High School Student

Garner,  North Carolina,   USA

 

 

What we can touch, we experiment with, what we understand, we seek to control: we are human.  We organize to increase productivity, we establish complex societies on mores of kinship and justice, we rule them with logic and reason.  But even as we seek order in the world, and strive to secure and balance our lives, we struggle against the darker side of mankind, the flaws that undermine the stability we struggle to preserve.

        Despite all that we create, humans have an uncanny ability to destroy.  We are not perfect; we indulge in sin and commit crimes that cannot be justified.  Jealousy, anger, greed: these are the driving forces behind much of the pain and suffering in the world.  We try our hardest to contain these emotions and motivations, but when we fail, we are left only with a burden, the knowledge of the crime we have committed.  When Cain slew Abel in cold blood, he was cursed to spend his days as a restless wanderer, condemned to a harsh, meaningless existence as persecution for committing the first murder.  In society today, murderers carry a similar burden – their actions, regardless of their impetus, haunt them for the entirety of their lives.

        But what of men and women who are mere pawns in a larger game?  Soldiers, who kill and are killed, minor players in the politicking between nations?  Bloodshed is a consequence of war, occurring with frightening regularity as violence always seems to be the choice manner in which conflicts are resolved.  War, fought for land, love, luxury, is entrenched in the history of mankind, entangled in our oldest stories and the source of our greatest innovations and expansions.  Rules, however, govern modern warfare: in the world of today, precautions are taken to minimize civilian casualties, leaders are scrutinized for hints of corruption, the lives of many innocents are preserved.  

        Murderers have no place in society; they are barred from living amongst the innocent, and are forever branded for their action.  Nations guilty of heinous crimes against humanity carry a similar burden, for they become known for barbaric brutality, as less civilized, primitive.

        No apology or memorial will ever return a life once it is taken.  Nevertheless, they serve as a public display of regret, and provide solace to family, friends, and the affected community.  To commemorate the innocents affected by great crimes is to profess guilt; a physical manifestation of shame is a monument to the stolen lives, a solemn promise that such tragedy will never occur again.  It may be largely symbolic, but it ensures the lives lost are not forgotten.

        Therefore, it is distressing that, seventy years after the genocide, Japan refuses to take responsibility for the Massacre of Nanking.

        The present-day indifference that is so widespread in the Land of the Rising Sun will never resolve the long-standing Sino-Japanese tensions.  Prince Asaka, the highest ranking officer at the time of the tragedy, walked away from the Nanking Tribunal a free man, and since 1946, Japan has continued to deny involvement in the massacre.  For over sixty years, and with the passing of two generations, the stories that Asaka told in order to escape punishment for the crimes of war have slowly been established as fact.  It is widely held that only Chinese soldiers were involved in the massacre, that the casualties were a result of a rebellion, that only a few hundred killings occurred, spanned over the course of a decade.  These accounts are attempts to avoid the facts of the matter, and all fail to reveal the awful truth: beginning in 1937, the civilians of Nanking, China, endured weeks of horrific mutilation, rape, and slaughter.  This horrific extermination of human life was somehow hidden and ignored, and for decades, the genocide was almost forgotten.

        It is difficult not to look at the Nanking Massacre and associate it with the European Holocaust.  Though the genocide in Europe had a far greater number of casualties, spanning religion, ethnicities, and social class, both atrocities involved merciless slaying, and later, the heinous denial of such an event.

        It took years of dedicated research and courageous effort to bring the Holocaust to public light, and the survivors fought, and continue to fight, to make certain that such a crime will never be forgotten.  Slowly, the Nanking Massacre is receiving similar attention.  But as the years pass, more and more of the Massacre will be forgotten, no matter how hard a few select individuals work.  To enter the Nanking Massacre into the public conscience will require a mass effort on behalf of the victims, historians, and the offending nation.  Before the ordeal can ever be brought to a closure, Japan must make amends for its actions, and become a leader in preserving the lives and stories of the three-hundred thousand innocents who perished seventy years ago.

    The Asian continent contains some of the oldest civilizations known to mankind, and the relationships between its nations are ancient and complex.  Disputes between a few countries ultimately impact many other communities; as such, easing Sino-Japanese tensions would potentially play a hand in settling the entire region.  Japan should encourage research into the events of the Nanking Massacre, amongst its own citizens and members of other Asian communities.  Though this heinous crime was limited a particular city, it is not the only instance of violence throughout Asia.  Though divided by war, there is still potential for unity, but leaders of the nations must make a commitment to bring closure to the animosity.  With a resolution to preserve the memory and prevent other massacres from occurring again, Japan could become a forerunner in an international movement.

        On an individual basis, citizens of Japan owe it to themselves and their Asian neighbors to take action.  The current policy of denial serves only as fuel for cynics and fringe groups, for it suggests that Japan is unwilling to take responsibility for its actions, and leads others to wonder what else the Land of the Rising Sun is hiding from the public.  But an educational campaign would foster a revolution in political beliefs, both in Japan and abroad.  The truth, when presented fairly and without prejudice, is insurmountable to lies and falsification.  Global awareness, be it started through a grassroots movement or an international organization, will guarantee that the Rape of Nanking is never forgotten, and ensures it will never occur again.

        This is the lesson that must be drawn from the Rape of Nanking, this is the good that can stem from so much of the negativity that flows from the incident.  The world still has much to learn about the Nanking Massacre, and Japan still owes much reparation to China and those affected by the slaughter.  Nevertheless, as we become more educated about this particular atrocity, we become more sensitive to other heinous crimes being committed around the globe, and we become more apt to speak against such brutalities.

    The Nanking Massacre has been shamefully denied, just as the concentration camps of the Holocaust were ignored first by neighboring towns, and later, the world at large.  From these tragedies though, we have realized that we cannot sit idle behind the borders of our own countries as evil spreads into another region of the world.  The leaders of the genocide in Yugoslavia eventually faced prosecution for their actions.  Saddam Hussein was tried and sentenced to death by hanging for his brutal tactics against the Kurds, amongst a myriad of other crimes.  Currently, the genocide in Darfur is triggering an international backlash as industrialized nations are readily denouncing the Sudanese government’s inability to control warring factions.  Citizens across the globe have united under the flags of a variety of organizations to protest the violence, and the message is slowly being heard.

       It is this energy, this earnestness, which needs to continue.  We are so often prompted to action through tragedy, an apparent knee-jerk response to the current events flickering across the television screen.  We cannot just focus on the present, however.  We must reach back into our past, and look ahead to the future, and become fully aware of the violence that seeps into darkest corners of our world, flowing like a toxin, propagating death and destruction.

No service or memorial will return life to the hundreds of thousands who perished in those awful weeks of 1937.  However, we are capable of doing far more than just mourning their passing; we can celebrate our – and their – humanity by treasuring and protecting life.  By becoming more aware of the Nanking Massacre – its causes, the methods in which it was denied, and the most effective means in which to educate others, we can recognize the warning signs of future massacres and genocide, and stop them before they can begin.  The influence that each individual has is astounding; every person who becomes informed become empowered to spread the knowledge and stand for change.  United, we can demand action, demand a revolution, demand progress.

        But before we can bring closure to the Nanking Massacre, Japan must make amends for its actions.  It is a different set of leaders now, an entirely different government, than the party that led the Massacre.  Times have changed, people have changed, and knowledge has spread.  The world is now aware of the Nanking Massacre, and the time is ripe for change.  But Japan must lead through example: the issuance of an official apology, an effort to make reparations to those who still suffer as a result of the Massacre.  

        A simple gesture, the construction of a memorial, would be an appropriate first step for Japan to take.  Perhaps a garden, symbolic of future life, rather than the violent past, would signify a shift toward engendering creation instead of encouraging death.  A concrete structure would stand for future generations, slowly achieving goals shared by both Japan and China: awareness, education, and preservation of the memory of the Massacre.

        By taking responsibility for its actions, Japan will strengthen its relationships abroad, and closure will be reached.  On the seventieth anniversary of the tragedy, the aggressor has an important choice to make: continue to deny the rape of Nanking and delay progress for human rights across the globe, or alleviate the burden it has carried for so many decades.  Should Japan refuse to make an effort for closure, the status quo will simply be maintained; though the government may not suffer for its decision, millions of people struggling in the face of violence and death will.