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The Nanjing Massacre (Nanjing Da Tusha 南京大屠殺 in Chinese); Nankin Dai Gyaku-satsu 南京大虐殺 in Japanese), also known as the Rape of Nanking, refers to the widespread atrocities conducted against Chinese civilians in Nanking after its fall to Japanese troops on December 13, 1937 during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).

Estimated by Chinese government 300,000 people were killed during the following three months (December 1937 - February 1938), though the number is still in dispute. The number cited in the book The Rape of Nanjing was 260,000.

Although some few Japanese historians either deny the existence of atrocities or seek to minimize them, the events following the fall of Nanking are well documented by journalists and other eyewitnesses and are not disputed by most historians including the majority of Japanese historians.

Reports by American reporters of Japanese brutality against Chinese civilians helped turn American public opinion against Japan and led to a series of events which culminated in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

"Rape of Nanking" is a term commonly used in America for referring to the massacre. It is the subject of the book The Rape of Nanjing, published in 1998.

See also: genocide

External links and references

• Extremely gruesome photos of the massacre
• Online documentary: The Nanking Atrocities
• Book: The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang, William C. Kirby; Penguin USA (Paper); ISBN 0140277447; (November 1998)