Nanjing Massacre

Nanjing Massacre

(A Japanese Soldier pictured with the Corpses of Chinese Civilians by the Qinhuai River.)

The Nanjing Massacre (also known as the Rape of Nanjing) was the mass rape and murder of Chinese Men, Women and Children by the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The Second Sino-Japanese War began on July 7, 1937 and was fought between the Chinese and the Japanese (the Soviets, British and Americans entered on the side of China after the Japanese attacked them in 1941.)

Nanjing was made the Capital of the Republic of China in 1912 and so was a major target for the Japanese.

The Battle of Nanjing took place from November 11 – December 13, 1937.

Before the Battle Nanjing had a Population of 1 Million People (that was the number officially registered in the City and doesn’t include all the Refugees fleeing into the City from the Japanese.)

The Nanking Safety Zone (a demilitarized zone for Refugees) was set-up on November 22, 1937 by John Rabe.

John Rabe was a Member of the German Nazi Party (Nazi Germany was allied with Imperial Japan) and had been in China working for Siemens since 1910.

Chiang Kai-shek (Head of the Nationalist Chinese Government from 1925-1948 and then the 1st President of the Republic of China or Taiwan from 1948 -1975) and his Wife Soong Mei-ling, fled Nanjing on December 7, 1937.

The Chinese Capital was moved from Nanjing to Hankou and Nanjing fell to the Japanese on December 13, 1937.

Japanese Prince Yasuhiko Asaka, the Commander of the Nanjing Campaign issued an order to his Troops to “Kill all Captives.”

The Japanese Military went into Nanjing and immediately began raping and killing every Chinese Men, Women and Child they found.

Oftentimes the Japanese Soldiers (including Officers) would hold contests on how many Civilians a Soldier could rape or murder or both in a certain amount of time.

The Japanese Soldiers liked to save their bullets and so oftentimes bayoneted or doused with fire the Civilians to death.

After raping Women, Girls and sometimes even Men and Boys the Japanese would mutilate their bodies to death with bamboo sticks.

American Correspondent Edgar Snow reported that a 15 year old Chinese Girl was locked naked in a Barracks housing 300 Japanese Soldiers and raped multiple times daily.

The Rape and Murder in Nanjing only stopped when a Japanese-Puppet Chinese Government took over the City in January 1938.

340,000 Chinese Men, Women and Children were murdered by the Japanese during the Nanjing Massacre.

At least 80,000 Chinese Women and Girls were raped by the Japanese Soldiers in Nanjing.

250,000 Chinese Men, Women and Children were saved by John Rabe in Nanjing.

Nanjing was occupied by the Japanese until the end of World War 2 in August 1945.

(John Rabe)

John Rabe left China on February 23, 1938 and returned to Nazi Germany where he tried to warn Hitler what the Japanese were doing to the Chinese.

He was imprisoned by the Nazis (who were Allies with the Japanese) and only Influence from the Siemens Company got him released.

Rabe was arrested by both the Soviets and then the British after the War, but released.

Since he was a Member of the Nazi Party he had to undergo Denazification (German: Entnazifizierung) and was officially declared “De-Nazified” by the British on July 3, 1946.

His Family, having used all their Savings on the Legal Proceeding, was now living in Poverty.

In 1948 (during the Chinese Civil War) the Residents of Nanjing learned of Rabe’s Poverty and raised $2,000 US Dollars  ($27,000 US Dollars in 2026) to help him and his Family.

John Rabe died of a Stroke on January 5, 1950 in West Berlin, West Germany (Present-Day: Berlin, Germany.)

In 2005, Rabe's Former Residence in Nanjing, the John Rabe House, was restored to its former state.

It houses the John Rabe and International Safety Zone Memorial Hall.

(The Cross at the Memorial Hall in Nanjing, China displaying the estimated duration and death toll of the Nanjing Massacre.)

The Nanjing Massacre was widely publicized while it was happening as well as taught in Schools in the Republic of China (Taiwan) while little mention of the Massacre occupied in the People’s Republic of China (Communist China) until after Mao Zedong died.

After Japan's Defeat in World War 2, American General Douglas MacArthur granted Immunity to the Japan’s Imperial Family.

As a result, Prince Asaka was never tried for his involvement in the Nanjing Massacre. He and his Family were stripped of their Imperial Status in 1947 and he died in 1981.

When Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration and surrendered in August 1945, Japan officially acknowledged the War of Aggression and the Nanjing Massacre committed by the Japanese Military.

Despite that, there continues to be widespread Nanjing Massacre Denial in Japan.