Testimonies to the truth: Victims of the Nanjing Massacre share their heartbreaking stories with the world (10)

Testimony of Liu Shihai

-"Of the 50 or so people, only I survived. A 10-cm scar can still be seen on my neck."

Testimony of Liu Shihai , a victim of the Nanjing Massacre. (Photo by The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders)

In the 25th year of the Republic of China (1936), I joined the army of the former Nationalist government. In the following year, the army marched to Shanghai to fight with the Japanese army and later retreated to Nanjing. In December of the 26th year of the Republic of China, the Japanese army approached Nanjing. I fought the Japanese army in Yuhuatai for two or three days, then the troops collapsed. We moved to Xiaguan, trying to cross the river, but there was no boat, so we didn't succeed. In the chaos, I lost contact with the troops.

I am from Anhui, so I joined the team that fled to Anhui. There was a total of over 50 people in the group, and we came to Jiangdongmen from the Sancha River, intending to go to Wuhu. Along the way, we saw countless bodies on the ground, and there were seven or eight bodies hanging upside down on a telegraph pole. A wire pierced through their clavicles bound them together, including men, women, and children. As we went forward, even more bodies were scattered across the ground.

When we reached Jiangdongmen at the gate of the Model Prison, a group of Japanese troops blocked us. We waved the white flag and told them: "We are surrendered soldiers." But they seemed not to care, and they forced us to a vegetable plot to the east of the prison, ordering us to stand in a row. There were about 50 to 60 Japanese soldiers, dozens of which were holding sabers in hands, and others were armed with bayonets. Then, all at once, the Japanese soldiers rushed us from all around, using the sabers and bayonets to cut and kill. I was cut on the neck. I can only remember the ferocious look of a Japanese soldier who waved his saber at me, and I can't recall anything after.

When I woke up, it was already dark. Two dead bodies were on top of me. I used all my strength to push them away before I could stand up. Luckily, my wound was not that deep, and the blood had been stopped. I left the vegetable plot hurriedly under the cover of darkness before dawn. After walking more than half a mile, I saw an air-raid shelter so I hid in it. At dawn, some Japanese soldiers appeared at the entrance and shouted for a while in Japanese. I guess they were saying "come out." Because it was very dark in the cave and nothing could be seen, the Japanese soldiers went away after shouting for a while.

That tragedy happened on the 14th or 15th of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar. Of the 50 or so people in the group, only I survived. A 10-cm scar can still be seen on my neck.