The Rape of Nanking (Nanjing Massacre) Blog

December 1937, Nanking, China. Five of the fifteen members of the Nanking Safety Zone . O n Christmas Eve 1937, Reverend John Magee stood in his chapel in Nanjing, China, preparing to deliver a Christmas sermon to a congregation of terrified refugees. Outside, Japanese soldiers continued their rampage through the city—murdering, raping, and looting. The traditional Christmas message of "Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men" had never seemed more grotesquely inappropriate, yet

Japanese soldiers engaged in battle in front of a large Coca-Cola ad on North Sichuan Road The Japanese military expected Shanghai to fall in three days. Instead, Chinese forces held out for three months in savage urban combat that cost Japan over 40,000 casualties. When the Imperial Army finally broke through and marched toward Nanjing in late November 1937, they carried with them a rage born from humiliation, unexpected losses, and shattered illusions of racial superiority.

Life Magazine, May 16, 1938, published Fitch's photographs and excerpts from his written accounts of 'The Rape of Nanking.' I n February...