The HORRORS Of The Nanjing Executions JJ

Years before World War II broke out in Europe, there was a brutal and ruthless conflict being fought in the Pacific between the Japanese and the Chinese. The second SinoJapanese War saw millions being put to the sword and the Japanese invaders caused death and suffering everywhere they went.

They put villages and towns to the sword and this was done on a huge scale when they entered the city of Nanjing in December 1937. For months, Japanese soldiers caused the deaths of more than 200,000 people, and they committed many more crimes against the women of the city. Nanjing was never the same again, and the rule for the Japanese was very much to take out anyone who was considered to have been Chinese or of military age.

The massacre of Nanjing took place mostly over a 6- week period from December the 13th, 1937 following its capture. But for the next few months, there was more sporadic horrific incidents. Attempts were made to protect the civilians. However, the massacre of Nanjing was a horrific action that showed the brutality of the Japanese forces years before they entered World War II on the side of the axis.

But what specifically happened inside of Nanjing? And why were so many people executed? The second SinoJapanese war escalated very quickly into a full-blown conflict and war in northern China. The Japanese captured Beijing and Tanjing and then Shanghai. And as the Japanese pushed inland following the fall of Shanghai, Nanjing emerged as their next objective and target.

By late November 1937, Japanese troops had broken through Chinese defensive lines and were heading at breakneck speed towards the city. The high command in the city were in two minds. Whether to abandon the city or to fight and defend it. As Nanjing sat on the Yangy River, he was vulnerable to besieging and encirclement and didn’t have many fortifications ready to defend.

Commanders knew that the most likely situation was that Nanjing would collapse to the Japanese. And this was exactly what happened. Japanese soldiers backed up with huge air superiority and artillery superiority breached Nanjing city walls on the 12th of December 1937. A retreat was ordered far too late and communications were bad.

However, the Yangy River which could have been an escape route in fact became a shooting range for Japanese aircraft who picked off civilian targets rapidly. Thousands of Chinese soldiers decided to throw down their weapons and then blend in with the local population. And this caused problems. The Japanese treated any male of fighting age as a potential enemy.

And this was one reason why they went on the rampage within the city. But no one would have expected what came next when the Japanese entered Lanjing on the 13th of December 1937. In the days before they got to the city, the Japanese had shown their true colors and had been slaughtering, torturing, and assaulting on a mass scale in the region.

These crimes intensified after Nanjing was captured and lasted for weeks. Within the first 3 weeks, the crimes were intense and different people within the city captured the crimes. One said, I quote, “The Japanese have looted widely yesterday and today have destroyed schools, have killed civilians, and assaulted women. 1,000 disarmed Chinese soldiers whom the international committee hoped to save were taken from them.

and by this time are probably shot or bayoneted in the city. They encountered some resistance in pockets, but the Japanese became determined to eliminate any remaining Chinese soldier hiding in the city. And Chinese men who were said to have been in good health were automatically deemed to have been a soldier.

And this was why huge scale atrocities were carried out. Massacres then took place and they were organized to kill as many people as possible within the shortest period of time and many unarmed men, women and children were mowed down by machine gun fire and were then finished off by bayonets. These massacres were usually carried out on the banks of the Yangy River and the bodies were then just left there.

In one of the biggest massacres that began on the 15th of December and lasted for two full days, soldiers from the Yamada detachment led up to 20,000 Chinese prisoners to the riverbank and then machine gun them all to death. They then burned some of the bodies on large PS or just simply flushed them downstream.

One Japanese soldier claimed, and I quote, “I figured that I’d never get another chance like this, so I stabbed 30 of the damn Chinese. Climbing a top the mountain of corpses, I felt like a real devil slayer, stabbing again and again with all my might. Gh! The Chinese groaned. They were old folks as well as kids, but we killed them lock, stock, and barrel.

I also borrowed a buddy’s sword and tried to decapitate some. I’ve never experienced anything so unusual. Killing inside the city became routine for Japanese troops, and they shot at targets who had their hands tied behind their backs. Inside of the hospitals, many wounded Chinese were killed in their hospital beds and were bayonetted.

Some were even burned alive, being dragged from their beds. It was very much a search and destroy operation close to the typing gate. 1300 Chinese soldiers and civilians were murdered being blown up by landmines. They were all then set on fire and any survivors were bayoneted. The reports of the massacres reached western audiences and newspapers reported that bodies line the streets.

But there were worse claims. Cannibalism allegedly occurred within Nanjing. As one missionary claimed he witnessed a Chinese soldier being disembowed and their heart and liver were then roasted and eaten. The Japanese even tricked Chinese soldiers. They issued a fake amnesty to soldiers who fought against them.

And when 200 former soldiers did come forward believing they would get away with it, they were all then executed. Women were of course also targeted heavily inside of Nanjing. Japanese forces went door to door looking for female targets and they systematically assaulted on a huge scale. Some have estimated that over 80,000 were targeted.

One former Japanese soldier claimed, I quote, “Women suffered the most. No matter how young or old, they could not escape the fate. We sent out coal trucks to the city streets and villages to seize a lot of women. And then each of them was allocated to 15 to 20 soldiers for abuse. After this, we would then also kill them.

After many of these incidents, Japanese troops killed and mutilated their victims in despicable ways. A reverend who was inside the city claimed about what he saw that I quote, “I know not where to end. Never I have heard or read such brutality. We estimate at least a thousand cases a night and many by day. In case of resistance or anything that seems like disapproval, there is a bayonet stab or a bullet.

People are hysterical. Women are being carried off every morning, afternoon, and evening. The whole Japanese army seems to be free to go and come as it pleases and do whatever it pleases. Incidents continued and were reported to authorities, but nothing could be done. The people and specifically women of Naning were at the mercy of their enemies and attackers.

Leader of the safety zone John Rob wrote on the 17th of December in his diary that I quote, “Two Japanese soldiers have climbed over the garden wall and are trying to break into the house. When I appear, they give the excuse that they saw two Chinese soldiers climb over the fence.

When I show them my party badge, they return the same way. In one of the houses in the narrow streets behind my garden wall, a woman was assaulted and then wounded in the neck were bayonets. I managed to get an ambulance so we could take her to the Kulu Hospital last night. Up to a thousand women and girls were said to have been assaulted.

About 100 girls at Ginling College alone. You hear nothing but this. If husbands or brothers intervene, they’re shot. What you hear and see on all sides is the brutality and bestiality of the Japanese soldiers. Many women were also captured and were kidnapped becoming slaves to their enemies.

Houses were broken into and whole families were killed by them and some of these were in the worst way possible. Many executions were performed by swords and were medieval in their sights. Women were assaulted in front of their husbands and fathers and many were then executed straight after. Some were taken away to a ditch known as a 10,000 corpse ditch, a trench around 300 m long and 5 m wide.

And it’s estimated that between 4,000 to 20,000 victims were buried in that one ditch. As mentioned, it is estimated that up to 200,000 people were executed and killed inside the city. And some estimates even claim that figure to be 100,000 higher. Everyone was targeted. And in the surrounding countryside, further horror occurred.

But why did this happen? Well, the Japanese soldiers were taught militaristic and also very racist views. And they believed that they had superiority over all other people. The extreme cruelty inside Nanjing wasn’t an isolated incident, but was part of a wider pattern of behavior carried out by the Japanese. Individual soldiers went on the rampage and some even had a competition to see who could execute 100 people with a sword the quickest.

Newspapers even reported upon this like a sporting event. Discipline inside the Japanese military hierarchy was also systematically reinforced by violence and Japanese recruits were often subjected to rough treatment during their training and they often disciplined violently. This created a whole culture inside the Imperial Army in which those who were perceived to be weaker should be treated cruy.

Inside of Nanjing, many forces killed innocent people out of excitement or out of sheer sadistic pleasure. There was also, of course, a massive breakdown in military discipline. Japanese troops were underpaid and did have at time very low morale and they were boosted by their sense of freedom and them knowing that their crimes were being punished.

Many also killed out of boredom. Another cause was a widespread desire for revenge that the Japanese held after fighting the Chinese for months. They were brainwashed to believe that they were fighting a crusade against their enemies. General Iwani Matsui, who was responsible for the attacks on Nanjing, did begin to understand rather quickly what happened inside the city.

He claimed within the same week that the city was captured, that I quote, “I cannot but feel depressed. I’m very lonely and can never get in a mood to rejoice about this victory. I personally feel very sorry for the tragedies to the people, but the army must continue unless China repents. Now in the winter, the season gives time to reflect.

I offer my sympathy with deep emotion to a million innocent people. He later then went on to describe the Nanjing massacre as a terrible disgrace and claimed his men had done something very wrong. The crimes and executions carried out inside of the city of Nanjing were endless.

And still today, many bodies of victims lay in mass pits or in graves. Their bones frequently are discovered, but is generally accepted that hundreds of thousands of Chinese people, many of them innocent and not enemy combatants, were slaughtered at the hands of the Japanese. The crimes inside the city went further than just killing.

And at the end of World War II, very few people were ever brought to trial for their crimes inside the city of Nanjing. Thanks for watching. If you found this video interesting, maybe click subscribe. Once again, thank you so much for watching one of these videos.