The Rape of Nanking, other wise known as the Nanking Massacre, is one of the greatest (or worst) war crimes in history. It is arguable whether or not the Japanese soldiers went crazy during the war, but whatever the cause, the event was horrifying.
In 1928, China was at war with Japan. In November, Japanese troops conquered Shanghai and then continued to take over the capital at that time: Nanking. Nanking had the population of about one million people. Originally, there were only three hundred thousand people, but the city was overrun with refugees who were trying to escape the war. Unfortunately, they were heading in the wrong direction.
As the Japanese were on their way to Nanking, the Chinese became desperate and they began their “Scorched – Earth Policy,” This was a moronic attempt to delay the Japanese from entering the city and to stop the “conquerors” from getting anything useful. The troops burned everything all around the city from trees to mansion, burning down entire villages. Even inside the city, they burned edifices such as the Ministry of Communication, the most ornate edifice of the city, which was burned on Dec. 12; two days after the siege began.
On Dec. 10, Japanese troops began to bomb the city of about four bombs per minute. Archibald Steele and four others were the only foreign journalists to have witnessed the beginning of the massacre. General Tang Sheng-chi, the defense commander said, on that day, that the he would defend Nanking “to the bitter end”: a lie. Two days later, Sheng-chi ordered his men to retreat at 5 pm. Chinese soldiers looted and disguised themselves as civilians. Thousands of soldiers and civilians started to run towards Xiaguan riverfront, the only way out of the city. The Chinese Army fired the people running to the wharf. And worse still, there were only a few boats to carry people across. Some people tried to swim, but they drowned.
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On Dec. 13, the Japanese entered the city through the Zhongshan Gate and made a ceremonial entrance. Chinese felt relief with their entrance, because they believed that the Japanese wouldn’t be as bad as what the Chinese Army was doing to them. On the contrary, the Japanese were mortiferous. As Frank Tillman Durdin wrote in the New York Times, on Dec. 18: “ Any person who ran because of fear or excitement was likely to be killed on the spot… Mass executions of war prisoners added to the horrors… the Japanese combed the city for men in civilian garb who were suspected of being former soldiers… in the refugee zone four hundred men were killed… a third of the Chinese Army was within the walls… many were killed where they were found, including men innocent of any army connection and many wounded soldiers and civilians… the only hospital open was the American managed University hospital and its facilities were inadequate… the Japanese appear to want the horrors to remain as long as possible, to impress on the Chinese the terrible results of resisting Japan.”
Some soldiers decided to stay inside the Safety Zone organized by the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone and the Red Cross led by John Rabe. Ironically, he was a Nazi, and was called “the living Buddha of Nanking.” These refugee camps would make the soldiers noncombatants. However, the Safety zones were only able to save a few.
Women were forced into prostitution, and many died of suicide, murder, or disease. At least 260,000 Chinese dead, and about 20,000 women were raped. Age didn’t matter: young boys and old men were killed, young girls and old women were raped. The Japanese still claim that the Massacre never occurred and they still haven’t apologized.
