The history of Nanjing was already somewhat covered in the last post (Nanjing). To set the stage for the Massacre by the Japanese:
The last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty held no power but was used as a puppet regime by the Japanese at the time of the Mukden incident. He signed resolutions dictated by the Japanese that created poverty conditions after the Massacre.
On September 18, 1931, an explosion destroyed a section of railway track near the city of Mukden. The Japanese, who owned the railway, blamed Chinese nationalists for the incident and used the opportunity to retaliate and invade Manchuria. However, others speculated that the bomb may have been planted by mid-level officers in the Japanese Army to provide a pretext for the subsequent military action. Within a few short months, the Japanese Army had overrun the region, having encountered next to no resistance from an untrained Chinese Army, and it went about consolidating its control on the resource-rich area. The Japanese declared the area to be the new autonomous state of Manchukuo, though the new nation was in fact under the control of the local Japanese Army.
By 1937, growing tensions with Japan were at a boiling point. Shanghai was captured and the Imperial Japanese Army invaded further inland and captured Nanjing in what is now known as the Nanjing Massacre (historically called the Nanking Massacre). The Nanjing government was evacuated to Chongqing and only left about 10% of the army to defend. Approximately 300,000 Nanking residents were killed, and large areas of the city were burned to the ground. This fact later would help the communist party to take control after the war and the capital was moved back to Beijing.
The Massacre is something we never learned about as a part of WWII. The Chinese army had surrendered at Nanjing and Japanese violated every article of War, capturing all those they believed to be soldiers and not only killing them but women and children as well. They created comfort hotels where women were raped repeatedly by Japanese soldiers. They also decapitated people and buried many alive. Two captains in the army made a bet as to who could bring more decapitated heads daily. It was quite brutal.
The museum was very solemn and powerful just like the holocaust museums I have visited. Many of the videos and the pictures were taken by expats who did not flee when the Japanese invaded. They had to hide the video evidence and smuggle video and photos out to be published by western media. Here is one such silent footage: https://youtu.be/xHPPwWfBxhM
The beginning of the museum had the pictures and names of all the survivors of the Massacre.
After some initial information about the start of the invasion and bombing there is a reconstructed bombed out house you walk through that was very powerful imaging.
Comparison of Japanese and Chinese forces. Though small in population, Japan had an extensive military complex.
The dark line is the city wall and the arrows were the movement of the Japanese to take control of all the city gates at once.
Leaders of the army ordered all that were captured to be disposed of.
The museum is built upon the mass grave that was dug to bury many who were massacred.
Decapitated heads were displayed jokingly.
Many who were captured were buried alive.
A monk being shot in the back of the head. Many who were not army were still shot because they could not provide whatever the Japanese soldiers demanded.
Japanese soldiers lining up at the comfort hotel where Chinese women were held and raped. Women were taken no matter age or condition.
These are the expats that stayed in Nanjing and used their businesses and universities to provide refuge to women and children. Many had to go to great lengths to keep them safe. They also snuggled evidence out to western media.
This is the result of the war crimes tribunal that sentenced some officers to death for inhumane tactics.
Iris Chang was an American writer who learned about the Massacre from her parents and also while in China researching her first book. She did in depth research and spoke to many people including survivors, the expats who were there, and even the Japanese.
Her delving deep into this history and speaking to survivors and family, confronting Japanese ambassadors who still do not apologize or make reparations led to her death by suicide at age 36.
