The Nanking Massacre

Forgotten History

The Beginnings

During the 1930’s, Japan gradually became a military dictatorship

Military officers revived samurai traditions and emphasized loyalty to the emperor, Hirohito

The samurai were ancient warriors who protected a wealthy landowner (lord)

“To die in the service of one’s lord was the greatest honor a samurai warrior could achieve in his lifetime.”

Cont’d

That quote will be seen in the way the Japanese fought in World War II - Kamikaze pilotsJapanese schools began to operate like miniature military units

Teachers instilled in boys hatred for the Chinese people, preparing them for a future invasion of the Chinese mainland

Cont’d

Japan also felt they had to rid Asia of Western imperialism1931, Japan invades and conquers Manchuria (province of China)1937, Japan goes on to conquer other parts of China; felt they had taken China just like Western powers had set up their colonies

The Forgotten Holocaust

December 13, 1937, Nanking fell to the Japanese

The Japanese soldiers plundered the town and its people, killing everyone in sight and raping as many as 80,000 Chinese women and children (That is more than twice the population of Crystal Lake)

Cont’d

Approximately 260,000 people were killed during this massacre (most were civilians)

What is more upsetting than the number of deaths is how these innocent people were killed

Japanese Practiced Death by all of the following:

Being soaked in gasoline and burned aliveLive burialMutilationIce (thrown into a near frozen lake)DogsAcidHanging people by their tonguesBayonetingThrowing babies into pots of boiling water

Have you ever heard of this before?

Why have you never heard of this/Why is it not in your textbooks?

1. You learn what some want you to learn!

2. Cold War - Japan was our only ally in Asia

3. U.S. pumped billions into rebuilding Japan after WWII

4. Some Japanese still think this never happened and the government has never accepted responsibility for it