It remains, however, the Japanese soldiers swarmed over the city in thousands and committed untold depredations and atrocities. Another piece of evidence that was submitted to the tribunal was Harold Timperley's telegram regarding the Nanjing Massacre which had been intercepted and decoded by the Americans on January 17, 1938. I watched with my own eyes as they looted the caf of our German baker Herr Kiessling. From February 7, 1938, killings were no longer in mass fashion as the senior Japanese officers came to restore discipline of their troops, according to the testimony of, Quote: "The Japanese Army, one million strong, has already conquered. [71] In The Cambridge History of China, historian Lloyd Eastman asserted that the death toll was "at least 42,000",[72] whereas military officer Frank Dorn wrote in his book The Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41 that the death toll was "over 200,000 civilians". 616621. The girl was 14 years old. At dusk, the soldiers divided POWs into four columns and opened fire. Only after firmly establishing 'historical particularities' can one clearly define Japans responsibility. [20] In 1938 the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party reported the total death toll at 42,000 massacred. "[178], The Nanjing massacre has emerged as one fundamental keystone in the construction of the modern Chinese national identity. China's Rising COVID-19 Death Toll Satellite images suggest a higher number of deaths as China suspends short-term visas for South Korean and Japanese travelers in a retaliatory measure. . [6] Over the course of its subsequent occupation of Nanking the Japanese Army hunted down the former Chinese soldiers within the city and in a large number of cases summarily executed them. The massacre began the same day, with Japanese troops running entirely unchecked. Conditions inside the compound are worse than we can describe. [155], The memory of the Nanjing Massacre has been a point of contention in Sino-Japanese relations since the early 1970s. Wakabayashi, Bob Tadashi "The Nanking 100-Man Killing Contest Debate: War Guilt Amid Fabricated Illusions, 197175", Yang, Daqing. The following is an excerpt: In other words, on the 13th when your troops entered the city, we had nearly all the civilian population gathered in a Zone in which there had been very little destruction by stray shells and no looting by Chinese soldiers even in full retreat. All 27 Occidentals in the city at that time and our Chinese population were totally surprised by the reign of robbery, raping and killing initiated by your soldiers on the 14th. The Nanking Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was an episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanki. These estimates are borne out by the figures of burial societies and other organizations, which testify to over 155,000 buried bodies. However, the actual number of victims is hard to determine, according to the government of Japan. Instead of refuting the allegations, the interviewed veterans confirmed that a massacre had taken place and openly described and admitted to taking part in the atrocities. Therefore, according to journalists Asami Kazuo and Suzuki Jiro, writing in the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun of December 13, they decided to begin another contest to kill 150 people.[40]. The Chinese government left for relocation on December 1, and the president left on December 7, leaving the fate of Nanjing to an International Committee led by John Rabe, a German national. 200,000 (consensus), estimates range from 40,000 to over 300,000. "2001 ASSLH conference Chinese seamen and Australian labour: The mass desertion from the, International Committee for the Nanjing Safety Zone, International Military Tribunal for the Far East, International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone, killing contest between two Japanese officers, Learn how and when to remove this template message, introducing citations to additional sources, John Rabe and International Safety Zone Memorial Hall, List of war apology statements issued by Japan, discriminatory policies against minority groups, Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, "29 July 1946. As we pulled the string, the buttocks were exposed. I am born in China. "[1], One-third of the city was destroyed as a result of arson. Nankin Daigyakusatsu (Nanjing Massacre), "Six weeks long" is a convenient figure but far from precise. According to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, estimates made at a later date indicate that the total number of civilians and prisoners of war murdered in Nanking and its vicinity during the first six weeks of the Japanese . Destruction of Nanking. It took an hour for the sounds of death to stop and even longer for the Japanese to bayonet each individual. [21] By contrast Bob Wakabayashi sets the bar higher and believes that the estimate of 40,000 victims put forward by Ikuhiko Hata is the lowest reasonable estimate of the total death toll and considers numbers below this to be attempts at minimizing the atrocity. [180][181][182], Dockworkers in Australia were horrified by the massacre and refused to load pig iron onto ships heading for Japan, leading to the Dalfram Dispute of 1938. When I think of the feelings and sentiments of many of my Chinese friends who have fled from Nanjing and of the future of the two countries, I cannot but feel depressed. [citation needed], The government of Japan believes it can not be denied that the killing of a large number of noncombatants, looting and other acts by the Japanese army occurred. What many people don't know is that the emperor had largely lost control of the army and Japan, which was a flourishing democracy before was taken over by the military (basically) following . Chang also states that not all rape victims were women. What you hear and see on all sides is the brutality and bestiality of the Japanese soldiers. The "Great Massacre School" group supports the validity of the findings at the Tokyo Trials, and concludes that there were at least 200,000 casualties and at least 20,000 rape cases; whereas "The Illusion School" group rejects tribunal findings as "victor's justice". [42] He argued that Chinese soldiers who had thrown away their uniforms were legally executed because the laws of war at the time did not apply to them, though this line of reasoning is hotly disputed by other historians. Files. [1][77] Some individual estimates by scholars and eyewitnesses are included in the following table. [12][63][64] Bob Wakabayashi concludes from this that estimates over 200,000 are not credible. A new report on the 1937-1938 massacre doesn't settle the contested issue of how many people died -- but it points to a much more For example, Edgar Snow stated in his 1941 book, The Battle for Asia, that 42,000 were massacred in Nanking and 300,000 in total between Nanking and Shanghai, figures which were apparently based on these estimates. The Japanese government had previously agreed not to attack parts of the city that did not contain Chinese military forces, and the members of the Committee managed to persuade the Chinese government to move their troops out of the area. The last refugee camps were closed in May 1938. The war, still undeclared, had no clear-cut goal or purpose. In 2005, John Rabe's former residence in Nanjing was renovated and now accommodates the ". Death toll of the Nanking Massacre. [29] Some authors record that Prince Asaka signed the order for Japanese soldiers in Nanjing to "kill all captives". The slaughter of civilians is appalling. Since records were not kept, estimates regarding the number of victims buried in the ditch range from 4,000 to 20,000. [99][100] An estimate death toll of 300,000 has also been cited. In late December 1937 and early January 1938, the Imperial Japanese Army perpetrated one of the most horrific war crimes of the World War II era. [169] In the 2010 Japan-China Joint History Research Committee meeting, scholars from the Japanese side set the maximum possible number of civilian victims at 200,000, with estimates of around 40,000 or 20,000. The incident occurred near the Kuling Ssu, a noted temple on the border of the Refugee zone". [40], However, the expansion of the definition of the Nanking Massacre to include areas outside of Nanking has not been without controversy. Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Imperial Army marched from Shanghai to the Chinese capital city of Nanking, and though a large number of Chinese POWs and civilians were slaughtered by the Japanese following their entrance into Nanking on . Many atrocities were reported to have been committed as the Japanese army advanced from Shanghai to Nanjing. According to Yang Daqing, professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University: While it is standard practice for governments to destroy evidence in times of defeat, in the two weeks before the Allies arrived in Japan, various Japanese agenciesthe military in particularsystematically destroyed sensitive documents to a degree perhaps unprecedented in history. [57] Nanking Massacre studies in Japan eventually became divided into three camps based on their death toll estimates: the "illusion" school of Nanking Massacre deniers, the "great massacre" school which believes hundreds of thousands were killed, and the "middle-of-the-road" or "centrist" school which puts the number in the tens of thousands. When I show them my party badge, they return the same way. As the Japanese approached, the Chinese army withdrew the bulk of its forces since Nanjing was not a defensible position. Beginning, I believe, on the 19th or 20th of December, burning was carried on regularly for six weeks. Official war journals and diaries were also published by Kaikosha, an organization of retired Japanese military veterans. [54] Sons were coerced in to rape their mothers, fathers were forced to rape their daughters, and brothers were forced to rape their sisters. A lesser debate rests on who among the dead to be included as "massacre victims". [21], Then in 1997 Kasahara formulated a definition between the two. Outside of . Due to multiple factors, death toll estimates vary from 40,000 to over 300,000, with rape cases ranging from 20,000 to over 80,000 cases. [20], The Nanjing garrison force set fire to buildings and houses in the areas close to Xiakuan to the north as well as in the environs of the eastern and southern city gates. Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Imperial Army marched from Shanghai to the Chinese capital city of Nanking, and though a large number of Chinese POWs and civilians were slaughtered by the Japanese following their entrance into Nanking on . The Nanking Safety Zone was demarcated through the use of Red Cross Flags.[25]. Rabe says that the ambassador also "sent us a separate confidential telegram telling us that he has been officially informed by the Foreign Ministry in Hankow that our understanding that General Tang agreed to a three-day armistice and the withdrawal of his troops from Nanjing is mistaken, and moreover that Chiang Kai-shek has announced that he is not in a position to accept such an offer." [183], In December 2007, the PRC government published the names of 13,000 people who were killed by Japanese troops in the Nanjing Massacre. 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