World War II is still the undisputed king when it comes to the bloodiest and deadliest human conflicts in history. It was not just combatants that experienced the horrors of war though, for millions of civilians would be caught up in the crossfire, and those who were the most unfortunate fell victim to either Hitler’s “Final Solution” or Stalin’s Purges. While these two events go down in the history books as being the greatest tragedies of the war there is a third event which still lurks within the deep, dark bowels of history. Known to most as the Rape of Nanking, this event saw an estimated death count of 350,00 Chinese people. Unlike Hitler’s and Stalin’s acts against humanity, which took course over several years, the Rape of Nanking “was concentrated within a few weeks.” [1] Many scholars have finally begun the discussion on what happened at Nanking in the 1930s, offering a myriad of opinions and explanations. One of the most famous works, entitled The Rape of Nanking, is written by Iris Chang, a person who did not experience the Rape herself but grew up listening to stories told to her by her parents. The events at Nanking we seemingly forgotten and swept under the rug by the world until Chang took it upon herself to finally document the events of Nanking, almost 60 years after they took place. She utilizes documents from Japanese archives, interviews of Japanese soldiers, and photographs to depict the horrors which occurred at Nanking. Chang offers substantial evidence for the events at Nanking, as well as possible explanations as to why they took place.
One way in which Chang presents evidence for the events of Nanking is through words of veterans who were there. One veteran, Azuma Shiro, became the first Japanese veteran to publicly apologize for the atrocities he and his fellow soldiers committed. In his personal diary he wrote that “a pig is more valuable now than the life of a [Chinese] human being. That’s because a pig is edible,” showing that Japanese soldiers saw no value in the life of a Chinese.[2] Other people Chang references are John Magee, who was a minister in China, and Frank Tillman Durdin, a news reporter for the New York Times. Numerous times Japanese officials made claims that Durdin and Magee did not witness any sort of massacre take place in Nanking. While Magee was dead by the time of the accusations, his son quickly responded with press releases where he read from his father’s dairy pages which detail that “[t]here were dead bodies in every street and alley in the city, so far as I could tell,. . .” [3] Durdin himself printed numerous articles in the New York Times depicting what he saw and captured on camera. While many attempted to silence these men through intimidation tactics, in the end the truth about the horrors of Nanking would come out.
Possible explanations Chang gives as to why the Japanese could carry out these atrocities include “the transfer of oppression”, the Japanese inherent contempt for the Chinese people, and religion. [4] The transfer of oppression can be seen as a Japanese soldier’s way of venting his hatred for the abuses he suffered under his commanding officers during army training. After taking many abuses and beatings from his superiors the soldier was shipped off to a land which he believed himself of being superior to the natives. With this he could easily beat, maim, and kill those he deemed weaker and inferior to himself. The second explanation is the Japanese contempt for the Chinese. During their upbringing, the Japanese were taught they are superior to the Chinese, Koreans, and other Asian ethnicities. This can be seen clearly in the dairy entry made by Azuma Shiro, mentioned above, and his comparison between the Chinese and pigs. A third explanation as to why the Japanese could have carried out these acts against humanity is religion. The Japanese people believe that their Emperor is a divine being and superior to even that of the Christian God. The Emperor’s order’s were absolute, and any soldier who disobeyed was put to death. The Japanese saw themselves as racially superior to other Asians, and believed it was their sacred duty to unite Eastern Asia under Japanese leadership. While there may be other explanations and opinions as to how the Japanese could follow these types of orders, these three stand out as the most likely and well regarded.
The 20th century saw some of the bloodiest conflict in human history including both World Wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Modern warfare had been honed into a deadly and bloody point. Along with military conflicts we saw some of the worst acts against civilians and non-combatants including the Holocaust, Stalin’s Purges, the Armenian and Rwandan genocides, and the Rape of Nanking. The Rape of Nanking stands out among the crowd because little of it was documented and discussed until nearly 60 years after its occurrence. Iris Chang has provided us with one of the most well known pieces of non-fiction on the subject in her book, Rape of Nanking. She makes use of official documents, interviews with veterans, and photographs as evidence for her arguments. While many Japanese tried to censor and refute her claims, her work has opened the door for new research into the events which transpired at Nanking.
1. Iris Chang, The Rape of Nanking. 5
2. Ibid., 218.
3. Ibid., 202.
4. Ibid., 217.
It’s horrible that so much loss of life can be ignored by people. Chang’s article gave great insight into the horrible event as well as the motivation behind it. The 20th century was the bloodiest century and the events of the past should not be forgotten but be a learning experience. You did a great job on your post .