The Nanking Massacre

Over several decades, there has been greater responsibility in pushing media coverage and human rights initiatives, especially in the 21st Century, a current example being the conflict in Syria. However, there have been numerous drawbacks in society varying throughout the world with the Nanking Massacre being an event that took an entire country into utter misery and helplessness. 1937 was a year that Nanking, China will always keep logged into memory and history due to the horrendous acts of the Japanese army and their cruel attempt to occupy the Republic of China. Because this genocide lasted six weeks comparably less to the several years’ Jewish individuals had to endure, it often goes unnoticed and overshadowed by its infamous counterpart controlled by Adolf Hitler. The Nanking Massacre is the neglected Holocaust because of its lower death toll, shortened time span, and lessened media attention while it progressed. The massacre was not only witnessed by Japanese and Chinese citizens alike but American citizens onboard the U.S.S Oahu at Shanghai as well and it is interesting reading an eyewitness document from an individual “Looking from the Outside, in” to get the full effect of what is unfolding. According to F. Tillman from The New York Times, “Late Wednesday the Japanese had not removed the dead, and two days of heavy military traffic had been passing through, grinding over the remains of men, dogs, and horses.” An absolute monstrosity to encounter no matter what period it occurs and to imagine decades later, these infamous events should not have gone unnoticed and pinned as unimportant in comparison to the Holocaust but noted as a cataclysm against Chinese society. While media awareness is key to gain the attention of the world, the magnitude of news articles played a major role in how the Nanking Massacre and The Holocaust were perceived during this time. An article published on June 25 1942, by the Daily Telegraph chose the title of this article carefully, stating “Germans Murder 700,000 Jews in Poland.” These choices of words were intentionally chosen in the attempt to gain audience awareness and obtain a sense of pathos or sadness for Jewish citizens in Poland. It is clear what Adolf Hitler’s intentions were solely from this article title, however, a New York Times newspaper published December 14 1937, began an article with “Nanking Occupied, Japanese Report” showing the minute reality of what was occurring in China. This article continued to add that Japan had a “bitter all day battle” with China, while in retrospect, is far from the true nature. These varying newspaper headlines decided the opinions of their readers and a headline such as the one regarding Nanking seemed as though China was at fault for their fight and Japan fought against their will when that was not the scenario. It is clear and concise in the Holocaust headline that German soldiers were the enemies at this point and Adolf Hitler was not only its leader but a clearly painted evil villain of the Nazi regime. To focus on the calamity that occurred in China, the eyewitness …show more content…
Sometimes bodies had to be moved before automobiles could pass.” To reiterate and depict these heinous images, it is difficult to imagine that an event of this magnitude could have gone unnoticed. However, despite this, it is important to deepen one’s understanding of what the individuals of Nanking suffered through and how important this infamous event was in world history. Because this document is an eyewitness account of an American citizen, it relieves such bias that can be found in the narration of how the events of The Nanking Massacre took place. Often, eyewitness accounts from individuals apart of events such as the Holocaust and The Nanking Massacre rely heavily or partially dependent on the side that the eye witness took part …show more content…
It is important to note that neither occurrence should hold more weight than the other but hold a level of severe importance, separately because they are two events that need to be equally recognized. While researching this topic, it raises the question of history repeating itself, a thought that is often considered taboo, will there be another genocide? Can society predict these types of horrific events and stop them before they become