Documents on the Rape of NankingTimothy Brook The Japanese Army's invasion of China in 1937 was the first step toward a hemispheric war that would last until the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. What ended in one atrocity began with another: the savage military takeover of China's capital city, which quickly became known as the Rape of Nanking. The Japanese Army's conduct from December 1937 to February 1938 constitutes one of the most barbarous events not just of the war but of the century. The violence was documented at the time and then redocumented during the war crimes trial in Tokyo after the war. This book brings together materials from both moments to provide the first comprehensive dossier of primary sources on the Rape. Part 1, "The Records," includes two sources written as the Rape was underway. The first is a long set of documents produced by the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone, a group of foreigners who strove to protect the Chinese residents. The second is a series of letters that American surgeon Dr. Robert Wilson wrote for his family during the same period. These letters are published here for the first time. The evidence compiled by the International Committee and its members would be decisive for the indictments against Japanese leaders at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo. Part 2, "The Judgments," reprints portions of the tribunal's 1948 judgment dealing with the Rape of Nanking, its judicial consequences, and sections of the dissenting judgment of Justice Radhabinod Pal. These contemporary records and judgments create an intimate firsthand account of the Rape of Nanking. Together they are intended to stimulate deeper reflection than previously possible on how and why we assess and assign the burden of war guilt. Timothy Brook is Professor of Chinese History and Associate Director of the Joint Centre for Asia Pacific Studies, University of Toronto, and is coeditor of Nation Work: Asian Elites and National Identities and Cultureand Economy: The Shaping of Capitalism in Eastern Asia, both published by the University of Michigan Press. |
Contents
Documenting the Rape of Nanking | 1 |
Documents of the Nanking Safety Zone | |
The Family Letters of Dr Robert Wilson | 199 |
Judgment of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East | 257 |
The Dissenting Opinion of Radhabinod Pal | 269 |
299 | |
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afternoon American atrocities bags of flour bags of rice Bates bayonet burned Chen Chieh Chih Wei Yuan Chung civilian population December 17 December 20 Disorder documents door February fire Fitch foreign four Japanese soldiers Fukuda Fukui gate Ginling College H. D. RABE Chairman Hankow Road HIROTA Hsiang Hsü International Committee January 29 January 30 Japanese Army Japanese authorities Japanese Embassy Japanese soldiers entered JOHN H. D. RABE John Rabe killed Kroeger last night LETTER TO JAPANESE LEWIS S. C. SMYTHE looted Magee MATSUI McCallum military police Minnie Vautrin morning Nanking Safety Zone NUMBER officer Pal's Rape of Nanking Red Swastika Society refugee camps reports respectfully returned home Riggs robbed searched Self-Government Committee Shan Shanghai Shih shot Sperling taken three Japanese soldiers tion Tokyo trucks Tze Chih Wei University Hospital University of Nanking Wang weeks Wei Yuan Hwei woman women yesterday