Zhu Chengshan, curator of the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre shows the Japanese flag that was used when Japanese troops marched into Nanjing, then the capital of China, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, on Dec. 11, 2008. [Xinhua]

The institution also received a Japanese flag. The flag, donated by a Japanese, was used when Iwane Matsui's troops marched into Nanjing, then the capital of China, on Dec. 17, 1937, according to records.

The Nanjing Massacre began immediately after Dec. 13, 1937 when the city fell to the Japanese Army. More than 300,000 Chinese were killed, one third of the city's buildings were burned and more than 20,000 women were raped in the infamous war crime.

"More than 400 massacre survivors are still alive, but most of them are over 80 and in poor health," said Zhu, who is also the deputy head of the Nanjing Massacre Survivors Aid Association, which was founded four years ago.

"The newly donated items are hard evidence" of the events, Zhu said. "We will preserve the items carefully and choose some for display in the Memorial Hall."

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2008)