New evidence of the Japanese atrocities committed in the Nanjing
Massacre has been uncovered in diaries written by a military doctor
in 1937 and 1938. The diaries and accompanying letters were sent
anonymously to Zhu Chengshan, head of the Nanjing Massacre Museum,
who opened the package on Wednesday afternoon.
The diaries appear to have been written by military doctor Jiang
Gonggu from December 23, 1937 until February 27, 1938. Jiang was a
member of the Chinese army stationed in Nanjing.
When Japanese soldiers invaded the city, he hid in the safety
zone and eventually fled in February 1938. The diaries record the
atrocities he witnessed.
The package also contained letters apparently written by 11
senior officials of the Kuomintang government, including Zhang
Zhizhong, Chen Bulei, Bai Chongxi and Jiang Dingwen. The letters
include the officials' reactions to reading the diaries.
"It is a record of the blood, it is the reality, and it shows
the Japanese invaders' cruelty and violence..." says one of Zhang's
letters.
Zhang Yiping, secretary of the Collectors' Association of
Jiangsu Province, has seen the letters and is treating them as
genuine. "It is the first time the museum has had such materials
concerning the massacre written by Kuomintang officials
themselves," said Zhu.
The donor of the letters and diaries remains a mystery. Zhu said
that the museum would do its best to find out who sent them.
(China Daily August 20, 2004)