Rape of Nanking: Low Point of 20th-century Japanese Aggression

The Rape of Nanking (now known as Nanjing) remains for me one of the most horrific, yet virtually unknown, acts that humans have committed upon one another. The relative obscurity of this atrocity is especially strange given that it occurred in the well-documented 20th century. Even more so because it is more or less wrapped up in the events of World War II, one of the best documented events in history.

The massacres, rapes and murders by Japanese soldiers in the winter of 1937-38 are recounted in gory detail (with even gorier photographs) in Iris Chang's book, The Rape of Nanking. Be warned, it is a very strong book. I could only read one chapter at a time.

Humans, uniquely in the animal world, have an amazing capacity to inflict cruelty upon one another. It's a characteristic that crosses racial, ethnic, sexual and national boundaries. Yet hardly anyone knows about the Rape of Nanking.

It seems like everyone knows about Adolf Hitler, the Nazi storm troopers, the concentration camps like Auschwitz and Dachau, and atrocities committed against the Jews of Europe. As a nation, the Germans have been trying to make amends for these deeds ever since the end of World War II. Outbreaks of fascism in Germany are routinely criticized as harshly inside Germany as they are outside the country.

But look at Japan and Nanking. The Japanese have never been busted by world opinion for the atrocities in Nanking, many Japanese textbooks still attempt to deny that it ever happened and there seems to be great support today in Japan for the country's militaristic past. In domestic politics, it has been considered an advantage for politicians to embrace the controversial Yakusuni Shrine, home to Japanese heroes and war criminals.

Why the difference? Because post-World War II media was dominated by the West and the West has traditionally been more interested in Europe than in Asia? Because Western schools have historically taught history with an emphasis on European events rather than Asian affairs? Or are the Jews better at PR than the Chinese?