"Nanking," the 2007 HBO documentary film about the 1937 Nanking Massacre committed by the Japanese army in the former capital city Nanjing, China draws on letters, diaries and archival footage from the era. Most striking and importantly, as well, are interviews with surviving victims as well as a few actual perpetrators of the massacre.
Particular attention (with contemporary actors playing the roles) is paid to John Rabe (also in a 2009 major motion picture), a German merchant (and Nazi who used his clout), Robert O. Wilson, an intrepid surgeon, and Minnie Vautrin, a missionary educator who together with a handful of other foreigners present at the time organized the Nanking Safety Zone which saved over 250,000 lives.
Be prepared and forewarned.
About the 6 week onslaught, known (by most of the civilized world today) as "The Rape of Nanking":
- 260,000 died (source: International Military Tribunal of the Far East) ~most, including children, were bayoneted and/or shot in the back; women after acts of rape
- 20,000-80,000 rapes were committed by Japanese soldiers
After viewing the documentary, the story behind it and, in particular, the story behind the bestselling 1997 book, "The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II" by Iris Chang may be of interest (begin here).
"Controversial," seems to put it mildly.
And no matter whether one tends toward being revisionist or not,
the story and recounting of this horror, as usual, remains instructive and important.
"This only is denied to God: the power to undo the past." ~Agathon
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