Nanking (2007) Mass murder and mass rape committed by Imperial Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing WWII [01:29:42]

I'm really glad these problems are coming to light over the past couple of days.

I previously commented about the struggles of my Chinese grandmother living in Manila during the Japanese occupation in response to a video about Malay women cutting their hair to avoid sexual exploitation. In the Asian community, these stories are often sequestered under deep shame and a cultural narrative which doesn't encourage the oration of personal struggle.

In particular, the common elements of the occupation, such as day-to-day life, were easy for my grandmother to convey. But she only once spoke of the severe atrocities she experienced which included the public execution of citizens via decapitation. I only once managed to get this story from her.

She's now senile, suffering from diabetes and her memory has faded substantially. I try to convey the cultural and historical significance of documenting these events to my mother, especially in light of the refusal by Japanese leaders to acknowledge the extent of these crimes. But the cultural influence of pain concealment has proved difficult to overcome, even generations later.

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