Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall - Nanjing Massacre

Nanjing Massacre

On December 13, 1937, the Japanese army occupied Nanjing (also referred to as Nanking)–then the capital city of the Republic of China. It is widely accepted that during the first six to eight weeks of their occupation, the Japanese army committed numerous atrocities, including rape, arson, looting, mass executions, and torture. There is, however, denial over the scale of the massacre, especially in Japan where a minor group of ultranationalistic negationists even go so far as to claim that the massacre never happened.

The Chinese government estimates that approximately 300,000 civilians and unarmed Chinese soldiers were brutally slaughtered. This estimate of "more than 300,000 dead" was made from burial records and eyewitness accounts by the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal and included in the verdict for Hisao Tani.

Corpses littered the streets and were seen afloat in rivers for weeks, and many structures in the city were burned down. Countless shops, stores, and residences were looted and sacked.

Japanese soldiers were also reported to have conducted killing competitions and bayonet practice using live Chinese prisoners. Approximately 20,000 cases of rape occurred within the city during the first month of the occupation, according to the "Judgement of the International Military Tribunal". Even children, the elderly, and nuns are reported to have suffered at the hands of the Imperial Japanese army.