Only 65 survivors of Nanjing Massacre remain

Survivor of the Nanjing Massacre Xia Shuqin (front) attends the national memorial ceremony for the Nanjing Massacre victims at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Dec. 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

NANJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Seven survivors of the Nanjing Massacre have passed away this year, according to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.

Their deaths reduced the total number of registered survivors to 65, according to the memorial hall.

The Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops captured the city on Dec. 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed close to 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.

In 2014, China's top legislature designated Dec. 13 as the national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

The Chinese government has preserved the survivors' testimony, recorded in both written documents and video footage. These records of the massacre were listed by UNESCO in the Memory of the World Register in 2015.