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I’ll close today’s entry with this prayer in my heart: May a gracious God keep all of you from ever having
to face a crisis like the one in which we now fi nd ourselves. I do not regret having stayed on here, for my
presence has saved many lives, but all the same, my suffering is indescribable. (Rabe 92-3)
Tsen Shuifang
December 24, 1937
Yesterday the soldiers guarding the gate were better. [The situation] on the streets is improving. Those
bad soldiers left and went to Hsu Chow [city north of Nanking] to fi ght. The day before yesterday [the
Japanese authorities] said they would protect people. It’s diffi cult to enforce. I don’t think they will do it.
Every day [the Japanese soldiers] loot outside and take everything, even searching for a few cents, including
coins [they take] from women. They are extremely poor.
Today a certain Japanese staff offi cer came here with several Chinese to fi nd prostitutes. If prostitutes
would engage in their profession outside, the soldiers would not frequent the refugee camps to fi nd nice
girls to molest. This kind of talk has some merit. There are a number of prostitutes here, so [we] let them
look, and several Chinese in the group could identify prostitutes. During two days recently, some Japanese
prostitutes arrived. Under the circumstances, [the soldiers] can do whatever they like. [Chinese] people being
humiliated is the government’s fault. It is really sad. . . .
I have to hide the diary every time after I write, fearing it will be confi scated by the Japanese soldiers. So
does Vautrin. Today, another child died after a long illness. Every day, there are births, deaths, and sicknesses.
They are unavoidable among some ten thousand people. (Hu and Zhang 64-5)
Minnie Vautrin
December 24, 1937
The day before Christmas! About ten o’clock I was called to my offi ce to interview the high military
advisor for the ____ division. Fortunately he had an interpreter with him, an old Chinese interpreter for the
Embassy. The request was that they be allowed to pick out the prostitute women from our ten thousand
refugees. They said they wanted one hundred. They feel if they can start a regular licensed place for the
soldiers then they will not molest innocent and decent women. After promising they would not take any of
the latter, we permitted them to begin their search, the adviser sitting in my offi ce during the search. After a
long time, they fi nally secured twenty-one. Some, they think, made off when they heard such a search was to
be made and some are still in hiding. Group after group of girls have asked me if they will select the other
seventy-nine from the decent girls—and all I can answer is that they will not do it if it is in my power to
prevent it.
This evening at 6:30 we had a simple Christmas service there with only ourselves and Mrs. Tsen’s daughterin-law
and four children. The little children enjoyed the simple gifts,—it was wrong not to have something
for them, although the grandmother did not approve. Tomorrow we will use the room four times for other
groups.
At 4:30 went over to the University [of Nanking] to check the report that a number of weeping women
had been brought to me. They were told that a number of men have been selected out from the refugees and
are to be killed unless they are identifi ed at once.
Many women are faced with terrible dilemmas—to stay with their husbands and be raped by soldiers
when their husbands are turned out of house at point of bayonet; [or] to come to Ginling [Jinling], and leave
their husbands—the latter then runs risk of being carried off and killed.
Stray groups of soldiers have almost ceased to come to the campus since we have the guard and patrol at
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