The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Museum held on Tuesday its first family mourning this year for the massacre victims.
Xia Shuqin, Ai Yiying, Ge Daorong and Ma Tingbao, survivors of the Nanjing Massacre,stood in front of the name wall of the Nanjing Massacre victims to commemorate their relatives who were killed 82 years ago by the invading Japanese troops. They were joined by representatives of the survivors, and family members of the victims.
Tao Xiuhua, daughter of Zhou Wanrong, also arrived at the memorial hall for the family mourning. Zhou was identified as a massacre victim last month.
Tao Xiuhua, Zhou Wanrong’s daughter
I have seen my father’s name on the wall
Fallen leaves have returned to the roots
Wang Qing, grand-son-in-law of a massacre victim
We must restore the historical truth
so that more people will know about
this part of the history
and unite all the righteous people
to stop war from happening again
During the Japanese occupation of China, an estimated 30 million Chinese were killed. In the Nanking Massacre, at least 369,366 people were slaughtered and 80,000 women were raped by Japanese invasion troops.
The horror began on the morning of December 13,1937 when the Japanese Imperial Army captured Nanjing, which was then China's capital. Soldiers went through the streets indiscriminately killing Chinese men, women, and children without apparent provocation or excuse until in places the streets and alleys were littered with the bodies of their victims.
To mourn victims of the massacre, and bring to the forefront war crimes of the Japanese army, China set December 13th as a national memorial day. More than remembering Nanjing, the date is also a reminder of the calamities of war, and Chinese people’s tenacity for peace and safeguarding human dignity.
(Source:ourjiangsu.com)
