TOKYO, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) — Young Frenchman Marcus Detrez lately held a photograph exhibition in Tokyo, showcasing dozens of photocopies and a few originals of historic pictures documenting the atrocities dedicated by the Japanese imperial military throughout its invasion of China, equivalent to bombing Shanghai and massacring civilians.
“My family, like millions of families in China, suffered greatly at the hands of Japanese militarism,” Detrez mentioned, noting the exhibition, showcasing uncommon historic pictures that had belonged to his grandfather, Roger-Pierre Laurens, who lived in east China’s Shanghai within the Nineteen Thirties, goals to supply “Western civilian testimony to the history of Japan’s invasion of China.”
The 26-year-old, an English instructor in France, discovered the photographs in his grandfather’s storage in 2021. For Detrez, this exhibition was not solely a pursuit of household recollections but in addition a steadfast adherence to historic reality.
At the exhibition, pointing to {a photograph} titled “Life Destroyed by War,” Detrez instructed Xinhua that “This was the first photo I saw when I opened the suitcase filled with these pictures; the horrific scene is shocking.”
Detrez mentioned he had donated 618 photographs, taken and picked up by his grandfather, to the Shanghai Songhu Memorial Hall for the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in August this 12 months.
Many of the pictures, recognized as having been taken between the Nineteen Thirties and Fifties, doc the Battle of Songhu in 1937. The Shanghai Songhu Memorial Hall has included these historic pictures into its everlasting assortment.
These pictures doc the atrocities dedicated by the Japanese invaders in opposition to Chinese civilians and are of nice historic worth within the analysis of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance in opposition to Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
The Tokyo exhibition was collectively curated by Detrez and his buddies Zhong Haosong and Bastien Ratat. Detrez mentioned that from donating the pictures to China to having the exhibition in Japan, they not solely confronted unjust accusations from some Western media but in addition encountered obstruction from sure forces inside Japan.
“Most Japanese textbooks conceal or deliberately downplay the history of the invasion of China. We hope that this exhibition will help the Japanese people understand the truth of history,” Detrez mentioned.
“With the rise of far-right forces in Japanese society, we hope to awaken the conscience of more Japanese people through these rare images,” mentioned Zhong, including that these pictures taken by Laurens, which provide a third-person perspective, will help the youthful technology in Japan objectively perceive the crimes dedicated by Japanese militarism in Asian nations, thereby conveying the idea in peace.
Yaguchi, a Japanese customer on the exhibition, lingered for a very long time in entrance of a photograph documenting the destruction of Nanjing Road in Shanghai by the invading Japanese troops. “The scene of billowing black smoke in the photo makes one deeply aware of Japan’s history of aggression. Japanese textbooks are compiled in accordance with the government’s guidelines, so I think Japanese people should more frequently attend such exhibitions to gradually elevate their historical perspective to a more international level,” he mentioned.
Yokichi Kobayashi, son of a Japanese veteran of the Eighth Route Army, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, mentioned: “This exhibition is extremely valuable. It truly documents the atrocities committed by the Japanese army and the dire situation of the Chinese people at that time. Seeing these images, one can’t help but recall the Battle of Songhu. At that time, the Japanese government and many Japanese people believed that China was a disorganized mess and could be completely occupied within three months, but history proved them wrong.”
Zhao Linshan, director of the Chinese World War II movie 731, often known as Evil Unbound, mentioned, “Seeing these photos filled me with grief and anger. Like Marcus, I have a responsibility to let more people around the world know the truth of history.”
After the exhibition in Tokyo, Detrez and his buddies plan to proceed holding associated exhibitions in different Asian nations, Europe, and the United States.