Wang Changfa, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, passed away on March 3 at the age of 99.

Wang Changfa was born in 1923. His family made a living by selling small articles of daily use at a stall. The second day after the Japanese troops seized Nanjing, Wang Changfa, together with his eldest brother Wang Changfu and second-eldest sister Wang Xiuyun, ran out of the refugee camp. They wanted to go back to their house and have a look around. As soon as they walked to the Taiping South Road, they saw groups of Japanese soldiers burning people’s houses, killing and arresting people. The three turned tail and ran immediately. Wang Changfu covered his siblings while they ran, but he was captured by the Japanese soldiers and never came back. Wang Changfa and his sister survived by luck, but later they were still taken to the Japanese military camp. They were ordered to work for the military and released after three or four days. After returning home, Wang Xiuyun kept crying. She was raped by the Japanese soldiers.

Later someone told them that Wang Changfa and many other young people were taken to an open space by the river and shot by the Japanese soldiers with machine guns. Their corpses were doused in petrol, set alight and finally thrown into the river.

 “My eldest brother was 19 years old or so when he died. The sorrow of his death stayed with my family for the rest of our life,” Wang Changfa recalled when he was alive.

In 1951, Wang Changfa started his job. In his spare time, he also worked to equip himself with knowledge. He liked reading newspapers and listening to news throughout his life. After he retired, Wang Changfa was active in voluntary activities. At the same time, he often exercised to keep healthy, able to attend Run-the-River activities when he was more than 80. He was also able to do things like repairing light bulbs at home.