[Headline of Series Report]
Hou Zhen: Time passes, can memories last forever? It has been 80 years since the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese invaders. When we open again the 11 sets of Nanjing Massacre archives selected as World Memory Heritage, these words, photos, and images will evoke the common memory of mankind. Jiangsu News Broadcasting series report: "Echoes of Nanjing of World Memory Heritage", for the memory that cannot be forgotten, and for the eternal peace in the future.
Dear listeners, I am reporter Qian Yiming. My current location is near the east of Laomen in Nanjing. Today, this place has been turned into a quaint historical and cultural scenic spot. It was here 80 years ago, and it was also this winter. A group of Japanese soldiers stormed into a house at No. 5 Xinlukou. Seven of the residents of the house, Xia Shuqin’s nine members, were slaughtered, only eight years old. Xia Shuqin passed out after three stabs in her body, only to survive with her four-year-old sister. An American pastor, John Maggie, used a camera to capture the tragic situation of the little girl Xia Shuqin at the time, and this video later became an ironclad evidence of the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese invaders.
[Archive story] Hou Zhen: Eleven sets of Nanjing Massacre archives were selected as World Memory Heritage. The second one is the 16mm camera and its master film of American pastor John Magee, which is now hidden in Nanjing by the Japanese invaders. Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Holocaust. After the fall of Nanjing on December 13, 1937, Maggie risked his life and used a 16mm camera to photograph the atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders in Nanjing. A total of 4 films were taken, about 105 minutes, these real shots It is the only dynamic picture of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese invaders. [Stop talking]
After the fall of Nanjing, all reporters were asked to leave by the Japanese army. After December 13, Nanjing became an isolated city of information. John Maggie used a home camera. 80 years later, John Maggie’s grandson Chris Maggie returned to Nanjing to reminisce about his grandfather’s deeds. Chris said that his grandfather bought this camera for his work. And the beauty of family life, under the circumstances at the time, he switched the camera and made a humane choice:
[reording]My grandfather's shooting was very difficult. After the fall of Nanjing, all reporters were asked to leave by the Japanese army. [recording stop]
After December 13, Nanjing became an isolated city of information. John Maggie used a home camera. 80 years later, John Maggie’s grandson Chris Maggie returned to Nanjing to reminisce about his grandfather’s deeds. Chris said that his grandfather bought this camera for his work. And the beauty of family life, under the circumstances at the time, he switched the camera and made a humane choice:
[Recording and mixing translation] My grandfather's shooting situation was very difficult. It was under the surveillance of the Japanese army. The situation at that time can be described as horror. Then the Japanese army invading China was unwilling to do what they did in Nanjing. Things spread out. My grandfather could have left easily at that time. Others told him, go home and don't stay here, but he finally chose to stay, take care of the people here, fight with them, and become a witness to this tragedy. 【Recording stop】
Gulou Hospital is now one of the most well-known public tertiary hospitals in Jiangsu Province. During the massacre, it was the first emergency hospital constructed in the International Security Zone. Here, John Maggie photographed nearly 30 Chinese refugees who were persecuted by the Japanese army. The tragic situation. Due to the inability to record the sound, Maggie included a paragraph of explanation at the end of each case.
[File story] Hou Zhen: (translation) This 19-year-old girl was 7 months pregnant. A Japanese wanted to rape her. She rebelled. So she was stabbed with a bayonet by the Japanese. When she was sent to the hospital, she was at least There were 29 wounds, and she had a miscarriage a day later; this was a young girl about 11 years old. She and her parents were standing near an air-raid shelter. Japanese soldiers stabbed her father to death with a bayonet and shot to death. Her mother also stabbed her in the elbow with a bayonet; this was a boatman on the Yangtze River. After the Japanese soldiers shot him, they poured gasoline on him and burned him. Although he dragged him and fled to the hospital, Still dead. [Stop talking]
[recording]Under the monitoring of that kind of Japanese army, the situation at that time can be described as terror, and then the Japanese army invading China was unwilling to spread what they did in Nanjing. My grandfather could have left easily at that time. Others told him, go home and don't stay here, but he finally chose to stay, take care of the people here, fight with them, and become a witness to this tragedy.【Recording stop】
Gulou Hospital is now one of the most well-known public tertiary hospitals in Jiangsu Province. During the massacre, it was the first emergency hospital constructed in the International Security Zone. Here, John Maggie photographed nearly 30 Chinese refugees who were persecuted by the Japanese army. The tragic situation. Due to the inability to record the sound, Maggie included a paragraph of explanation at the end of each case.
[File story] Hou Zhen: (translation) This 19-year-old girl was 7 months pregnant. A Japanese wanted to rape her. She rebelled. So she was stabbed with a bayonet by the Japanese. When she was sent to the hospital, she was at least There were 29 wounds, and she had a miscarriage a day later; this was a young girl about 11 years old. She and her parents were standing near an air-raid shelter. Japanese soldiers stabbed her father to death with a bayonet and shot to death. Her mother also stabbed her in the elbow with a bayonet; this was a boatman on the Yangtze River. After the Japanese soldiers shot him, they poured gasoline on him and burned him. Although he dragged him and fled to the hospital, Still dead. [Stop talking]
Perhaps it was a reincarnation of history. 50 years after the Tokyo trial, in 1998, Japanese right-wingers Shudo Higashino and Toshio Matsumura publicly described the survivors of the Nanjing Massacre as "false witnesses" and even accused the survivor Xia Shuqin of "deliberately fabricating facts." , Deceive the world and steal the name". In oder to defend his reputation and the dignity of the Chinese, in 2000, 71-year-old Xia Shuqin sued the Japanese Toshio Matsura, Shudo Higashi Nakano, and Nippon Exhibition Transfer in Nanjing for infringement of reputation rights. Maggie's images have once again become key evidence. Xia Shuqin's granddaughter Xia Yuan:
[Recording] The lawyer who helped us in the lawsuit found this video evidence from the memorial hall. At that time, this video shot by John Magee became an important evidence for my grandmother’s lawsuit. Video, the lawsuit was finally won.【Recording stop】
Nowadays, Maggie’s images are screened continuously in the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese Invaders. Every year, countless visitors from all over the world use this video to visually witness the atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders in China. According to Cui Wei, a researcher at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences, today, this video of Maggie is even more precious:
[Recording] As time goes by, the Nanjing Massacre is getting farther and farther away from us. People living today rarely know the truth of this massacre intuitively, so the precious meaning of this image is revealed Up. It is the only very intuitive moving image data that has survived to the present, which makes up for our lack of historical data. Second, it can effectively refute all the Japanese rightists' remarks about denying the Nanjing Massacre. Here are some pictures. The truth is that we intuitively felt the real scene of the tragic Nanjing Massacre. 【Recording stop】