Documents of Nanjing Massacre added to UNESCO's Memory of World Register
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E-mail Xinhua, October 10, 2015
Documents of Nanjing Massacre have been listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register on Friday.
The following are the 11 sets of files submitted, including film, photographs and text taken and written between 1937 and 1948.
Lasting over six weeks, from December 13, 1937 until January of 1938, the Nanjing Massacre saw the deaths of 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers after the city fell into the hands of the Japanese.
1. After the fall of Nanjing in December, 1937, Tsen Shui-fang took charge of the special committee of Jinling Women's College of Arts and Sciences, together with Minnie Vautrin and Chen Fei-rung (Francis Chen). She was responsible for the work of the safety zone on Jinling University Campus from 1937 to 1938.
Tsen Shui-fang's diary (Dec. 17,1937): The massacre had been going on for nearly a week. The Japanese army continued to round up, plunder, and rape on campus in the name of searching for Chinese soldiers. "Why should Chinese people suffer from such atrocities?" Tsen Shui-fang wrote.
2. American priest John Magee's original 16 mm films and related images that were shot during the massacre. Magee served as a member of the committee of the Nanking international safety zone and chairman of the Nanking committee of the international Red Cross organization.
A screenshot by John Magee: Bodies of Chinese civilians slaughtered by Japanese troops lying on the streets of Nanjing.
Scenes from a documentary by John Magee: Two women who were raped. The woman on the left was forcibly taken by Japanese soldiers to No. 6 Jianyin Lane, where she was forced to do washing during the day, and was raped at night. On Jan. 2, 1938, the woman survived a beheading attempt by Japanese soldiers. Later she was sent to Gulou Hospital for treatment. She was found to have 4 stab wounds and cuts on the neck and another stab wound in the wrist.
Report from mainstream Western media: In May 1938, American magazine Life published 10 photos by John Magee on the Nanjing Massacre.
3. Photos depicting Japanese atrocities (1938): During the massacre, the Japanese army took a lot of photos. In 1938, a Japanese second lieutenant took two rolls of films to local Huadong film studio for processing. Luo Jin, an apprentice at the studio, was shocked when he saw the prints of Japanese soldiers killing Chinese soldiers and civilians and raping Chinese women. He made extra prints and compiled an album of 16 selected pictures.
Consecutive shots of a Japanese soldier beheading China captive. Bodies of Chinese civilians slaughtered by Japanese troops lying on streets of Nanjing.
4. Photo album on Japanese atrocities submitted by Wu Xuan (Oct. 18, 1946): When the Chinese government began to collect evidence of atrocities for the trials of Japanese war criminals, Wu Xuan presented this photo album to the Nanjing provisional municipal council. The album was then presented to the war crimes tribunal of China's Defense Ministry, as "the photos, all taken by Japanese soldiers on the actual scenes of the atrocities, sufficiently served as indisputable evidence of Japan's war crimes."
5. The original copy of judgement of Hisao Tani (Mar. 10, 1947): The war crimes tribunal of the Defense Ministry established by the Chinese government put on trial in July 1946 class-B and class-C war criminals. They were extradited by the Chinese delegation in Japan as well as by Chinese courts across the country. The trial of Hisao Tani generated 11 volumes of archives.
The original copy of judgement of Hisao Tani (Mar. 10,1947): The war criminals tribunal brought in a verdict on Mar. 10, 1947. Hisao Tani was found guilty of instigating men under his command to stage general massacres of prisoners of war and non-combatants and to perpetrate such crimes as rape, plunder and wanton destruction of property, all violating the Hague regulations on land warfare and the convention relative to treatment of prisoners of war. Hisao Tani was sentenced to death.
6. Testimony by Miner Searle Bates (United States) (Feb. 6, 1947): Dr. Bates was a history professor of Nanjing University. During the massacre, he worked as a member of the committee of the Nanjing international safety zone. In his testimony, he gave detailed accounts of crimes committed by Japanese troops.
7. Testimony by Li Xiuying (Oct. 19, 1946): During the Nanjing Massacre, a pregnant woman named Li Xiuying took refuge in the International Safety Zone. On December 19, 1937, Japanese soldiers broke into the campus and killed many civilians. Li was stabbed 33 times and lost consciousness. John Magee took photos of the wounded woman as evidence. This set of files contained the war crime tribunal's summons, trial record, witness' affidavits and photos of Li's treatment at Gulou Hospital on Dec. 19, 1937.
8. The investigation form for enemy crimes during the Nanjing Massacre used by the investigation committee of the Nanjing provisional municipal council (July 27, 1946): After the war the Chinese government investigated Japanese war crimes. The form was filled in posthumously for a victim who was shot dead in an air-raid shelter in southern Nanjing. He was in his late 50s.
9. Evidence collected by the Nanjing War Criminals Tribunal: To collect evidence, the Nanjing war crimes tribunal and the Nanjing branch of the world Red Swastika society conducted excavations and examined the remains of the victims buried at Pude Temple outside Zhonghua Gate in January 1947.
10. Petitions submitted by Nanjing citizens on the Nanjing Massacre: After the war ended in August 1945, Nanjing provisional municipal council established the massacre investigation committee, which received public petitions on various war crimes committed by Japanese troops. The Nanjing committee for war damage investigations, along with the Nanjing committee for claim investigations, the police department, the metropolitan court and the war crimes tribunal of the Defense Ministry also received a great number of petitions. These petitions were be divided into different categories, ranging from injury and death claims and notices of missing persons to property losses of businesses, real estate, as well as religious and charity organizations.
A petition submitted by Xu Hongshi (Oct. 10, 1945): on Dec. 14, 1937, Xu's sister-in-law was raped and her brother stabbed to death. The family was totally dismantled. Xu tried to drown herself in a well, but was saved.
Petition submitted by Li Pengling and other representatives of the Xiaguan mosque (Nov. 6, 1945). During the massacre, the property as well as religious classics and books collected at the mosque were burned by Japanese soldiers.
11. A foreigner's diary: the occupation of Nanking -- an account by an eye witness. Endi
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