75th Anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre of 1937

This past week marked the 75th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre of 1937, a six-week period of pass murder and destruction following the capture of the city of Nanjing (Nanking) during the Second Sino-Japanese War. On December 13, the 6th and 16th Divisions of the Japanese Army entered the city' s Zhongshan and Pacific Gates. 

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed Chinese soldiers were murdered by soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army. This included widespread rape and looting. Historians estimate that 250,000 to 300,000 were killed. Key leaders of the atrocities were tried and found guilty at the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal. 

We feature a number of learning resources all can access online. 

Modern History Sourcebook Fordham University: Nanking Massacre. 

The Nanking Massacre project of Yale University. A digital archive of documents and photographs.

Online Documentary: The Nanking Atrocities

Genderside Watch: Case Study: The Nanjing Massacre, 1937-1938.

The Straits Times of Singapore: China Marks Nanjing Massacre. 

BBC: Scarred by history: The Rape of Nanjing

China Daily USA: 'We must never forget the history'


Nanjing Massacre book to be released: China Daily USA. Bu Ping, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said their endeavor is important. "The Nanjing Massacre is now deeply associated with politics, people's emotions and different academic views. But this compilation has revealed the must-know basics. Their efforts are much appreciated," Bu said.


*We offer this item, the first story to appear to Hawaii's citizens and residents:

Honolulu Advertiser: December 24, 1937

Tell Horrors of Nanking Conquest

(United Press by Radio)

HANKOW, Saturday, Dec. 25- An official Chinese statement today confirmed Nanking reports of mass killings of civilians following the occupation of the city by Nipponese troops. 

The statement also confirmed reports that the Japanese invaded the refugee zone.

"The story of Japanese fury after their occupation of Nanking now slowly being pieced together from authentic foreign and Chinese sources, reveals a record of horror and shame which will remain one of the darkest and bloodiest pages in the history of Japanese aggression," the official statement declared. 

The Chinese statement said incidents in connection with the occupation of Nanking were only a repetition of the devastation wreaked on the area between Shanghai and Sungkiang.

In denouncing the invader's actions the statement declared "Japan seeks to establish its new Chinese rulers in power by murdering their brethren."