What is the Nanjing Massacre?
Q: What is the Nanjing Massacre?
A: The Nanjing Massacre was a massacre (an unjust killing of many people) that happened in Nanjing, China, in December of 1937 and January of 1938. It was part of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which was the part of World War II between China and Japan. At the time, Japan was trying to take over China and Nanjing was the Chinese capital. The Japanese Army reached Nanjing on 13 December 1937 and began killing thousands upon thousands of men and boys and raping thousands upon thousands of women and girls.
Q: What are some examples of war crimes that occurred during this massacre?
A: Some examples of war crimes that occurred during this massacre include soldiers without weapons being killed; people who were not soldiers being killed; many being tortured (hurt very badly), mutilated (hurt ways that can never be fixed), or killed in very cruel ways; many being raped (forced to have sex) or forced to work and treated like things. We have orders from the soldier's leaders telling them to do these kinds of things and not to follow rules against them.
Q: Is it true that fighting in other places during other wars were just as bad as what happened at the Nanjing Massacre?
A: No, it is not true that fighting in other places during other wars were just as bad as what happened at the Nanjing Massacre. There is a lot evidence from Chinese sources, outsiders who were there, outsiders who have studied it, and even from Japanese sources showing that things were much worse than elsewhere at this time.
Q: How has memory surrounding this event affected relations between China and Japan today?
A: The memory surrounding this event—and anger at attempts to deny its occurrence or honor those responsible for it through visits to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine—still causes difficulty between the Chinese government with its Japanese counterpart as well as between Chinese citizens with their Japanese counterparts today.
Q: Was there an attempt by anyone involved with this event to wipe out an entire group of people?
A: Yes, some believe there may have been an attempt by those involved with this event to wipe out an entire group people - known as genocide - due how severe it was.
Q: Who led the attack on Nanjing?
A: The attack on Nanjing was led by members of Japan's army who had reached it on 13th December 1937 before beginning their campaign against civilians living there including mass killings amongst men & boys alongside rapes amongst women & girls.
