The Rape of Nanking - The Forgotten Holocaust
While it is important that we remember the 6 million Jews who were slaughtered during the Holocaust, it is also important to shine a light on the many other crimes committed during World War II so that they are overshadowed by the Holocaust and forgotten. And amongst the several other atrocities carried out during the Second World War, none of them have gone quite as unnoticed as the Rape of Nanking.
During World War II, the Chinese forces retreated from Nanking, the then-capital of China, in an attempt to tire out the Japanese military's limited resources. While this may have been an effective military strategy, it also left Nanking at the complete mercy of the Japanese.
In just four short days, the Japanese were able to gain complete control of the city before devastating Nanking and its people. The first course of action was to kill all the surrendered soldiers who had been left behind to protect the city. The methods of execution included simple machine gun fire, burning the soldiers alive, and conducting bayonet practice on the live prisoners. Some soldiers were also decapitated and had their heads kept as souvenirs by the Japanese.
Once the soldiers were dealt with, the Japanese turned their attention to the rest of the city. Crowds of
civilians were shot upon at random until the roads were dyed red with blood. Stores were looted
before being set on fire with dozens of people locked inside. Some civilians were even forced outside the city to dig their own graves - massive holes where the decapitated corpses would be tossed. In many cases, civilians were forced to bury other civilians alive.
Women were not spared either. It is estimated that between 20,000 to 80,000 women were raped during the massacre before being killed to eliminate any potential witnesses. The sexual abuse wasn't just committed by the Japanese, however. Oftentimes when the soldiers found a full family of civilians, they forced the males in the family to rape the females. Husbands raped their wives, brothers raped their sisters, all while the rest of the family was forced to watch.
The Rape of Nanking lasted from mid-December 1837 to early-February 1838, leaving destruction that took decades to recover from. Over the course of the six-week massacre, an estimated 300,000 people were murdered, meaning one person was killed every 12 seconds.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/nanking.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/nanjing-massacre
During World War II, the Chinese forces retreated from Nanking, the then-capital of China, in an attempt to tire out the Japanese military's limited resources. While this may have been an effective military strategy, it also left Nanking at the complete mercy of the Japanese.
Once the soldiers were dealt with, the Japanese turned their attention to the rest of the city. Crowds of
civilians were shot upon at random until the roads were dyed red with blood. Stores were looted
Women were not spared either. It is estimated that between 20,000 to 80,000 women were raped during the massacre before being killed to eliminate any potential witnesses. The sexual abuse wasn't just committed by the Japanese, however. Oftentimes when the soldiers found a full family of civilians, they forced the males in the family to rape the females. Husbands raped their wives, brothers raped their sisters, all while the rest of the family was forced to watch.
The Rape of Nanking lasted from mid-December 1837 to early-February 1838, leaving destruction that took decades to recover from. Over the course of the six-week massacre, an estimated 300,000 people were murdered, meaning one person was killed every 12 seconds.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/nanking.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/nanjing-massacre
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