Rape of NAnking

The Rape of Nanking A hole in our historical memory has been filled by Iris Chang’s new book, which gives us a detailed, documented account of the events, which took place from December 1937 to January 1938 known as the Rape of Nanking. Following the fall of the city of Nanjing, the capital of Nationalist China, to the Japanese on December 13, 1937, the Imperial Army went on a killing spree, slaughtering over 300,000 of the city’s residents. …

…Japanese atrocities have been given prominence in war memorials (for instance in Shenyang, Beijing, and of course, in Nanjing itself) in the form of photographs, diorama reconstruction (in some cases with animated models) and paintings. But whatever the political maneuverings of those who have attempted to co-opt the historical legacy of the events in Nanjing, the fact of the Rape remains. Iris Chang’s book is a moving and important documentation of a great darkness.