Summary: The Rape Of Nanking

‘The Rape of Nanking’ by Iris Chang is a well-written account of what happened in Nanking, the capital city of the Nationalist China, when it fell to the Japanese hands during 1937. It was a tragic experience for the Chinese people and also for the foreigners who helped them. It also known as ‘The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II’ since there was voluminous murder that had happened that time. Not only the rape itself that is tackled in the book but also the denial of the Japanese about what happened. The true story was hidden for years until it was brought up by brave people, like Iris Chang, who earnestly studied the case and shared it to the public. The book was in detailed and there were also photographs of the incident. Approximately
Women are the ones who suffered the most. They were disemboweled after being raped, had their vaginas torn apart by knives, their breasts cut off, or were tied up and sometimes forced to endure sex with as many as 40 soldiers a night; some were nailed alive to walls; fathers were forced to rape their daughters, sons their mothers. In other activities some people were roasted alive; some hung by their tongues on iron hooks; some buried to their waists and attacked by German shepherds. There were also live burials used along with considerable mutilation. Some prisoners were nailed to wooden boards and run over by tanks; some tried to trees and then long strips of flesh were cut off of them; some were used as bayonet practice; some put into pits, covered with gasoline and then set on fire. There would also be "killing contests" in which Japanese soldiers competed to see who could behead the most Chinese prisoners. Leaflets were dropped by the Japanese telling the Chinese how well they would be treated if they would return to their homes; some did so and were killed as a result. Even the valiant efforts of Westerners in the "safety zone" were not enough to prevent some of the people within the zone itself from being taken and killed by the
Since the minister of education declared that schools were run not for the benefit of the students but for the good of the country, militarism was enforced in Japanese schools. Elementary teachers were trained like military recruits with student-teachers housed in barracks and subjected to harsh discipline and indoctrination. They were trained to kill Chinese. It was commonplace for teachers to behave like sadistic drill sergeants, slapping children across the cheeks, hitting them with their fists, or bludgeoning them with bamboo or wooden swords. Students were forced to hold heavy objects, sit on their knees, stand barefoot in the snow, or run around the playground until they collapsed from exhaustion. There were certainly few visits to the schools by indignant or even concerned parents. I think these actions were influenced by their tradition wherein the Samurai ethic of Bushido, the way of the warrior, became the moral code for all Japanese citizens. For them, war is sacred in a way to glorify their God. They were taught that their emperor is an omnipotent God who is destined to rule the world and it was their duty to fight for Japan and conquer China. They believe that to die for the emperor is to live