The Nanking Massacre, or as it has also been called, the Rape of Nanking, is a time in world history when humanity was lost. The unspeakable atrocities that occurred during those grueling six weeks have forever scared a generation of Chinese men and women. The vile acts that were carried out are beyond reproach. However, while the Massacre of Nanking has many names, few people nowadays know what occurred.

When the Imperial Japanese Army took control of Nanking ( at the time the capital of China), in 1937, their orders were made clear to them: kill all captive soldiers. This was due to the Japanese view that soldiers who surrender deserve to be punished for the dishonorable act of surrendering to escape death. Many Japanese soldiers were encouraged by their superiors to inflict as much pain on their prisoners of war as possible. Filmed footage documented soldiers committing inhumane acts such as practicing bayonet skills on live prisoners, beheading both living and dead prisoners, and mutilating corpses. Many pictures showed soldiers proudly looking on a pile of heads as if they were souvenirs.

However, this would only be the beginning. Once the Army was done destroying the prisoners of war without so much as the bat of an eye, they moved on to the mass raping and torture of Nanking's women. The Imperial Army would go on to rape little girls as young as eight years old. They would capture women and girls and force them into sexual slavery. No one would be spared. Pregnant women would be raped and then have their bellies cut open and their fetuses pulled out. In some instances, soldiers would break into a house with a family and force sons to rape their mothers and fathers to rape their daughters. Many women were killed so that they could not tell their tales or committed suicide rather than having to live with the shame of having been raped

Many soldiers would kill indiscriminately and loot the city at all hours. All sorts of violent crimes were on display but none were worse than the rapes and the killing contests that were not only on display for the Chinese who lived in Nanking, but also for the foreign citizens resident in Nanking. As a reaction to the violence, these foreigners formed a coalition, ironically headed by a Nazi party member, and established the Nanking safety zone. It is estimated that the Nanking safety zone saved around 250,000 Nanking citizens. While those who were in Nanking did the best they could do for the people, it wasn't like Nazi Germany were similar war crimes were covered up. On the contrary, the killing contest was advertised and many of the vile acts were detailed in newspapers around the world. Yet, our failure to act on the atrocities is what will define the Nanking massacre. Even to this day, Japanese authorities still have not issued an official apology, any form of reparations, or even a simple acknowledgment that what happened to the people of Nanking was immoral and that the blame rests solely on the Japanese government and its people.

Text by Erik I. Perez Renovato