"Never Forget" -- Exhibition of Nanjing Massacre Opens in San Francisco

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 18, 2001

"Never Forget" -- Exhibition of Nanjing Massacre Opens in San Francisco

An exhibition on the Nanjing Massacre by the invading Japanese troops during World War II opened Sunday evening at St. Mary's Cathedral, the largest church in San Francisco.

Exhibition of Nanjing Massacre Opens in San Francisco

An exhibition on the Nanjing Massacre by the invading Japanese troops during World War II opened Sunday evening at St. Mary's Cathedral, the largest church in San Francisco.

U.S. congressman Mike Honda, San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, Chinese consul general in San Francisco Wang Yunxiang, and vice-mayor of China's Nanjing City Chen Jiabao cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony.

The exhibition which will last until December 29 is based mainly on photographs, material objects, records, printings and personal accounts collected from a group of Westerners living in Nanjing in 1937 when the massacre took place. During six weeks that year, the Japanese invading troops slaughtered more than 300,000 Chinese men, women and children, raped more than 20,000 Chinese women and burnt one-third of the buildings in Nanjing, then the capital city of China.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Honda, Brown and the Chinese officials all highlighted the educational significance of the exhibition, an education not only for this generation, but for generations in the future.

Brown said that only when the knowledge about the massacre is shared today can future atrocities be prevented. Honda, an American-Japanese, said that the Japanese government must first of all recognize what happened in 1937 and apologize for it, so that Japan can move forward as a neighbor.

Leland Y. Yee, a San Francisco Board of Supervisor, whose parents went through the sufferings in China during World War II, told the audience that he has been working on a resolution to include the Nanjing Massacre in the history textbook for California students.

More than 300 people, native Americans as well as those of Chinese origin, attended the opening ceremony. Among them were senior citizens, students, children, educators and business people.Those interviewed with Xinhua shared the view that the exhibition is indeed educational experience.

Cynthia Zeiden, a television distributor, said that the exhibition is especially meaningful for Americans who know little about the Asian history and learned about World War II mainly from the European history.

Babethe I. Mcdoug, a Sansalito-based marketing consultant, said that the older generation may know more about the Nanjing Massacre and therefore this exhibition is really for the younger generation of Americans. Through the exhibition, she said, Americans will also know more about China and its people.

Many visitors seemed to be impressed by the small group of Westerns who joined efforts to rescue the massacre victims.

Those foreign nationals who were living in Nanjing then, mainly Americans and Germans including professors, clergymen, doctors, correspondents, diplomats and business people, witnessed the terrible scenes of the massacre. Their diaries and letters and the pictures taken by them become the historical evidence. John Rabe, George Fitch, Rober Wilson, Minnie Vautrin and others established a rescue organization called "The International Committee of

Safety Zone in Nanjing," giving shelter to 250,000 refugees.

Also at the opening ceremony, General Consul Wang Yunxiang, on behalf of the Chinese State Council Information office, presented 500 volumes of English books on China to Mayor Brown and the San Francisco Public Library.

Nanjing Massacre (Dec. 1937- Feb. 1938)

In December 1937, Nanjing fell to the Japanese Imperial Army. The Japanese army launched a massacre for six weeks. According to the records of several welfare organizations which buried the dead bodies after the Massacre, around three hundred thousand people, mostly civilians and POWs, were brutally slaughtered.

Over twenty thousand cases of rape were reported. Many of the victims were gang raped and then killed. The figure did not include those captives who were sent to army brothels (the so-called "comfort stations").

Japanese Invasion Undeniable

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Nanjing Massacre Exhibition to Open in San Francisco