up special cases for investigation and trial. Among the latter, the NMT for the Trial of War Criminals, through investigation, brought in their verdict that the Japanese soldiers committed 28 mass slaughters killing 190,000 people and 85 occasional slaughters killing more than 150,000 people.  In doing so, they perpetuated an extraordinarily shocking tragedy and left a brutal and horrible page in the annals of human history.

On July 7, 1937, Japanese militarists initiated the Luguoqiao Incident and launched their full-scale aggression against China. On August 13th, 1937, they attacked Shanghai, making this the first step in their attach on Nanjing. On November 12th, after the seizure of Shanghai, Japanese troops began to assault Nanjing from three directions. On December 13th, after the capture of Nanjing, the Japanese troops began to wantonly massacre disarmed Chinese soldiers and unarmed civilians brazenly violating international treaties. The massacre lasted six weeks and the number of victims amounted to over 300,000. During this period of time, one-third of the buildings in Nanjing were damaged, over 20,000 cases of rape and gang-rape took place in the urban areas of Nanjing alone, innumerable public and private properties were looted, the ancient and cultural capital experienced an unprecedented catastrophe Nanjing had become "hell on Earth."

Before you even enter the memorial.........

China in modern times maintained a policy of self-seclusion resulting in poverty and decline over the years. Suffering from the aggression and the yoke of semi-colonization by the Western powers, China had to sign a series of unequal treaties with them. China experienced a drastic fall in her status among Asian countries, especially after the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-95. Heavy reparations made the Government of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) unable to reverse the decline. The Qing Dyntasy, plagues by internal and external troubles, was overthrown and the Republic of China was founded. At that moment, Japan had risen to become a strong nation in Asia and ranked amount the powerful nations, which fueled its greed for aggression and expansion. On September 18th, 1931, Japanese troops initiated the September 18th incident by their seizure of Shenyang and occupied the entire northeastern provinces of China. On July 7th, 1937, they launched their full-scale aggression against China. Only July 7th, 1937, they invaded Shanghai, and Nanjing where the Central Government of the National Government was located, already on the verge of falling into enemy hands.

At the beginning of the full-scale aggression against China launched by the Japanese militarists, they had already planned the assault on Nanjing, then the capital of the Republic of China, and regarded the assault on Shanghai as the first step towards the capture of Nanjing. When Shanghai was seized by the Japanese troops, they launched the attack on Nanjing from three directions. Each of the Japanese media enterprises strived to be the first one to report the war situation in China, inciting their soldiers greed for rank, fame and fortune. The Japanese nationals also become crazy about the war and supported their troops in China to capture Nanjing. The Japanese proceeded to occupy Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Jiangyiu, Zhenjiang, Huzhou, Si-an, Guangde, Wuhu and other areas.

The Memorial's Exhibition hall is low and angular.  In my opinion, kind of a throwback to Maya Lin's Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC.

The air-raids launched by the Japanese aircrafts brought great disaster the ancient city of Nanjing. Oly from August 15th to October 15th, 1937, Japanese aircrafts attacked Nanjing over 65 times, among over 90 aircraft were employed at one time. Days with cloud cover became "good days" because it meant no incoming attacking aircraft.

On November 20th, 1937, the National Government announced the move of the capital from Nanjing to Chongqing, while at the same time drew up a plan to defend Nanjing.  100,000 soldiers were assembled to defend Nanjing.  On December 1st, 1937, the Japanese General Staff Headquarters issued the order to attack Nanjing and about 200,000 Japanese troops launched their "race" to invade Nanjing. Chinese defense forces under such unfavorable conditions as poor equipment, the incomplete organizational system of the army and inadequate logistical support, fought a last-ditch battle with the well-equipped Japanese invaders.  On December 13th, 1937, their defense failed and Nanjing fell into the hands of Japanese invaders' hands.

After the Japanese seizure of Nanjing, the Japanese troops launched a mass slaughter of innocent people and perpetrated extreme terror in order to "subjugate China" by force and realize their delution of destroying China in three months. Under their planned mass slaughter, 190,000 innocent civilians and disarmed Chinese soldiers were massacred by execution squads. In addition, another more than 150,000 corpses were buried by local charities in the wake of the occasional mass killings committed by the Japanese troops. Altogether, the number of victims in the Nanjing Massacre totaled over 300,000.

Just like the Vietnam Memorial in DC, there is a wall with names.

 At the same time, in addition to programmed mass slaughter, the Japanese army also launched scattered mass murder throughout Nanjing. The corpses of the victims of which were left dying all over the city. According to the investigation of the Chinese Nanjing Military Tribunal for the Trial of War Criminals in 1946, there were 858 so-called occasional slaughters. About 150,000 corpses were identified and buried by various charity groups.

On the memorial site, a mass grave was discovered and left in situ.  So as you are going through the memorial building, you walk around this mass grave.

While they carried out the mass slaughter, the Japanese soldiers raped women unscrupulously, irrespective of occasion and age. There were several hundred and even a thousand cases of rape everyday. According to the verdict of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, in the Nanjing urban area alone there were over 20,000 cases of rape and gang-rape atrocities during the first month after the Japanese seizure of Nanjing. Those foreigners who then still remained in Nanjing once furiously condemned those Japanese troops as "gangs of beasts." The Japanese troops were also looting wherever they went. They broke into private houses, institutions, shops and warehouses and pillaged gold, silver and other treasures, cultural relics and antiques, transportation vehicles and even food for refugees, quilts in hospitals and livestock of the common people. All became looting targets, and even the properties of foreign residents could not escape their looting.

The memorial is chock full of horrific pictures. However, this is the only one I'll show.  A severed head is displayed on a fence. 

At the beginning of their attack on Nanjing, Japanese troops carried torches and weapons and set fire to houses on a large scale.  They also wantonly destroyed Nanjing, the ancient historical and cultural city by means of bombardment, artillery fire and the use of dynamite. In accordance with the verdict of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, "such kind of fire would continue to burn after the first several days and might last more than six weeks as if it had been planned when the fire was set, thus damaging about one-third of the buildings in the city." Nevertheless, the authority of the Japanese troops then deceitfully and with all their efforts propagandized the image of a "Peaceful Nanjing."

This being 1937, turns out that the Germans were quite a force of good in Nanjing and were critical of the massacre.  They were instrumental in setting up an international safety zone.  Ironic given what was to come in the near future.

 Before the downfall of Nanjing, a dozen foreigners and many brave Chinese risked their lives to stay in Nanjing. They created the International Safety Zone and refugee camps in their capacites as nationas from the neutral states and as members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and tried their best to protect the refugee's life and property, and to protest against and stop the Japanese soldiers' atrocities. Their lofty humanitarianism will be remembered by later generations forever.

I just have to comment that the Italian is above other more spoken languages. Oh, I see it now, it's by length. 

There were piles of victims' corpses left after the Nanjing massacre committed by Japanese troops. Charities in Nanjing, the puppet regime and individuals buried more than 200,000 corpses and made detailed records of the burying process. In order to get rid of the evidence of their crimes, the Japaenese troops poured petrol on some corpses and burnt them to ashes, and use ships to drag other corpses into the Yangtze River and got them washed away.  Altogether over 100,000 corpses were destroyed. From the historical burial records and remnants of the attempt to destroy the evident, the extraordinary scale of the Nanjing Massacre can be shown.

Out on the memorial groups, there are large stones.  Each memorializing and describing one of the mass slaughters.

The Japanese military authority had attempted to dismantle the Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee since it was established in Nanjing. It gathered a bunch of quislings to form a Puppet Nanjing Autonomous Committee. On February 18th, 1938, the Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee was officially dismissed, and renamed Nanjing International Relief Committee specialiaed in refugee relief affairs. Thanks to the efforts of the International Relief Committee and the diplomatic mission of Germany in Nanjing, refugee asylums were not terminated with the dismissal of refugee zones, but were shut down one by one. Of the 25 refugee asylums, 6 were closed in February and March, 13 in March and April, while the rest in May, 1938.

A tribute to Asian-American author Iris Chang who wrote "The Rape of Nanjing."

 In order to resist the aggression of the Japanese imperialists and save the Chinese nation from catastrophe, the Chinese people put up a fierce 14-year long war of resistance against the Japanese invation (1931-45) and made indelible historical contributions to the victory of the World War against facism. The Chinese people made great sacrifices during the war over 35,000,000 people wounded or dead, direct property damage and war cost amounting to $100 billion and indirect economic loss amounting to $500 billion. On August 15th, 2945, Japan had to announce the unconditional surrender. On September 9th the same year, the Ceremony of Japanese Surrender in the Chinese Theater of War was held in Nanjing. The Anti-Japanese Was had achieved a great historical victory. After the way, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and Nanjing Military Tribunal for the Trial of War Criminals both set up a special case for investigating the Nanjing Massacre and verified that the Japanese troops had committed the atrocity of the Nanjing Massacre.

A painting showing the Japanese surrender.

Article 11 of the Treaty of Peace with Japan signed between the Japanese and American governments in 1951 explicitly provides that "Japan accepts the judgments of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and of other Allied War Crime Courts both within and outside Japan, and will carry out the sentences imposed thereby upon Japanese nationals imprisoned in Japan.

"Do not forget what happened before, it will be the teacher of the future"

 History must not be forgotten. The Nanjing Massacre is a true tragedy for the Chinese nation, a national humiliation that must be remembered, and a fascist atrocity of bestiality strangling humanity and brutality smothering civilization. It should be forever inscribed in Nanjing's memory. History must not be distorted. After WWII, the Nanjing Massacre became an ironclad case, its nature legally determined and a consensus reached legally all over the world. However, after more than 50 years, there are still some people who continue to distort and deny the existence of the Nanjing Massacre. Thus defending the irrefutable historical facts of the Nanjing Massacre is a long road filled with heavy responsibility.  History is forever a textbook. The history of the Nanjing Massacre is is not only an important topic for the patriotic education of the common people especially the youth, and the performance of peaceful communication with other countries, but also a spiritual treasure to draw historical lessons so as to sustain the goals of peace and development in the modern world. Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future; people can create a better future by looking back on the past.