Young Frenchman holds photo exhibition on Japanese invasion of China in Tokyo

Marcus Detrez looks at the photos during the photo exhibition in Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 29, 2025. (Xinhua/Hu Xiaoge)

Young Frenchman Marcus Detrez recently held a photo exhibition in Tokyo, showcasing dozens of photocopies and some originals of historical photographs documenting the atrocities committed by the Japanese imperial army during its invasion of China, such as bombing Shanghai and massacring civilians.

"My family, like millions of families in China, suffered greatly at the hands of Japanese militarism," Detrez said, noting the exhibition, showcasing rare historical photos that had belonged to his grandfather, Roger-Pierre Laurens, who lived in east China's Shanghai in the 1930s, aims to provide "Western civilian testimony to the history of Japan's invasion of China."

The 26-year-old, an English teacher in France, found the images in his grandfather's garage in 2021. For Detrez, this exhibition was not only a pursuit of family memories but also a steadfast adherence to historical truth.

At the exhibition, pointing to a photograph titled "Life Destroyed by War," Detrez told Xinhua that "This was the first photo I saw when I opened the suitcase filled with these pictures; the horrific scene is shocking."

Detrez said he had donated 618 images, taken and collected by his grandfather, to the Shanghai Songhu Memorial Hall for the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in August this year.

Many of the photos, identified as having been taken between the 1930s and 1950s, document the Battle of Songhu in 1937. The Shanghai Songhu Memorial Hall has incorporated these historical photos into its permanent collection.

These photos document the atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders against Chinese civilians and are of great historical value in the research of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.