introduction
We are always accustomed to measuring history with time, but we often ignore those who have really come from history. In the blink of an eye, 2021 is about to pass, and this year, 11 more survivors of the Nanjing Massacre have left this world, which also means that the cruel history is gradually withering away in people's memories. If true forgetting is the disappearance of memory, then we will pass on the stories of these people from generation to generation like a chain, so that this history can take root in our hearts. Because only by always remembering can we inspire the Chinese people to stand on their own feet.
The family was destroyed, and the damage was directed to the heart
In 1937, the Japanese completely captured Nanjing, the ancient capital fell completely, and in December, they launched a brutal massacre, and in an instant, countless families were torn apart, and it almost became an empty city.
That year, Yang Cuiying was still a 12-year-old little girl, and the Japanese had just entered the city and burned and looted, and their families and neighbors were frightened, and they hurriedly packed up their things and prepared to flee to the refugee stronghold in Dafang Lane. She always remembered the scene when her father carried some necessities of life on his back and her mother led the three of them and their little uncles with their big pregnant belly to run in the direction of the refugee camp.
They had been hiding in the refugee camp and did not dare to go out, one day at noon, a group of Japanese soldiers suddenly rushed in, and before everyone could react, they dragged away many men, including Yang Cuiying's father, uncle and grandfather, and since then, they have not heard from each other and have never returned.
In this environment, her mother gave birth to her brother a month later, because she was afraid of going to the hospital, she could only drag her weak body to hide in the refugee camp, just when her brother was crying, the Japanese came again, they thought that his brother's voice was too noisy, and in a hurry, they threw this little boy who had just been born on the ground and trampled to death.
Like Yang Cuiying, there are many people who have endured this kind of torture, and Cai Lihua is one of them. When the Japanese soldiers broke into her house, her mother let Cai Lihua hide under a hidden table, and her mother said that no matter what happened, she would not let her speak, I don't know if she obeyed or was scared silly, in short, she escaped the disaster. But my parents weren't so lucky.
She watched as her father was tied up by the Japanese and hung on a ladder, and then stabbed him in the eye with a cold bayonet, and both of his father's eyes were bloodied, and the sharp knife cut out two holes the size of eggs, and the father screamed in pain, which was not enough, and the Japanese immediately shot and shot the father to death.
When her mother saw this, she wanted to go forward to stop her, but she was so frightened that she flinched, at this time, the Japanese turned their eyes to her, cut her back with a knife, and shot her in the head.
At about the same time, the third uncle of another survivor, Li Rufu, unfortunately encountered the Japanese on the way home, and they were used as live targets for practicing guns, shooting at the third uncle from a distance, and the third uncle was seriously injured, although he returned home at that time and lay in bed for four or five days, he still could not survive.
Chen Wenying was also a witness to the atrocities committed by the Japanese, and the third sister who was a pediatrician was the one who loved her the most among the sisters, but that day, when she pushed open the door of the house and saw the third sister lying naked in the courtyard, she had no breath, she was extremely sad, what a good person, just like this was ruined by the Japanese!
The grief of watching their loved ones being killed and the fear of the tyranny of the Japanese people envelop them deeply, a pain that cannot be described in words, and a pain that people in today's era cannot empathize with.
Live strong in the face of disaster
War is a man-made disaster, it is more despicable than natural disasters, at this time the refugees are not in confrontation with nature, but in the face of the same "people" as themselves, those instinctive survival may be within the calculations of the invaders, so it is even more difficult to survive in the war, ordinary people in order to save their lives, the methods they can use will try, all those who survive are strong lucky.
Huang Liushi is a living example, when the Japanese were sweeping the city of Nanjing, she and her parents, who lived near Yaohua Gate, and a cow in the family were fleeing in the north of the river, their faces smeared with black charcoal, dressed like people, ghosts and ghosts. On the way to escape, they also witnessed a female boatman who was puncturing a boat and was shot dead by the Japanese, and fortunately, the family escaped the disaster.
Qi Zhen'an's family encountered Japanese cavalry on the way to escape, and those with big animal hair saw that his eldest sister looked beautiful and became heartbroken, while stopping to tie the body of the horse to his body, he came to pick up the eldest sister's pants, and the eldest sister cried out for help. Qi Zhen'an's aunt saw that the resistance was not enough, and she had no choice but to hold up the umbrella to block the eldest sister's view and prevent her from seeing the Japanese soldiers. Fortunately, just when the aunt "rushed" to open the umbrella, the horse was frightened and began to run wildly, dragging the Japanese soldiers away, and the eldest sister was saved.
Ma Xiuying's family, who lived in Nanwei Lane, was not so lucky, her 18-year-old brother was dragged into the invaders' car and never returned, leaving only her mother and her two weak women in the family. One night, her mother took advantage of the night to take her to the refugee area, and they were so anxious that they ran all the way and fell, but they were so hard that they got scaly wounds, like losing half a life.
In addition to "surviving" and "how to survive", at that time, 8-year-old Jin Tonghe was still an ignorant little boy, he personally saw his father killed by Japanese soldiers, and the burden of taking care of the family was all on the mother and father, social turmoil, nothing was stable, she could only make money by doing a little business every three to five to fill the family's belly.
Saying goodbye to the past does not mean forgiving
The harm caused by the Japanese to the people of Nanjing cannot be measured in simple dimensions, for ordinary people, identity, money and wealth are not important, even survival depends on luck, even those who survive, those sad past will closely follow them throughout their lives.
According to Xu Jiaqing's recollection, his home in Nanjing is also a large family with a head and a face, and the whole family lived in a large mansion with "three in and three out", and after the Japanese came, a fire burned his home to the core.
He also said that at that time, the Japanese guarded under the city gates, requiring ordinary people to bow to them when entering and leaving the city, and if they did not do so, they would be dragged to the side and slapped on the spot, and some people were even killed in the street.
Before the old man was alive, he often recalled these pictures of personal experience, and he would always mention the river that was stained red with blood, probably this was the demon left by the war. Even if you want to get rid of it, you will inevitably return to your memory involuntarily.
Fu Zhaozeng, who had just turned 1, was held in his mother's arms, the Japanese shot at them, his aunt and mother blocked the bullet for him, the aunt was shot on the spot and died, and his calf was also hit by the bullet blood, leaving a scar about 10 centimeters long.
He may not have a memory of the Holocaust, but he has personally experienced the hurt, so he always wants to do something for this peacetime era. When there are activities at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, you can always see the figure of the old man, who often says to the people around him: "We have come from history, so we cherish the beautiful life of the present." ”
Compared with Fu Zhaozeng, Ma Jiwu's journey of not saying goodbye to the past is even more difficult, and he was a 15-year-old teenager in the year of the massacre. He clearly remembers the Japanese breaking into the Jinling Middle School where they had taken refuge in search of the "flower girl", and that day they immediately captured two truckloads of women, which were the comfort women in the later population. He did not dare to go down the street at that time, because the place where the roundabout at the new street entrance was full of corpses, the corpses on the bridge deck in front of the comment street were piled up one or two meters high, and the ground was full of blood and water...
The old man said that for a long time, these scenes passed through his mind over and over again like a movie, and he often had difficulty sleeping because of it, longing to say goodbye to this history. In the long years of his life, he tried to control himself not to remember, to look forward, to come out of pain. He also often exhorted future generations to remember history and love peace.
The reason why we must remember history is, on the one hand, because of the peace-loving nature of our Chinese nation, and on the other hand, I believe that many people will not choose to forgive the atrocities committed by the Japanese.
epilogue
As 2021 passes, there are only about 60 survivors left in the Nanjing Massacre, and we hope to deepen the contemporary understanding of peace through the memories of these people, because they are the most vocal people in this matter.
No one is a real victor in war, and those so-called successes are based on the blood and lives of countless people, and we firmly believe that only peace is the common pursuit of all mankind.