Analyzing the “Photographic Evidence” of the Nanking Massacre

My mission was to visit the office of the refugee zone from time to timeand negotiate with the staff there. One day, I saw two or three Americanstyping something. When I looked over their shoulders, I saw themtyping documents reporting on Japanese soldiers raping women. I toldthem in an indignant tone, “Who told you of these stories? You shouldnot type up such stories without authentication. You need to verify thesefacts.” My speculation is that they were providing materials forTimperly’s book. Even after that, I repeatedly cautioned them not torecord what the Chinese people said without any supportive evidence. . . .I was in charge of listening to their complaints of various types, whichcontained both truths and lies. I was fed up with these. . . .On another occasion, American vice consul visited me. He told me thatJapanese soldiers driving trucks were now stealing lumber from awarehouse owned by an American in Xiakuan. Upon hearing this, Icalled a staff officer of the army and hastened to the scene with the viceconsul and that staff officer. It was about 9 a.m. The temperature wasfreezing, and the snow was falling. We hurried to the scene by car.Upon arrival, however, we saw no one. The warehouse was locked, andthere was no sign of foul play. I complained to the vice consul, “Nothinghas happened here. I asked even a staff officer to come all the way tothis place. From now on, you should call me after you have confirmedthe fact. Our army is considerate enough to send a staff officerimmediately in response to this kind of minor incident. You should bemore careful.” The vice consul appeared to be very embarrassed.Unfortunately, this type of incident happened frequently. . . .I admit that the Japanese army did perpetrate some criminal acts. Butthere is absolutely no evidence to corroborate the contention pertinent tothe massacre of 200,000 or 300,000—or even thousands. . . . There werewatchful eyes of Westerners and Chinese residents. If an atrocity of thatscale had happened, it would have become a sensational topic. The storyof the great massacre is a fabrication. It was a product of propaganda.Actually, the “Daily Reports” noted in its report no. 10 that on December 18 the numberof complaints filed by the Chinese nationals was too large for the ICNSZ staff to type allof them up. This clearly shows that the international committee compiled the “DailyReports” just by listening to stories reported by Chinese individuals without making anyeffort to substantiate them.In addition, quite a few cases in the “Daily Report” do not identify Japanesesoldiers as perpetrators. A possibility is that Chinese civilians or Chinese combatants inhiding committed these crimes. Thus, one may even conclude that the writers of the“Daily Reports” compiled them on the prejudicial assumption that the Japanesecommitted these heinous acts.Even some Westerners criticized this tendency. Rabe’s diary quoted PaulSchalfenberg of the German embassy in Nanking as saying that the reports of theJapanese army’s violence were based only on stories provided by the Chinese.As for the criminal acts committed by the Chinese, Guo Zhi, a Chinese battalion53