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2013 December 11 - 17 [HISTORY]

Nanjing Massacre survivor talks about her experiences

In marking the 76th year of the so-called Nanjing Massacre committed by the Imperial Japanese Army, citizens’ groups held meetings to listen to a survivor’s story.

The meetings took place in Nagoya on December 13 and in Tokyo the following day. Wang Jin, an 82-year-old Chinese survivor, testified at the gatherings.

In December 1937, the Japanese military invaded Nanjing, the then capital of China, and occupied it. Over a period of two months, they indiscriminately killed a huge number of Chinese people, including civilians. The occupying army repeated brutal acts throughout the city such as arson, looting, and rapes.

Wang, then six, lived right outside Nanjing Castle with her family. Japanese soldiers set fire to Wang’s house and took away her father along with many neighbors. They were never to be seen again. Wang and her mother had a narrow escape by hiding in nearby grasslands.

“Men and women alike were carted off, assaulted or raped, and then killed by Japanese soldiers. When recalling those days, I still feel anger boiling up inside me,” she said sobbingly.