On July 7, 1937, the Japanese aggressors brazenly launched a full-scale war of aggression against China, which brought unprecedented disasters to the people of Chinese Chinese.

On December 13, 1937, the Japanese army invaded Nanjing and created the tragic Nanjing Massacre, in which 300,000 compatriots were killed, countless women were ravaged and mutilated, countless children died, one-third of the buildings were destroyed, and a large amount of property was plundered. The massacre of human annihilation single-handedly created by the invading Japanese army is one of the "three major tragedies" in the history of World War II, a horrendous crime against humanity, and a very dark page in the history of mankind.

What is touching is that during the bloody days of the Nanjing Massacre, our compatriots helped each other and supported each other, and many international friends also took risks to protect the people of Nanjing in various ways and record the brutal acts of the Japanese invaders. Among them were Johann Rabe of Germany, Bernhal Schinderberg of Denmark, Johann Magee of the United States, and others. The Chinese people will never forget their humane spirit and fearless deeds.

-- Speech at the National Memorial Ceremony for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre (December 13, 2014)

Further reading:

Even if it was a deep night, it could not hide the light. On December 13, 1937, the Japanese invading army captured Nanjing, creating the tragic Nanjing Massacre. At the critical juncture when the ancient city of Jinling had become a "sea of death," German friend Johann Rabe contacted more than a dozen other foreigners in China and set up the "Nanjing Safety Zone," which set up a "life defense line" for more than 200,000 Chinese. Some have called Rabe "China's Schindler". In the midst of the bombing of the Japanese army, Rabe not only resolutely stayed in Nanjing to protect the unarmed Chinese people, but also wrote the "Rabe Diary" with more than 2,400 pages, which truly recorded the various atrocities of the Japanese army and is one of the most important and detailed historical materials of the Nanjing Massacre.

Also during the occupation of Nanjing, Danish friend Bernhall Schinderberg used his Nanjing Jiangnan Cement Factory as a position to provide refuge for the Chinese people. In order to prevent the Japanese army from entering the factory, Schindberg deliberately planted Danish and German flags around the Jiangnan cement factory; He also asked people to paint a Danish flag of nearly 1,350 square meters on the roof of the factory, "raising the largest Danish flag in China." From mid-February to mid-March 1938, the Schindberg sheltered more than 15,000 people.

John Magee, an American friend who regards China as "my home," secretly filmed the atrocities of the Japanese invaders in Nanjing with a home camera while he was in Nanjing. He shot four reels of film with a total duration of about 105 minutes, documenting the atrocities of the Japanese army. In 1946, at the International Tribunal for the Trial of Japanese War Criminals in Tokyo, he bravely stepped into the witness seat and accused the Japanese army of the bloody atrocities in Nanjing. Today, in the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre Victims of the Japanese Invasion of China, this precious video taken by John Magee is still played on a loop every day.

Justice will never be forgotten. The light of humanity will not be extinguished because of darkness, which is the eternal hope of mankind. At the first National Memorial Day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, Xi Jinping recalled the story of the Chinese people and international friends watching and helping each other and resisting aggression together, just to declare to the world that the Chinese people will never forget the precious support given by peace-loving and justice-loving countries and peoples and international organizations in the world to the Chinese people's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, let alone the brilliance of humanity shining on them.

At the national memorial ceremony, Xi Jinping supported 85-year-old Xia Shuqin, the representative of the survivors of the Nanjing Massacre, and Yuan Zeyu, a 13-year-old descendant of the victims of the massacre, to walk on the public memorial platform to unveil the national memorial for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre. Its implication is to announce to the world the wish of "revealing the past and reminding future generations" and "praying for peace forever". The moment of remembering history is not to perpetuate hatred, but to arouse the good people to uphold peace.