New evidence of Nanjing Massacre donated to memorial hall

NANJING, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Historical materials were donated to a Chinese memorial hall as new evidence of war crimes related to the 1937 Nanjing Massacre perpetrated by the invading Japanese troops.

A total of 98 items including a soldier's document and newspapers carrying articles and photos about Japanese atrocities were donated by an American-Chinese named Lu Zhaoning to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, on Wednesday.

On Dec. 13, 1937, the Japanese troops captured Nanjing. In the following six weeks, they slaughtered more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of WWII, known as the Nanjing Massacre.

The soldier's document is a booklet detailing his experience in China, starting from January 1937 when he was enlisted. According to the booklet, he took part in the battle invading Nanjing between Nov. 19 and Dec. 14, and then he was posted near the city until Dec. 21.

According to Wang Weixing, a research fellow with the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, the soldier belonged to the Japanese Army's Sixth Division headed by war criminal Hisao Tani, and was one of the troops that invaded Nanjing and committed the mass murders, rapes, plunders and destruction of property.

An English newspaper The China Press, published on October 10, 1937, carried pictures of a group of foreign photographers. They were capturing images of Japanese aircraft bombing the Nanjing city wall.

The New York Times on January 25, 1938 had a front-page story about the lasting chaos after the Japanese army occupied Nanjing, while two copies of a French newspaper, published on September 11, 1937 and July 29, 1939, respectively, showed photos of Japanese aircraft bombing Shanghai and Chinese police searching for bodies in the debris.

Lu Zhaoning, who was born in Nanjing, has been collecting historical materials for the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders since 2004. This is his 16th donation to the memorial hall, which brings the number of his donated items to more than 2,300.

"The tragic event has become history, but we Chinese people must never forget it," he said at the donation ceremony. "There is no end to my donation."

"The Nanjing Massacre is one of the most tragic pages of human history," said Zhou Feng, curator of the memorial hall.

"In order to protect the historical memory together, our international friends and Chinese people both in China and abroad have spent years in collecting historical materials. The memorial hall will preserve and fully utilize the collection as evidence of the history to safeguard peace, " Zhou added.

The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders now has a collection of about 192,700 items.