by Xinhua writers Cheng Lu, Bai Xu and Qiu Bingqing
NANJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) — For 20 years, Chinese-American man Lu Zhaoning has made an annual pilgrimage virtually each December, touring from his house within the United States to his birthplace of Nanjing, a metropolis scarred by the horrors of World War II.
In his suitcase lie fragile relics — newspapers, photographs and letters — fragments of worldwide reminiscence that testify to the atrocities of Japanese invaders in China, together with the Nanjing Massacre, one of many warfare’s darkest chapters.
The atrocities started on Dec. 13, 1937, when Japanese troops captured the then-Chinese capital, unleashing six weeks of devastation that claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000 civilians and unarmed troopers.
“With each passing day, history slips further away,” the 60-year-old advised Xinhua. “Artifacts are vanishing under the weight of time. It’s my duty to safeguard these stories and ensure they’re never forgotten.”
GLOBAL GUARDIANS OF HISTORY
Chinese-American creator Iris Chang revealed her e-book “The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II” in 1997, giving the Western world a glimpse of what occurred in China that chilly winter.
“She was deeply distressed by the hardships of the survivors, many of whom carried lifelong physical and emotional scars,” stated Yang Xiaming, a translator for the late creator throughout her 20-day analysis journey to Nanjing.
“She even expressed a desire to study law and fight for their rights,” Yang recalled.
Chang’s bestseller introduced widespread international consideration to the bloodbath, inspiring many like Lu Zhaoning to delve deeper into this darkish chapter in historical past.
When Lu’s household immigrated to the United States in 1980, he was 16 and infrequently mentioned the subject. But a deeper exploration revealed a household tragedy: his grandfather’s brother was bayoneted to demise by Japanese troops. His title now stands amongst over 10,660 others on the “wailing wall” exterior the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.
Over the a long time, Lu has donated greater than 3,000 artifacts and supplies to museums and establishments. Among his most treasured items are a Japanese veteran’s log detailing how Chinese troopers had been burned alive on a mountain, and a photograph, snapped by an American, exhibiting three youngsters mendacity lifeless on a Nanjing avenue after a bombing raid.
“I spent about four hours a day browsing websites, hunting for historical materials, and joining auctions,” stated Lu, a retired building inspector from a New York-based energy firm. “Sometimes I had to stop. I feared I’d be consumed by despair.”
What offers Lu reassurance is China’s dedication to preserving the reminiscence of the bloodbath at a nationwide degree.
In 2014, China’s high legislature designated Dec. 13 because the nationwide memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre. Decades earlier, the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders opened in 1985.
With over 194,000 cultural relics, the corridor stands as a reminder of historical past, internet hosting the annual nationwide memorial ceremony and drawing round 5 million guests yearly. It has additionally organized educational conferences and exhibitions in nations such because the United States, Japan and France, in keeping with former curator Zhu Chengshan.
Thomas Rabe, grandson of German businessman John Rabe, is amongst these dedicated to preserving this historical past. During the bloodbath, the elder Rabe joined different foreigners to determine a world security zone, saving over 250,000 Chinese lives. His diaries stay probably the most complete historic information of the atrocity.
Thomas Rabe donated the unique manuscripts of his grandfather’s Nanjing diaries to China’s National Archives Administration. He additionally authored the e-book “Rabe and China,” and alongside his spouse, established six John Rabe Communication Centers worldwide.
Thousands of kilometers away in Melbourne, Australia, 66-year-old photographer Chris Magee is on the same mission. His grandfather John Magee, an American missionary, covertly recorded 105 minutes of footage documenting the barbarity of Japanese invaders in Nanjing. This footage is regarded as the one movie document of the bloodbath.
Chris Magee’s connection to this legacy deepened throughout his first go to to Nanjing for the documentary “The Girl and the Picture.” The movie, which tells the story of Xia Shuqin, one of many 32 registered survivors of the Nanjing Massacre nonetheless alive, earned a number of awards at American movie festivals.
Magee has since visited Nanjing a number of instances, retracing his grandfather’s footsteps and capturing the transformation of the town by his personal lens.
“It is important to remember the history,” he stated in an e mail to Xinhua. “Otherwise, it will keep repeating, as we have seen and still see today.”
A FORGOTTEN CHAPTER
Many imagine the Nanjing Massacre stays much less acknowledged within the West in comparison with different WW II atrocities. It wasn’t till 2015 — 78 years after the occasion — that its information had been inscribed into UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. In distinction, Poland’s Auschwitz focus camp gained UNESCO World Heritage standing as early as 1979.
Chris Magee recalled taking a Chinese historical past course in highschool within the United States the place the bloodbath was not talked about within the textbooks. “People around me are generally unaware of the massacre unless they are friends who know my family history,” he stated.
John Rabe’s great-grandson, Christoph Reinhardt, noticed the same disparity, saying that though Chinese guests usually go away flowers at Rabe’s grave, he stays comparatively unknown in Europe.
“Nanjing doesn’t make headlines in Europe, and John Rabe is not a well-known hero here,” Reinhardt advised Xinhua. “Western media companies are, to this day, heavily influenced by American perspectives. There was no room for news from China.”
“China was the first country to face the onslaught from the Axis Powers in 1937, two years before Britain and France, and four years before the United States,” wrote British historian Rana Mitter in his e-book “Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937-1945.”
Historians and consultants argue that Western narratives usually downplay China’s position throughout World War II, whereas Japanese right-wing forces have proven no regret for his or her nation’s wartime actions and infrequently try and whitewash its warfare crimes.
Chinese author Yang Xiaoyan advocates for visible storytelling to boost consciousness. “Films like ‘Schindler’s List’ raised global awareness of the Holocaust. We need similarly powerful narratives about the Nanjing Massacre,” she stated.
Her view is echoed by Marcin Tomasz Damek, a Polish scholar who research Chinese historical past in Nanjing. He advocates leveraging new media and brief movies to make the Nanjing Massacre identified by youthful audiences, and connecting Nanjing’s story with broader narratives to construct a world understanding.
When requested why it stays essential to recollect the bloodbath, he stated: “For communities, it’s a way to heal trauma. For historians, it’s about knowing better the past. For educators, it’s an essential lesson to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies.”
Lu Zhaoning takes satisfaction in serving to even one in every of his American colleagues or his barber perceive what occurred 87 years in the past in a metropolis over 11,000 kilometers away.
“It’s not about fostering hatred,” he stated. “It’s about helping everyone realize how invaluable peace truly is.”
(Xinhua reporters Chu Yi, Jiang Fang, Jiang Wenxi and intern Tang Min’an additionally contribute to the story.)