Nanjing Massacre - Research Paper Example

Later, it was revealed that the Japanese soldiers were given clear orders: they had to kill and rape. In this context, Nanking become a symbol of extreme and unjustified military violence. The Nanjing Massacre is discussed in this paper. Particular emphasis is given on the reasons for which Nanjing Massacre has been considered as a forgotten holocaust of World War 2. Efforts are also made in order to explain why the Massacre is still in the spotlight 70 years after the crime was committed. It is proved that Nanjing Massacre has become a forgotten holocaust of the WW2 mostly because of the violence involved; if the Massacre has been kept at the first line of interest, then the chances for the improvement of relationships between China and Japan would be minimized.

Still, the Massacre has remained a spotlight despite the fact that 70 years have already passed; it is clear that the events of that period are still alive in the memory of many Chinese, but also of Japanese, as revealed in the primary sources (interviews), retrieved in regard to the particular event. The Nanjing Massacre has been an event that highly influenced the political choices in China; however, today that the relationship between China and Japan has been improved, the Nanjing Massacre may not be valuable in promoting national interests and priorities, at least at the level of political relations between the two countries.

People across China are still allowed to develop activities for remembering the Massacre, a fact that means that the Nanjing Massacre is still in the memory of Chinese people. Thus, the specific event should be further reviewed for understanding its characteristics as part of the WW2 and its importance in the context of the global history despite the fact that 70 years have already passed since the crime was committed. 2. Nanjing Massacre 2.1 Key points of the Massacre If the events related to the fall of Nanjing are carefully reviewed, it is made clear that the brutality developed in Nanjing has been unjustified.

In fact, the city has been fallen after the end of a continuous bombing, which lasted for about 6 months, from the 15th of August up to the 13th of December 1937 (Li 2003, p.119). It has been estimated that about 160 tons of bombs have been used during the 110 missions against Nanjing (Li 2003, p.119). All these months, people in Nanjing, especially foreigners, have tried to develop shelters to be better protected (Li 2003, p.119). After the fall of the city, in the 13th of December 1937 one of the worst periods for China began.

For about 6 to 8 weeks, up to March 1938 Japanese soldiers developed mass killings and rapes in Nanjing, an event known also as the rape of Nanjing (Li 2003, p.119). The entrance of Japanese troops in the city in the 13th of December of 1937 is considered as the starting point of the Massacre (Figure 1, below). The number of victims, mostly women and children, during the Massacre of Nanjing has been estimated to 250,000-300,000 (BBC News 2005). Minnie Vautrin, an American who was in Nanjing when the Massacre began, noted that ‘there probably is no crime that has not been committed in this city today’ (BBC News 2005).

Foreigners in Nanjing have been forced to leave the city, during the first days of the Massacre. This fact is highlighted in a report of Tillman Durdin, a journalist of New York Times, who were in Nanjing when t