"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."—George Santayana
Throughout her book, Iris Chang emphasizes the notion that history shall not be forgotten. I choose to read The Rape of Nanking after a weekend visit with some friends to the actual Nanjing Memorial. One of the things I noticed about the memorial was that it was insanely popular and there was a line about a half a mile outside of the memorial. It might have been because of the national holiday or it could have had to do with the recent surplus of news surrounding the Senkaku and Diaoyu islands between Japan and China...who knows? Either way it was cool to see how many interested civilians there were.
People have often called the Nanjing massacre the "Forgotten Holocaust" which is a very sad. Sad for the 300,000 who lost their lives and also sad because so many people do not learn about it. I remember teaching World history two years ago and even though I taught a whole unit on China, I can't recall one word in the text about the Nanjing massacre. It is a controversial topic because according to some people (including the book author Iris Chang) some of the Japanese deny being involved in the massacre- which is possibly one of the worst massacres in modern history.
I left the memorial feeling a desire to want to learn more about this devastating event in history which took the lives of 300,000 people and while The Rape of Nanking is a non-fiction book it was based on events that Chang's parents had told her and other research she had completed. I found the entire book to be very informative and as well as emotional. The diary entries from Minnie Vautrin (an American teacher in China during the massacre) especially had an impact on me and made me think about what I would have done/do if I were in a similar situation..
Below are some of the pictures from the weekend I visited the memorial.
Throughout her book, Iris Chang emphasizes the notion that history shall not be forgotten. I choose to read The Rape of Nanking after a weekend visit with some friends to the actual Nanjing Memorial. One of the things I noticed about the memorial was that it was insanely popular and there was a line about a half a mile outside of the memorial. It might have been because of the national holiday or it could have had to do with the recent surplus of news surrounding the Senkaku and Diaoyu islands between Japan and China...who knows? Either way it was cool to see how many interested civilians there were.
People have often called the Nanjing massacre the "Forgotten Holocaust" which is a very sad. Sad for the 300,000 who lost their lives and also sad because so many people do not learn about it. I remember teaching World history two years ago and even though I taught a whole unit on China, I can't recall one word in the text about the Nanjing massacre. It is a controversial topic because according to some people (including the book author Iris Chang) some of the Japanese deny being involved in the massacre- which is possibly one of the worst massacres in modern history.
I left the memorial feeling a desire to want to learn more about this devastating event in history which took the lives of 300,000 people and while The Rape of Nanking is a non-fiction book it was based on events that Chang's parents had told her and other research she had completed. I found the entire book to be very informative and as well as emotional. The diary entries from Minnie Vautrin (an American teacher in China during the massacre) especially had an impact on me and made me think about what I would have done/do if I were in a similar situation..
Below are some of the pictures from the weekend I visited the memorial.
The crowd waiting in line for the memorial.
 Some of the victims quotes hung up around the memorial. |  A picture of Minnie Vautrin, the American teacher and missionary who helped save the lives of some of the Chinese. |
 Thousands of paper cranes to remember the victims. |  "Peace Park" that is located right outside the memorial. |
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