Guo Linda, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, passed away on January 6, 2023 at the age of 93.

On December 13, 1937, the Japanese troops occupied Nanjing. That year, Guo was only seven years old. The Japanese soldiers killed his granduncle (elder brother of his grandfather) and the cow in his home. Guo escaped to his grandmother’s home but after a few days, some Japanese soldiers came and raped his grandmother. Guo luckily survived, but the emotional trauma lingered throughout his life. Guo often talked about that experience with his children and grandchildren during his lifetime. He hoped for world peace and there would be no war anymore.

Li Meilan, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, passed away on January 13, 2023 at the age of 96.

Li was only 10 years old when the Nanjing Massacre happened. She and her family (her parents, two sisters, and two brothers) lived near the Qingliang Mountain. Her father, Li Wenhuan, grew and sold vegetables. Before the Japanese soldiers invaded Nanjing, they took refuge in a bomb shelter they dug behind the Qingliang Mountain to escape the bombs from the Japanese planes. But later they moved to the home of her grandmother at Fuzuo Road in the refugee area because they worried it was not safe to stay in the bomb shelter. After a few days, they still felt scared, so her mother took Li and her sisters to Ginling College. Her father, grandmother and aunt remained there. On December 14, 1937, some Japanese soldiers broke into her grandmother’s home and took her father to the waterfront in Xiaguan. In the end, he was shot by the Japanese soldiers with machine guns. After her father died, Li recalled, her mother cried all day long.

Her father was the backbone of the whole family. After he died, her mother had a hard time supporting the five children. Without food, she could only take them to Ginling College where porridge was offered. One year later, they went back to the home of Li’s grandmother, put up a shed, and made a living by selling tea.

Ge Daorong, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, passed away on January 21, 2023 at the age of 96.

When the Japanese soldiers invaded Nanjing, Ge hid in the refugee shelter of Ginling College. The soldiers broke in, slapped Ge in the face and plunged a bayonet into his right leg, leaving a scar for the rest of his life. Ge survived, but his three uncles, Ge Zhixie, Pan Zhaoxiang and Wang Junsheng, were all killed by the Japanese soldiers.

Over these years, Ge never forgot the history. He told the experience to people around him over and over again. He also wrote hundreds of thousands of words to complete a personal project: his memoirs. The book, titled “Remember History”, was bound and regarded as a special family heirloom to be passed down in the Ge family.

During the Chongyang Festival, which falls on the ninth day of the ninth Chinese lunar month, in 2022, the Memorial Hall invited Ge to attend activities including writing the “Shou” (literally meaning longevity) character, watching performances, and tasting delicious food. Ge enjoyed himself at the Memorial Hall. That was the last time Ge attended such activities. Now he passed away, but he will be remembered forever.

Zhou Xiangping, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, passed away on January 30, 2023 at the age of 94.

When the Japanese troops occupied Nanjing in 1937, Zhou was just eight years old. On the morning of December 13, her father, 39, was about to go out together with her uncle and elder brother when they met several Japanese soldiers. Zhou and her elder sister saw the soldiers surround them with their bayonet. They hid behind the door, feeling weakness in their legs. Then the soldiers marched them into the house and asked who would work for the Japanese military. At first, Zhou’s father said he had to stay to support the family, but considering that Zhou’s brother was still too young and her uncle was mentally defective, he still left with the soldiers. That afternoon, someone came to Zhou’s home and told them Zhou’s father was beat to death by the Japanese soldiers at the Turtle Bridge near Nanmen. Zhou’s grandfather went out to search for his son, but was also killed by the Japanese soldiers. Later, Zhou’s mother and brother searched for their bodies near Zhonghuamen and Jiangdongmen for days, but didn’t find any in the end.

On the morning of November 26, 2014, Zhou told the Tokyo Religious Federationthe cruel fact that the Japanese soldiers killed her father and grandfather on the same day.

Zhang Huixia, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, passed away on February 9, 2023 at the age of 94.

Zhang lived at No. 47 Sanfang Alley, Changle Road, Nanjing, with her grandmother, parents, uncle, two younger brothers, and younger sister. The year when Nanjing was captured by the Japanese troops, Zhang was eight years old. The whole family fled to a refugee camp. At about noon on December 14, many Japanese soldiers appeared outside the refugee camp. Feeling scared, Zhang clung to her father and uncle. Several soldiers walked to them, pointed a bayonet at the back of her father and uncle, and shoved them out. Her father and uncle, together with four or five other men there, were taken away. Zhang cried and tried to catch up, but was stopped by a Japanese soldier with his bayonet.Zhang ran into the refugee camp immediately and told her family what happened. Her grandmother, leaning on her stick, took Zhang out to search for them. They cried and searched along Zhujiang Road and Hankou Road until it got dark, but didn’t find her father and uncle. From then on, no word was ever heard from them. That year, Zhang’s father was just 29 years old while her uncle was 27. For Zhang, the scene on December 14, 1937 remained vivid in her memory throughout her life.