Analyzing the “Photographic Evidence” of the Nanking Massacre

3. Still Images of Dead BodiesIf the Japanese army had truly massacred as many as 300,000 people, their deadbodies should have filled the city, and observant people would have photographed them.The first group of the so-called Nanking atrocity photographs printed in publications ofthe late 1930s, however, did not show scenes that corroborate this allegation. Instead,most of them captured the images of one or two dead bodies, or several dozens at most.Many of the victims in the photos are of women and children. As for those in theWMRB, most of the dead bodies are charred ones. One cannot identify the location ofwhere any one of these pictures was taken.Here is a mystery relevant to the photographs of the dead bodies. John G.Magee, an American missionary who remained in Nanking throughout the battle and theJapanese occupation, took some still pictures of dead bodies in addition to hiswell-known motion pictures. Although Timperly, who was reportedly collecting suchphotographs, was involved in the editing of Magee’s pictures, he did not use any ofMagee’s still images in his publication. This point will be subject to detailed scrutiny inChapter 4. Here, the primary point is to determine whether or not those photographstruly captured scenes of the alleged atrocities in Nanking.(a) Charred remains of a small childPhoto 16 is included in WMRB. It shows a truly heart-breaking scene thatimpresses the viewers with the horrors of war. Although it might be morally imprudentto investigate and comment on such a photograph, the research team decided to analyze itas an academic probe to determine whether or not it is truly photographic evidence of thealleged atrocities.Photo 16: The first appearance of this photograph was in WMRB. Comparedwith Photo B, the original image was cropped so that the charredbody of the infant looked larger.In Battle of China, an American propaganda film from which Photo A was taken,91