Analyzing the “Photographic Evidence” of the Nanking Massacre

Chūgoku no tabiPhoto A: Multiple publications have been reprinted Photo10 in a variety of sizes.Chūgoku noNihon-gun(d) An alleged public execution in NankingWMRB introduces Photos 12 and 13 as the scenes of “stabbing to death” andPhotos 14 and 15 as those of “beheading.” Photos A and B, which resemble those ofPhotos 12 and 13, are in ZKH while Photos C and D, which are obviously captured at thesame location, are printed in some publications, including Junia-ban shasin de mirunihon no shinryaku [Japanese Invasion As Seen In Photographs: Edition for Juniors](1995). The identical formation of the ground that appears in Photos 12, B, C, and D isconvincing proof that these pictures were taken of the same location.Judging by the presence of so many spectators on the spot, these picturessupposedly captures the scene of a public execution. One cannot clearly determine thenationality of the spectators, but they should have gossiped about the event afterward.But neither the Japanese nor the Westerners in Nanking at the time recorded anything of apublic execution taking place in their official or private reports.According to Rabe’s diary, Reuter correspondent L.C. Smith spoke about theJapanese army’s execution he had happened to witness on his way out from Nanking.Smith said that after he had seen some 100 men killed, a Japanese officer who was incharge there noticed him and ordered him to leave the spot immediately.It is true that the Japanese army put to death a number of Chinese soldiers on theYangzi shore in broad day light following its mop-up operation in the safety zone. But78