The Nanjing Massacre Museum

On December 13, 1937, the Japanese army invaded the city of Nanjing.  The next 6 weeks were some of the most inhumane, brutal, bloody, and horrific to occur in the history of man. 300,000 people were slaughtered.  Not just soldiers; men, women, and children.  The city was torn apart.  Some victims were shot, and those were the lucky ones.  Many were burned alive, buried alive, raped, gang raped, and a number of other unspeakable atrocities. 

The city of Nanjing has a free museum to memorialize the victims of the massacre.  A few weeks ago, we all decided to go check it out.  It was

the most brutal museum I've ever been in, but it was amazing.  There were photos, journal entries, videos, artifacts, and all kinds of other interesting things.  As we walked through the museum, we all kept remarking to each other that we couldn't believe we hadn't ever heard about it.  Why did we not learn about this in school?  The only way we can avoid repeating past mistakes is to learn about and from them.

Towards the end of the museum were the mass grave sites of some of the victims.  The brutality done to those people was astounding. Some of the skeletons had nails and spikes driven into them.  The experience was pretty jarring for most of us.  Fortunately, the last part of the museum consisted of an eternal flame in memory of the victims and a peace garden.

The Peace Statue

As the human race pushes its way into the future, I hope that we learn to be more compassionate and more understanding.  The Nanjing massacre was a result of power lust and hate.  Let us all strive for something more and love our fellow men.