The Nanking Massacre
In 1937, over a six week period, hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers and citizens were brutally murdered, raped, and tortured in the city of Nanking Japan. There were no exact total casualties during this time but it is estimated at 200,000 to 300,000 people. Whole families were killed. This included infants and old people. This atrocity would take decades to recover from.
On December 13, the first Japanese troops entered the city. Before they came many Japanese had heard of the crimes they committed throughout China. Such as killing contests and taking of possessions. Chinese soldiers were hunted throughout the city. These soldiers were murdered and thrown in mass graves. The Japanese even searched for “plain-clothes” soldiers. The enemy soldiers would storm homes and inspected and person that could have been a soldier. They looked for helmet marks on foreheads, imprints of a machine gun strap on their shoulder, or calluses on hands. The killings didn’t stop here, many civilians were murdered in cold blood.
The Nanking Massacre was also known to some as the Rape of Nanking. Between 20,000 to 80,000 woman were sexaully assaulted. Even babies and elders were also raped. Poor citizens not even connected at all to the Chinese Army were executed. Some bodies had gasoline poured on them and lit on fire. Later, these charred lifeless bodies were dumped into the Yangtze River. Some soldiers speak about their doings.
Here is a Japanese Soldier’s diary entry from December 19: “We took about 5,000 prisoners of war, some of those we captured a couple of days ago, to the bank of the Yangtze and mowed them down by machine guns. Then we stabbed them with bayonets to our satisfaction. I probably bayoneted 30-odd hateful Chinese soldiers. Climbing up the heap of dead bodies and bayoneting them gave me a courage, which made me feel I could even vanquish ogres. I stabbed them with all my might while hearing them groan. There were some old ones and kids. I killed them all. I even borrowed a sword and severed a head. It was the most unusual experience I’ve ever had.” This truly depicts what it was like during this terrible time. Here is another entry from another unknown Japanese soldier: “Since there were many civilians in the crowd along with some soldiers, the Japanese troops were hesitant and couldn’t do it. Cho lost his temper. “You want to know how to kill people! Like this!” He slashed one of his troops down from the shoulder with his sword. Stunned at Cho, the other troops snapped and opened fire. That’s how the massacre started.”
What this Japanese Army allowed their men to do was horrific. The Japanese government even denied that this even happened until decades later. Many Chinese are still mad about this and are not happy with Japan’s apology. To this day many survivors and kin of the survivors are affected by this atrocity.
On December 13, the first Japanese troops entered the city. Before they came many Japanese had heard of the crimes they committed throughout China. Such as killing contests and taking of possessions. Chinese soldiers were hunted throughout the city. These soldiers were murdered and thrown in mass graves. The Japanese even searched for “plain-clothes” soldiers. The enemy soldiers would storm homes and inspected and person that could have been a soldier. They looked for helmet marks on foreheads, imprints of a machine gun strap on their shoulder, or calluses on hands. The killings didn’t stop here, many civilians were murdered in cold blood.
The Nanking Massacre was also known to some as the Rape of Nanking. Between 20,000 to 80,000 woman were sexaully assaulted. Even babies and elders were also raped. Poor citizens not even connected at all to the Chinese Army were executed. Some bodies had gasoline poured on them and lit on fire. Later, these charred lifeless bodies were dumped into the Yangtze River. Some soldiers speak about their doings.
Here is a Japanese Soldier’s diary entry from December 19: “We took about 5,000 prisoners of war, some of those we captured a couple of days ago, to the bank of the Yangtze and mowed them down by machine guns. Then we stabbed them with bayonets to our satisfaction. I probably bayoneted 30-odd hateful Chinese soldiers. Climbing up the heap of dead bodies and bayoneting them gave me a courage, which made me feel I could even vanquish ogres. I stabbed them with all my might while hearing them groan. There were some old ones and kids. I killed them all. I even borrowed a sword and severed a head. It was the most unusual experience I’ve ever had.” This truly depicts what it was like during this terrible time. Here is another entry from another unknown Japanese soldier: “Since there were many civilians in the crowd along with some soldiers, the Japanese troops were hesitant and couldn’t do it. Cho lost his temper. “You want to know how to kill people! Like this!” He slashed one of his troops down from the shoulder with his sword. Stunned at Cho, the other troops snapped and opened fire. That’s how the massacre started.”
What this Japanese Army allowed their men to do was horrific. The Japanese government even denied that this even happened until decades later. Many Chinese are still mad about this and are not happy with Japan’s apology. To this day many survivors and kin of the survivors are affected by this atrocity.
This is a Japanese soldier's diary that was wrote in during the Nanking Massacre. This is where soldiers would write the terrible things they did each day.
This is a katana from the Nanking Massacre. Many swords like these were used to sever heads to show the Chinese people dominance.
This is a photograph of the city of Nanking. The Japanese would go from town to town to murder, steal, rape, and destroy.
- History.com Staff. "Nanjing Massacre." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.
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- Propoganda. Digital image. The Nanking Massacre. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2016.