The Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese Invaders held a memorial ceremony Thursday morning for three Nanjing Massacre survivors who passed away recently. The death of Wang Xiuying, Zhao Jinhua and Chen Guangshun recently has reduced the number of existing massacre survivors to less than 100.
As the candle lights went out, the photos of the three survivors looked bleak on the wall of the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Museum.
Wang Xiuying, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, passed away. She was 93. Wang was 12 years old when the Nanjing Massacre took place. Her uncle and cousin were taken away by the Japanese army and killed.
In the early morning of December 2, Zhao Jinhua, another massacre survivor, passed away. She was 94. Zhao was 13 years old when she witnessed the Japanese atrocities. This painful past had always haunted the elder as a pain that she was most unwilling to touch.
In the early morning of December 3, Chen Guangshun, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, passed away. She was 94.
The death of the three elders has reduced the number of existing Nanjing Massacre survivors to less than 100.
Japanese troops captured Nanjing, then China’s capital, on Dec 13 of 1937 and started a campaign of slaughter lasting more than a month. More than 300,000 unarmed Chinese soldiers and civilians were murdered and over 20,000 women were raped.
In China the Nanjing Massacre is seen as the lowest point of an era in which the country was bullied and humiliated by foreign powers. In February 2014, China's top legislature designated December 13 as the national Memorial Day for victims of the Nanjing Massacre.
(Source: ourjiangsu.com)
