The Rape Of Nanking Essay

Genocide in the 20th Century: The Rape of Nanking 1937-1938

Nanking Massacre or Nanjing Massacre also known as Rape of Nanking, was a mass murder, genocide and war rape that occurred during the six-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanjing (Nanking), the former capital of the Republic of China, on December 13, 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. During this period hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed soldiers were murdered and 20,00080,000 women were raped by soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army. The estimation death toll in the massacre has not been achieved because most of the Japanese military records on the killings were deliberately destroyed or kept secret shortly after the surrender of Japan in 1945. Although, the military estimated more than 200,000 casualties in the incident, China's official estimate is about 300,000 casualties, based on the evaluation of the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal. The actual military invasion of Nanking was preceded by a tough battle at Shanghai that began in the summer of 1937.

After defeating the Chinese at Shanghai in November, 50,000 Japanese soldiers then marched on toward Nanking. Unlike the troops at Shanghai, Chinese soldiers at Nanking were led and loosely organized. After just four days of fighting, Japanese troops smashed into the city on December 13, 1937, with orders issued to "kill all captives." Their first concern was to eliminate any threat from the 90,000 Chinese soldiers who surrendered. To the Japanese, surrender was an unthinkable act of cowardice. They looked upon Chinese POWs with a different view, viewing them as less than human, unworthy of life. The incredible carnage - citywide burnings, stabbings, drownings, strangulations, rapes, thefts, and massive property destruction - continued unabated for about six weeks, from mid-December 1937 through the beginning of February 1938. Young or old, male or female, anyone could be shot on a whim by any Japanese soldier for any reason.

Some interesting things I read about was Pregnant women were not spared. In several instances, they were raped, then had their bellies slit open and the fetuses torn out. Sometimes, after storming into a house and encountering a whole family, the Japanese forced Chinese men to rape their own daughters, sons to rape their mothers, and brothers their sisters, while the rest of the family was made to watch. The incredible carnage - citywide burnings, stabbings, drowning, strangulations, rapes, thefts, and massive property destruction - continued unabated for about six weeks, from mid-December 1937 through the beginning of February 1938. Young or old, male or female, anyone could be shot on a whim by any Japanese soldier for any reason. Theres no way that young people can prevent this genocide from happening because I am its basically about female and kids being rape by their own family but the Japanese are forcing them to do this their not doing it by chose. To help me understand genocide from reading this article is basically what it said in the beginning or the article which was a mass murder, genocide and war rape.