Testimonies to the truth: Victims of the Nanjing Massacre share their heartbreaking stories with the world (8)

Testimony of Xia Shuqin

-"My sister and I were two children picked out from the dead piles."

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

My name is Xia Shuqin, born in May of 1929, Nanjing. Before the Japanese invasion of Nanjing, my family had nine people, including my grandfather Nie Zuocheng (in his 70s), my grandmother Mrs. Nie Zhou (in her 70s), father Xia Ting'en (in his 40s), mother Xia Nie (in her 30s), the eldest sister Xia Shufang (16 years old), the second sister Xia Shulan (14 years old), the second younger sister Xia Shuyun (4 years old), the youngest sister Xia Shufen (1 year old) and 8-year-old me. We lived in the house of a (Mohammedan) whose last name was Ha at No. 5 of Xinlukou, Chengnan. It was there that my entire family, excluding my sister Xia Shuyun and me, were killed by the Japanese army. My sister and I were two children picked out from the dead piles.

On the morning of Dec. 13, 1937, a group of around 30 Japanese soldiers came to knock on our door. They shot the owner of the house Mr. Ha immediately when he opened the door. Seeing this, my father kneeled down in front of them, begging them not to kill any more people, but was shot dead by them as well.

My mother hid under the table with my 1-year-old sister, but she was dragged out by the Japanese soldiers. They grabbed my sister away from my mother, throwing her to the ground to kill her. Then they tore away my mother's clothes and several soldiers gang raped her before killing her with their bayonets. They cruelly stuck a bottle into my mother's private parts.

Later, several Japanese soldiers forced themselves into the neighboring room where my grandfather, grandmother, and two elder sisters were hiding. They tried to rape my elder sisters, but were strongly resisted by my grandfather and grandmother, so they brutally killed my grandparents.

Then the Japanese soldiers tore away all the clothes of my two elder sisters, they gang raped them before killing them with their bayonets. The soldiers stuck my grandmother's walking stick into my eldest sister's private parts.

I was hiding in the quilt on the bed. I cried aloud out of fear and was then stabbed in the back by the Japanese soldiers three times, so I fainted. I didn't know how long had passed when I was awakened by the cry of my 4-year-old younger sister, I found we were surrounded by the bodies of my family. We could do nothing but cry loudly, hoping to wake up our mother…

We looked for food everywhere. Fortunately, there were some parched rice and rice crust left in the kitchen. We lived on this food and the cold water in the water vat for 14 days, accompanied by the bodies of our families. Later, we were successively adopted by the "Hall of the Old" (a charity institute) and my uncle. My uncle's family was also very poor. In order to reduce their burden, I've had to support myself since I was 12. I once sold vegetables and worked as the servant.

In this way, seven people in my family were killed by Japanese soldiers in a very short time. Whenever I think about it, I can't help crying and I almost cry my eyes out every time.

In October 1949, after the establishment of New China, my life began to become better. In 1954, I married Zhang Hongzhang and together we raised three children.