Nanking By Iris Chang Summary

‘This book was written with George Santayana’s immortal warning in mind: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Iris Chang wrote this book in order to spread the stories of the atrocities Japan had committed during 1937 through 1945. It touches on the treatments Korea, Thailand, and Philippines had endured, however it focuses the most on Nanking, China. Chang writes every blunt detail about the horror the Chinese people had to endure, because the Japanese government today denies that this had ever happened and never apologized to the victims of these events. The book setting starts in December of 1937 when Nanking, the capital of China, fell to Japan. It then focuses on the events that happened within eight years. The book is sectioned off in three parts; the perspectives of the Japanese government and soldiers, the victims- Chinese people, and Westerners who played a …show more content…
Others thought they would be taken care of because they were told so. The rest stayed hidden and tried to avoid being captured, scared how they would die by their hands. They were terrified if they were caught- wondering if they were going to be killed by a decapitation competition, forced to burry people alive and get buried themselves, or become target practice. They tried to find the safety zones of Nanking desperate to have a reason to live. There were many westerners that helped the Chinese during the rape of Nanking. Majorly of the westerns that helped the Chinese were German Nazis. With their wealth they were able to provide safety zones for the Chinese people. Safety zones were shelters from the Japanese and a way of protection. The westerners who provided the safety zones were usually someone with high power so even Japanese soldiers would have a hard time disobeying their orders to leave the Chinese people in the safety zone to be left