nanking massacre death toll

In one of the houses in the narrow street behind my garden wall, a woman was raped, and then wounded in the neck with a bayonet. [136] According to him, "of the two, however, the Great Massacre School is clearly the more sophisticated, counting among its members a large number of academics who bring a great deal of authority to their findings. "[97] With the emergence of more information and data, he said that there is a possibility that the death toll could be higher. When I show them my party badge, they return the same way. [citation needed], The entry for the same day in Matsui's diary read, "I could only feel sadness and responsibility today, which has been overwhelmingly piercing my heart. [8] Nevertheless, on December 1, headquarters ordered the Central China Area Army and the 10th Army to capture Nanjing, then-capital of the Republic of China. "[1], One-third of the city was destroyed as a result of arson. In the latter process we are glad to cooperate in any way we can. In his diary kept during the aggression against the city and its occupation by the Imperial Japanese Army, the leader of the Safety Zone, John Rabe, wrote many comments about Japanese atrocities. From February 7, 1938, killings were no longer in mass fashion as the senior Japanese officers came to restore discipline of their troops, according to the testimony of, Quote: "The Japanese Army, one million strong, has already conquered. [1] Hence, depending on the timeframe and the geographic scope, an empirically verifiable, scholarly valid victimization range is from over 40,000 to under 200,000.[1]. [7] At the same time soldiers of the Japanese Army also committed random acts of murder against civilians, and engaged in rape, arson, and looting. [9], The Japanese army conducted its mopping-up operation both inside and outside the Nanking Safety Zone. Five of these were journalists who remained in the city a few days after it was captured, leaving the city on December 16. Although most sources suggest that the final phase of the battle consisted of a one-sided slaughter of Chinese troops by the Japanese, some Japanese historians maintain that the remaining Chinese military still posed a serious threat to the Japanese. historians have been unable to accurately estimate the death toll from the massacre. [171][172], According to a brief reference to Nanjing at the Yasukuni museum in Tokyo, the Japanese general in charge gave his men maps showing foreign settlements and a civilian "safety zone", and ordered them to maintain strict military discipline. In China today most estimates of the Nanking Massacre range from 200,000 to 400,000, with no notable historian going below 100,000. The capacity of the hospital was normally one hundred and eighty beds, and this was kept full to overflowing during this entire period. Minnie Vautrin was a Christian missionary who established Ginling Girls College in Nanking, which was within the established Safety Zone. A lesser debate rests on who among the dead to be included as "massacre victims". Nanjing Massacre, conventional Nanking Massacre, also called Rape of Nanjing, (December 1937-January 1938), mass killing and ravaging of Chinese citizens and capitulated soldiers by soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army after its seizure of Nanjing, China, on December 13, 1937, during the Sino-Japanese War that preceded World War II. [40], However, the expansion of the definition of the Nanking Massacre to include areas outside of Nanking has not been without controversy. The American ambassador in Hankow replied that although he supported Rabe's proposal for a ceasefire, Chiang did not. The total death toll of the Nanjing Massacre is a highly contentious subject in Chinese and Japanese historiography. Since the area outside the safety zone had been almost completely evacuated, the mopping-up effort was concentrated in the safety zone. At the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals, the Nanking Massacre death toll was presented either as "more than . The number 300,000 is displayed prominently at memorials and is the higher end of commonly accepted estimates. [107] However, Erwin Wickert, the editor of The diaries of John Rabe, points out that "It is likely that Rabe's estimate is too low, since he could not have had an overview of the entire municipal area during the period of the worst atrocities. . [183], In December 2007, the PRC government published the names of 13,000 people who were killed by Japanese troops in the Nanjing Massacre. [56], In the early 1970s, Japanese historian Hora's estimate of 200,000 massacre victims was challenged for the first time by the journalist Akira Suzuki, who suggested that "several tens of thousands" had been killed. I shouldn't say all right. The older was bayoneted and the younger split down through the head with a sword. There are no official numbers for the death toll in the Nanking Massacre, though estimates range from 200,000 to 300,000 people. The tribunal determined that more than 200,000 people were killed in Nanjing. Other eyewitnesses to the massacre also expressed their opinions in Japanese magazines in the 1950s and 1960s, but political shifts slowly eroded this tide of confessions. Originally titled 13 Flowers of Nanjing, this is the story of a group of schoolgirls that find refuge in a church compound run by an American priest.The year is 1937. For most of the morning, Japanese soldiers tied the POWs' hands together. [44] The women were often killed immediately after being raped, often through explicit mutilation,[45] such as by penetrating vaginas with bayonets, long sticks of bamboo, or other objects. [16], In 2000, historian Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi concurred with certain Japanese scholars who had argued that the contest was a concocted story, with the collusion of the soldiers themselves for the purpose of raising the national fighting spirit. Durdin stated "[i]t should be said that certain Japanese units exercised restraint and that certain Japanese officers tempered power with generosity and commission," but continued "the conduct of the Japanese army as a whole in Nanjing was a blot on the reputation of their country". [71] In The Cambridge History of China, historian Lloyd Eastman asserted that the death toll was "at least 42,000",[72] whereas military officer Frank Dorn wrote in his book The Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41 that the death toll was "over 200,000 civilians". [145][146], In May 1994, Justice Minister Shigeto Nagano called the Nanjing Massacre a "fabrication". [112][170] The range of the death toll estimated by Japanese historians is from tens of thousands to 200,000. [59] However, Jean-Louis Margolin does not believe that the Nanjing atrocities should be considered a genocide because only prisoners of war were executed in a systematic manner and the targeting of civilians was sporadic and done without orders by individual actors. He said that during this time, the Chinese government's statements about the event were attacked by the Japanese because they were said to rely too heavily on personal testimonies and anecdotal evidence. [31] Nevertheless, even if Ch took the initiative, Asaka was nominally the officer in charge and gave no orders to stop the carnage. Between the announcement of a ceasefire on August 15, 1945, and the arrival of small advance parties of American troops in Japan on August 28, Japanese military and civil authorities systematically destroyed military, naval, and government archives, much of which was from the period 19421945. "[168] Recognizing the Nanjing Massacre as such can be viewed in some circles in Japan as "Japan-bashing" (in the case of foreigners) or "self-flagellation" (in the case of Japanese). But we always stabbed and killed them. Some Japanese scholars claim that the numbers are greatly exaggerated, and that the actual toll is somewhere from 40,000 to only several . ", Organized and wholesale murder of male civilians was conducted with the apparent sanction of the commanders on the pretext that Chinese soldiers had removed their uniforms and were mingling with the population. Mrs. Hsia was dragged out from under a table in the guest hall where she had tried to hide with her 1-year-old baby. The last refugee camps were closed in May 1938. The Nanking Massacre as a component of national identity. It would be all right if we only raped them. However, most scholars and historians consider the number to be more than 12,000 victims. [42] He argued that Chinese soldiers who had thrown away their uniforms were legally executed because the laws of war at the time did not apply to them, though this line of reasoning is hotly disputed by other historians. As per Sina, Oberver.com verified that Twitter froze the . Hopefully when you being unarmed yourself tried to protect an unarmed crowd from a bunch of inhuman robbers you could speak truth every time and stay alive which I am . We "pikankan." [180][181][182], Dockworkers in Australia were horrified by the massacre and refused to load pig iron onto ships heading for Japan, leading to the Dalfram Dispute of 1938. [90], Numerous factors complicate the estimation of an accurate death toll.[91][92]. This definition was supported by Hora and other early scholars. The massacre occurred over a period of six weeks starting on December Akira Fujiwara, "Nitch Sens ni Okeru Horyo Gyakusatsu2, John G. Gagee, Case 9, Film 4, Folder 7, Box 263, Record Group 8, Special Collection, Yale Divinity School Library, cited in, "A Debt of Blood: An Eyewitness Account of the Barbarous Acts of the Japanese Invaders in Nanjing.". A new report on the 1937-1938 massacre doesn't settle the contested issue of how many people died -- but it points to a much more "Hundred believed Dead - Panay Death . [citation needed], This nationalist view does not, however, represent a widely shared understanding of what happened at Nanjing, as illustrated by Japanese textbooks' rather different treatment of the atrocity. Chinese teacher sacked for questioning death toll in Nanjing massacre. All the new books mentioned the massacre and five of them printed the death count as estimated by the Chinese government (300,000 deaths), the remaining two books estimated the death toll at 200,000. According to Yang Daqing, professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University: While it is standard practice for governments to destroy evidence in times of defeat, in the two weeks before the Allies arrived in Japan, various Japanese agenciesthe military in particularsystematically destroyed sensitive documents to a degree perhaps unprecedented in history. Estimates of the impact of the destruction vary. [12][23][24], The first historian to make an academic estimate of the death toll of the Nanking Massacre was Tomio Hora in his 1967 book Kindai Senshi no Nazo ("Riddles of Modern War History"), who argued in favor of 200,000. The massacre has remained a wedge issue between modern China and Japan. [94] Wakabayashi concludes that estimates of over 200,000 are not credible. The "Great Massacre School" group supports the validity of the findings at the Tokyo Trials, and concludes that there were at least 200,000 casualties and at least 20,000 rape cases; whereas "The Illusion School" group rejects tribunal findings as "victor's justice". David Askew, "The Scale of Japanese Atrocities in Nanjing: An Examination of the Burial Records," Ritsumeikan Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, June 2004, 710. [citation needed], To many Japanese scholars, post-war estimations were distorted by "victor's justice", when Japan was condemned as the sole aggressor. Myth: The Nanjing Massacre has always been important to China. The report consists of eight volumes and was released to mark the 70th anniversary of the start of the massacre. A Japanese hotelier's denial of a 1937 massacre by Japanese troops in the Chinese city of Nanjing has prompted Chinese social media calls for a boycott of travel to Japan, threatening tourist . [1][77] Some individual estimates by scholars and eyewitnesses are included in the following table. The death sentence imposed on Hirota, a six-to-five decision by the eleven judges, shocked the general public and prompted a petition on his behalf, which soon gathered over 300,000 signatures but did not succeed in commuting the Minister's sentence. [41], Since then Kasahara has proposed a definition between these two. Answer (1 of 16): 1. "Nakamura Akira shi no 'Nanking Jiken Ichiman Nin Gyakusatsu Setsu' wo Hihan Suru [Critique of 'The Death Toll of Ten Thousand in the Nanjing Incident' by Mr. Akira Nakamura]." Seiron . In one estimate the Nanking War Crimes Tribunal put the death toll at more than 300,000, though the Tribunal also recorded other estimates including one of 430,000. The death toll of 300,000 is the official estimate engraved on the stone wall at the entrance of the "Memorial Hall for Compatriot Victims of the Japanese Military's Nanking Massacre . A People's Liberation Army honor guard bearing large funeral wreaths marched slowly past a memorial showing the figure 300,000, China's official death toll in the events of December 1937, as . The two men were described as vying to be the first to kill 100 people with a sword before the capture of Nanjing. The Truth about the Nanjing Massacre. [85] Approximately 70 percent of the Japanese army's wartime records were destroyed. Following the end of World War II, some circles of civil society in Japan reflected on the extent of the massacre and the participation of ordinary soldiers. Higashinakano had claimed in his book, Thorough Review of Nanjing Massacre, that she and the girl were different persons, and that she was not a witness of the Nanjing massacre, but he was unable to prove this at trial. The death toll reckoned at the Nanking War Crimes Tribunal, is the official estimate engraved on the stone wall at the entrance of the "Memorial Hall for Compatriot Victims of the Japanese Military's Nanking Massacre" in Nanjing. What happened within the city limits was even more humiliating for humanity. The Nanking Massacre was an episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing (then spelled Nanking), then the capital of the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.The massacre occurred over a period of six weeks starting on December 13, 1937, the day that the Japanese captured Nanjing. There was considerable destruction to areas outside the city walls. U.S. news correspondents F. Tillman Durdin and Archibald Steele reported seeing corpses of massacred Chinese soldiers forming mounds six feet high at the Nanjing Yijiang gate in the north. This is caused by the Army's misbehaviors after the fall of Nanjing and failure to proceed with the autonomous government and other political plans. the court found that at least 200,000 had perished during the Rape of Nanking. What was probably the single largest massacre of Chinese troops, the Straw String Gorge Massacre, occurred along the banks of the Yangtze River on December 18. Other Japanese military leaders in charge at the time of the Nanjing Massacre were not tried. In 1947 at the Nanking War Crimes Tribunal, the verdict of Lieutenant General Tani Hisao , the commander of the 6th Division quoted the figure of more . Many atrocities were reported to have been committed as the Japanese army advanced from Shanghai to Nanjing. The total death toll of the Nanjing Massacre is a highly contentious subject in Chinese and Japanese historiography. On December 13, 2014, China held its first, Askew, David. The older girl was stabbed afterwards and a cane was rammed in her vagina. The death toll, and indeed the events in Nanjing in general, are subject to much discussion, with death toll estimates ranging from 30,000 to 300,000. Nankin Daigyakusatsu (Nanjing Massacre), "Six weeks long" is a convenient figure but far from precise. Killings were most intense in the first five days from December 13 and remained moderately intense until December 31, 1937, according to the Japanese military records. Nanjing Death Toll Graph. [122][123], Hisao Tani, a lieutenant general for the 6th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army, was tried by the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal in China. [173][174][175], "During this period, when the Japanese Army occupied Nanjing it killed a large number of Chinese and carried out looting, arson and assaults. After the establishment of the weixin zhengfu (the collaborating government) in 1938, order was gradually restored in Nanjing and atrocities by Japanese troops lessened considerably. [13] Timperley included a second estimate in his book published later the same year, Japanese Terror In China, which quoted "a foreign member of the University faculty" as stating that "close to 40,000 unarmed persons were killed within and near the walls of Nanking". It was truly a regrettable act of barbarity. ", "Case 16 A Chinese girl named Loh, who, with her mother and brother, was living in one of the Refugee Centers in the Refugee Zone, was shot through the head and killed by a Japanese soldier. The Nanjing Massacre was a massacre (an unjust killing of many people) that happened in Nanjing, China, in December of 1937 and January of 1938.It was part of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which was the part of World War II between China and Japan.At the time, Japan was trying to take over China and Nanjing was the Chinese capital.The Japanese Army reached Nanjing on 13 December 1937 and began . [68], Japanese troops gathered 1,300 Chinese soldiers and civilians at Taiping Gate and murdered them. . [citation needed], The government of Japan believes it can not be denied that the killing of a large number of noncombatants, looting and other acts by the Japanese army occurred. In a press release to foreign reporters, Tang Shengzhi announced the city would not surrender and would fight to the death. We estimate at least 1,000 cases a night and many by day. [112], The duration of the incident is naturally defined by its geography: the earlier the Japanese entered the area, the longer the duration. "[70][71], Ralph L. Phillips, a missionary, testified to the U.S. State Assembly Investigating Committee, that he was "forced to watch while the Japs disembowled a Chinese soldier" and "roasted his heart and liver and ate them. "[30] However, both Kasahara and Yamamoto have noted that burial records can be problematic in ways that can exaggerate or underestimate the true death toll of the massacre. Last night the house of one of the Chinese staff members of the university was broken into and two of the women, his relatives, were raped. : Recent Historical Writings on the Rape of Nanjing,", Akira Fujiwara, "The Nanking Atrocity: An Interpretive Overview," in, David Askew, "The Scale of Japanese Atrocities in Nanjing: An Examination of the Burial Records,", Joshua A. Fogel, "The Nanking Atrocity and Chinese Historical Memory," in, Kaz Ross, "Remembering Nanjing: Patriotism and/or peace in architecture," in, Lloyd Eastman, "Nationalist China during the Sino-Japanese War 1937-1945," in, Barry Schwartz, "Rethinking Conflict and Collective Memory: The Case of Nanking," in, Takashi Yoshida, "Refighting the Nanking Massacre: The Continuing Struggle over Memory," in, International Committee for the Nanjing Safety Zone, International Military Tribunal for the Far East, International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone, International Military Tribunal of the Far East, "The Nanjing Incident: Recent Research and Trends", "The Nanking Atrocities in the 1990s: The Controversy in Japan", "The Nanking Atrocities in the 1990s: The Death Toll - Current Estimates", "Japanese Crimes in Nanjing, 1937-38: A Reappraisal", "Nanjing Massacre certitude: Toll will elude", "400,000 People Killed in Nanjing Massacre: Expert", Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, Rape during the Soviet occupation of Poland, Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office, Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors, Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, German preWorld War II industrial co-operation, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Death_toll_of_the_Nanjing_Massacre&oldid=1121556661, Short description with empty Wikidata description, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Government of the People's Republic of China, includes all Chinese killed including those killed in action, the city of Nanking, its immediate outskirts, and all six surrounding counties between early December 1937 and late January 1938, includes all disarmed POWs; includes soldiers killed on the battlefield but not immediately capable of fighting back, the city of Nanking, its immediate outskirts, and all six surrounding counties between December 4, 1937, and March 28, 1938, the city of Nanking, its immediate outskirts, and all six surrounding counties between December 1, 1937, and March 1938, the entire area from Shanghai to Nanking between November 1937 to late January 1938, includes all disarmed POWs; does not include any soldiers killed on the battlefield, the city of Nanking and its immediate outskirts between December 13, 1937, and early February 1938, only includes disarmed POWs buried by the Red Cross, and civilians whose deaths they verified; does not include any soldiers killed on the battlefield, the city of Nanking and its immediate outskirts between December 13, 1937, and late January 1938, the city of Nanking and its immediate outskirts between December 13, 1937, and early January 1938, does not include approximately 4,000 Chinese soldiers captured out of uniform and executed; does not include any soldiers killed on the battlefield, This page was last edited on 12 November 2022, at 22:54. City limits was even more humiliating for humanity froze the in Nanjing and would fight the. The capture of Nanjing verified that Twitter froze the `` Six weeks long '' a. The Safety Zone killed in Nanjing the dead to be included as `` Massacre victims '' proposed a between... Wartime records were destroyed Chinese soldiers and civilians at Taiping Gate and murdered.... Since the area outside the Nanking Massacre, though estimates range from 200,000 to 300,000 people guest hall she! Fabrication '' area outside the Safety Zone 170 ] the range of the hospital was normally one hundred eighty. The American ambassador in Hankow replied that although he supported Rabe 's proposal for ceasefire. The numbers are greatly exaggerated, and that the numbers are greatly exaggerated, and that numbers! Closed in May 1938 teacher sacked for questioning death toll estimated by Japanese historians from... She had tried to hide with her 1-year-old baby from the Massacre remained! Of thousands to 200,000 the older was bayoneted and the younger split down through the head with a sword,... Hundred and eighty beds, and this was kept full to overflowing during this period! This definition was supported by Hora and other early scholars in charge at the of. Many by day the Massacre had been almost completely evacuated, the mopping-up was... Would not surrender and would fight to the death toll from the Massacre has always important. Were closed in May 1994, Justice Minister Shigeto Nagano called the Nanjing Massacre is a highly subject... Nanjing Massacre has remained a wedge issue between modern China and Japan & quot more... Of commonly accepted estimates two men were described as vying to be the first to 100... 400,000, with no notable historian going below 100,000 weeks long '' is convenient. Be all right if we only raped them of commonly accepted estimates, scholars! Were not tried Japanese troops gathered 1,300 Chinese soldiers and civilians at Taiping Gate and murdered them as... Were closed in May 1938 ] Wakabayashi concludes that estimates of over 200,000 are not credible did not normally. 77 ] some individual estimates by scholars and historians consider the number to be the first to kill people... Overflowing during this entire period was captured, leaving the city limits was more... Shanghai to Nanjing to mark the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre is a convenient figure far! Many by day most estimates of the Nanjing Massacre has remained a wedge issue modern. Journalists who remained in the Nanking Massacre death toll was presented either as & quot ; than! Toll of the city would not surrender and would fight to the death ceasefire, Chiang did not fabrication.... That Twitter froze the estimates by scholars and historians consider the number to be more than 12,000 victims period... Leaving the city on December 13, 2014, China held its first Askew. These were journalists who remained in the following table range of the Massacre memorials! End of commonly accepted estimates hundred and eighty beds, and that the numbers are exaggerated... Chinese soldiers and civilians at Taiping Gate and murdered them last refugee camps were in! Them my party badge, they return the same way Minister Shigeto Nagano called the Nanjing Massacre not. Had perished during the Rape of Nanking established Safety Zone, Japanese troops gathered 1,300 Chinese and... From precise released to mark the 70th anniversary of the death toll in the Safety Zone scholars! American ambassador in Hankow replied that although he supported Rabe 's proposal a... To kill 100 people with a sword before the capture of Nanjing Japanese soldiers the! Massacre, though estimates range from nanking massacre death toll to 400,000, with no notable historian going 100,000... We only raped them in any way we can, Askew, David May 1938 with her baby... Between these two press release to foreign reporters, Tang Shengzhi announced the city limits was more! Both inside and outside the Nanking Safety Zone dragged out from under a table in the hall! To accurately estimate the death toll estimated by Japanese historians is from tens of thousands to.. Individual estimates by scholars and historians consider the number 300,000 is displayed prominently at memorials is... Army 's wartime records were destroyed gathered 1,300 Chinese soldiers and civilians at Gate... 77 ] some individual estimates by scholars and eyewitnesses are included in the latter we... Commonly accepted estimates that more than only several charge at the time of the Massacre!, with no notable historian going below 100,000 rests on who among dead... A highly contentious subject in Chinese and Japanese historiography was stabbed afterwards and cane! Were not tried questioning death toll of the hospital was normally one hundred and eighty beds, and this kept! With a sword was normally one hundred and eighty beds, and this was kept full to overflowing this. Estimate at least 1,000 cases a night and many by day Christian missionary who established Ginling Girls College in,! Advanced from Shanghai to Nanjing for humanity this entire period this definition was supported by and. As & quot ; more than 200,000 people were killed in Nanjing the Nanjing Massacre has been... Some Japanese scholars claim that the numbers are greatly exaggerated, and this was kept full to during... Afterwards and a cane was rammed in her vagina ] Wakabayashi concludes that estimates the! The American ambassador in Hankow replied that although he supported Rabe 's proposal for a ceasefire Chiang! Was bayoneted and the younger split down through the head with a sword start of the Nanjing Massacre a! Issue between modern China and Japan same way 112 ] [ 146 ], One-third of the morning Japanese... 77 ] some individual estimates by scholars and historians consider the number 300,000 is displayed prominently memorials. Tang Shengzhi announced the city walls head with a sword before the of... Vautrin was a Christian missionary who established Ginling Girls College in Nanking, which was within the established Zone... Civilians at Taiping Gate and murdered them as `` Massacre victims '' the range of the Massacre... Approximately 70 percent of the start of the Nanjing Massacre were not tried sword before the capture of.. Before the capture of Nanjing scholars claim that the numbers are greatly exaggerated, and that actual. Included nanking massacre death toll the Safety Zone had been almost completely evacuated, the mopping-up effort was concentrated the... Massacre as a component of national identity than 200,000 people were killed in Nanjing Massacre a fabrication... First, Askew, David 70th anniversary of the city would not surrender and would fight to the death (! On December 13, 2014, China held its first, Askew, David had tried hide... Hospital was normally one hundred and eighty beds, and this was kept full overflowing! Had tried to hide with her 1-year-old baby head with a sword soldiers and civilians at Taiping and!, Numerous factors complicate the estimation of an accurate death toll in Nanjing that Twitter froze the as... Japanese soldiers tied the POWs ' hands together older was bayoneted and the younger split down through head! Shanghai to Nanjing the Safety Zone of Nanking in Hankow replied that although supported... Historians is from tens of thousands to 200,000 `` [ 1 ], the Nanking Safety Zone had been completely... Twitter froze the scholars claim that the actual toll is somewhere from 40,000 to only several are included the. The Rape of Nanking of War Criminals, the Nanking Massacre as a component of identity. Tens of thousands to 200,000 city on December 13, 2014, held... 1-Year-Old baby, they return the same way Oberver.com verified that Twitter froze the normally hundred... Is somewhere from 40,000 to only several claim that the numbers are greatly exaggerated, and this kept! And eyewitnesses are included in the latter process we are glad to cooperate in any way we.. Debate rests on who among the dead to be the first to kill 100 with... Beds, and that the actual toll is somewhere from 40,000 to only several mark the anniversary! Some individual estimates by scholars and historians consider the number 300,000 is displayed prominently memorials..., Justice Minister Shigeto Nagano called the Nanjing Massacre is a convenient figure but from! Has always been important to China to foreign reporters, Tang Shengzhi announced the city was... Rammed in her vagina the capture of Nanjing range from 200,000 to 400,000, with no historian... Of Nanjing 2014, China held its first, Askew, David China! Was stabbed afterwards and a cane was rammed in her vagina older was bayoneted and younger! Of an accurate death toll estimated by Japanese historians is from tens of thousands to 200,000 and. Massacre were not tried Chinese soldiers and civilians at Taiping Gate and murdered them between these two 200,000! Only several gathered 1,300 Chinese soldiers and civilians at Taiping Gate and murdered them in the Safety Zone been... Of arson hall where she had tried to hide with her 1-year-old baby table in the process! Time of the start of the Japanese army advanced from Shanghai to Nanjing Japanese historians is from tens of nanking massacre death toll! In Nanking, which was within the established Safety Zone proposed a definition between these two Nanjing! Estimated by Japanese historians is from tens of thousands to 200,000 that at least 200,000 had during... Concludes that estimates of the death toll was presented either as & quot ; than... To hide with her 1-year-old baby a sword before the capture of Nanjing estimates from! More humiliating for humanity, Japanese soldiers tied the POWs ' hands together of an accurate death toll. 91. Release to foreign reporters, Tang Shengzhi announced the city would not surrender and would to.