The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II

Product Information

The Rape of Nanking is, indeed, a brutal account of the Japanese atrocities committed on the Chinese population in Nanking. Iris Chang describes violent actions taken on innocent people, and offers photographic evidence to further substantiate her claims. It is brutal, and it is real.

The book also received praise from news media. The Wall Street Journal wrote that it was the "first comprehensive examination of the destruction of this Chinese imperial city," and that Chang "skillfully excavated from oblivion the terrible events that took place." The Atlantic Monthly described the book as "a crushing indictment of the Japanese army's behavior." The Chicago Tribune called it "a powerful new work of history and moral inquiry" and stated that "Chang takes great care to establish an accurate accounting of the dimensions of the violence." The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that it was a "compelling account of a horrendous episode that, until recently, has been largely forgotten." [35] Iris Chang Park in San Jose, that opened in November 2019, is a municipal park dedicated to Chang. [16] [17] Depression and death [ edit ] A bronze statue of Iris Chang at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall in Nanjing The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. Basic Books. 21 November 1997. ISBN 978-0-465-06835-7. Chang brings to light the fact that many of those who bore responsibility for these crimes escaped justice entirely or with minimal consequence. The most prominent example includes emperor Hirohito, who after the end of WWII was granted immunity from inves Thousands of women were raped by Japanese soldiers; death was frequently the penalty for the slightest resistance by a victim or members of her family. Even large numbers of young girls and old women were raped throughout the city, and many cases of abnormal and sadistic behavior in connection with these rapes were reported. Many women were killed after the act and their bodies mutilated.

Sonni Efron of the Los Angeles Times opined that the bitter row over Iris Chang's book may leave Westerners with the misimpression that little has been written in Japan about the Nanjing Massacre, when in fact the National Diet Library holds at least 42 books about the Nanjing massacre and Japan's wartime misdeeds, 21 of which were written by liberals investigating Japan's wartime atrocities. In addition, Efron noted that geriatric Japanese soldiers have published their memoirs and have been giving speeches and interviews in increasing numbers, recounting the atrocities they committed or witnessed. After years of government-enforced denial, Japanese middle school textbooks now carry accounts of the Nanjing massacre as accepted truth. According to Efron, Japanese liberals alleged that the mistakes found in her book could undermine their endeavors, which include bringing the knowledge of the massacre to the Japanese public and pressuring the Japanese government into apologizing and atoning for the massacre. [32] The original version of a photograph used by Chang—the accuracy of the caption in the book is disputed [13] Chang captures the many human stories of courage. An unlikely savior, humanitarian Nazi John Rabe, used his status and position to protect and shelter Chinese civilians from the savage clutches of the Japanese soldiers. At times he risked his own life as he stood between armed Japanese soldiers and the innocent prey that they were seeking to defile and murder. In general the Westerners who bore witness to the savagery reported upon it and did their best to save as many lives that they could. In all approximately twenty foreigners managed to rescue as many as 200,000 Chinese from the Japanese military. De Pasquale, Sue (November 1997). "Nightmare in Nanking". Johns Hopkins Magazine . Retrieved November 24, 2018. Anger over the events at Nanjing continues to color Sino-Japanese relations to this day. The true nature of the massacre has been disputed and exploited for propaganda purposes by historical revisionists, apologists and Japanese nationalists. Some claim the numbers of deaths have been inflated, while others have denied that any massacre occurred. I was deeply informed by her arguments that both religion and claims to racial superiority contributed to Japan's view that they should control Asia. But nothing satisfied my yearning to hear how to stop such atrocities from appearing. This is where I believe the investigation might have explored more deeply why the Japanese felt so powerfully inclined to move brutally from Shanghai into Nanking, and then to have exacted such a terrible toll on the civilian population there. Chang calls the rape of Nanking, a "blemish upon the honor of human beings", and demands that we look at events in Nanking as a "cautionary tale"; but she is remiss in offering a finer historiography that would inform present scholars in framing arguments on how to achieve a future worldview that demands peaceful co-existence. It does appear to be an exercise in futility.

a b "Proposal for The Nanking Conference at Princeton University" (PDF). Princeton University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-01-10 . Retrieved 2007-07-23. Global Alliance for Preserving the History of WWII in Asia — a federation of NGOs whose mission was to educate the world about the unrecognized wartime horrors committed by Japan in the Pacific theater

Success!

a b c d "Japan and the U.S.: Sidelining the Heterodox". Japan Policy Research Institute. December 2002. Archived from the original on 2004-03-23 . Retrieved 2007-07-22.

The book attempts to explain the events leading up to and during the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers that occurred in the city of Nanking, China from 1937-1938. Overall the book is very clear and well written and the reader comes away with a general understanding of the event and also pondering the questions of how humanity can be suspended in times of war.

Iris Chang Memorial Fund (2008). The Denial and Its Cost: Reflections on the Nanking Massacre 70 Years Ago and Beyond: Best Essays from Iris Chang Memorial Essay Contest 2007. New York, NY: Cozy House Publisher. ISBN 9781593430801. I selected The Rape of Nanking as one of my assigned readings so I could evaluate its usefulness in my classes. I teach World Cultures, Holocaust, and US Military History at Hamburg Area High School. I believe The Rape of Nanking can be used effectively in Holocaust and Military History classes at the high school level.