The Nanjing Massacre is not only the pain of the Chinese nation, but also the common memory of all mankind. Over the past few days, overseas Chinese around the world have held various forms of activities to mourn the massacre victims and call for peace.
A series of commemorative activities have been held by Japanese civil groups recently in various cities to mark the 81st anniversary of Nanjing Massacre.
Chang Xiaomei, daughter of a Nanjing Massacre survivor, shared her father's story at a testimony meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday at the invitation of a few local civil groups. About 100 people attended the meeting.
Chang's father Chang Zhiqiang saw with his own eyes how his parents and his four little brothers were brutally killed by the invading Japanese soldiers during the 1937 massacre.
Now 90 years old, he is not strong enough to come to Japan himself to tell the story, but he sent his daughter.
"I feel that I have a responsibility to share my father's story with the Japanese people. I hope that the younger generations of the Japanese people could also remember and learn from the history," said Chang Xiaomei.
Zhang Lianhong, a professor at Nanjing Normal University, presented to attendants of the testimony meeting some reports, films and historical materials recorded by witnesses of the massacre, including journalists, missionaries and diplomats from western countries.
"Since I came here, I have been talking to some Japanese people and attended five testimony meetings here. I was moved by the efforts in the past 20 years by some Japanese people and civil groups to hold events and reveal the war atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army. I really hope that Japanese government could reflect upon the history and promote friendship between our two countries," Zhang told Xinhua.
On December 9, a memorial service honoring the 81st anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre was held in San Francisco, California, USA. The event has been held in San Francisco for 22 consecutive years.
On the afternoon of the 10th, the ceremony of the National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims was held at the International Press Center in The Hague, the Netherlands. About 200 overseas Chinese, representatives of foreign students, Dutch political and businesspersons and people from all walks of life joined in the memorial.
On Dec. 13, 1937, the Japanese army bombed Nanjing and went on a murderous rampage through the city, then China's capital. The Nanjing Massacre, or Rape of Nanjing, was an episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing.
