Public sacrifice in the name of the country will pin atrocities on the column of shame and let the hard evidence "tell" history
CCTV News:December 13th is the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre. On the morning of the 13th, China will hold a national public sacrifice ceremony at the Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre. In Nanjing, today, the city will also blow its horns to pay tribute to the victims. On the eve of the public sacrifice day, a memorial service for the families of the victims of the Nanjing Massacre was held in front of the wailing wall, where the survivors of the Holocaust paid homage to their deceased relatives.
This year, the Memorial Hall for Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders carved the names of 20 newly-added victims on the "wailing wall", and the number of victims increased from 3,000 in 1995 to 10,635.
It has become an international practice to pay homage to the people who died in the tragedy in the form of national public sacrifices. From December 13th, 1937, the Japanese invaders launched a terrible massacre in Nanjing. More than 300,000 innocent civilians and China soldiers who laid down their weapons were brutally killed by the Japanese. More than one-third of the buildings in the city were destroyed, and countless property losses occurred.
After World War II, the Nanjing Military Court tried the Japanese war criminals in the Nanjing Massacre. At the same time, the Far East International Military Tribunal conducted an international trial of Japanese Class-A war criminals in World War II for three years. Because the case of Nanjing Massacre was particularly serious, the court listed it as a separate case at that time. Ten witnesses related to the Nanjing Massacre testified in court, and the prosecution’s lawyer read out 17 testimonies. The Japanese atrocities in Nanjing were nailed to the historical shame column in the form of law.
In order to remember this history, in 1985, the Nanjing Municipal People’s Government established and opened a memorial hall for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, one of the sites of the Holocaust. The remains and historical materials of the victims in the museum have become irrefutable evidence of the Japanese atrocities in the Nanjing Massacre.
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Proposal: Turn the idea of one place into a national sacrifice.
Before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, Nanjing citizens’ associations spontaneously mourned their loved ones. Since 1994, on December 13th every year, Nanjing has also held mourning ceremonies, including hitting the Peace Bell and offering wreaths to commemorate the victims in the Holocaust.
In 1995, wailing wall was added to the memorial hall. Up to now, the names of the victims engraved on it have increased from the initial 3,000 to tens of thousands.
In 2005, Zhao Long, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, submitted a proposal, suggesting that December 13th be designated as the national public holiday day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.
In 2012, Zou Jianping, vice chairman of Nanjing CPPCC, submitted the relevant proposal again, which promoted the establishment of national public holiday day.
Legislation: holding public sacrifices in the name of the country
On February 25th, 2014, the Seventh Session of the 12th the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) deliberated the Draft Decision of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) on Establishing a National Day of Public Sacrifice for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre, and on February 27th, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) adopted the decision.
The "Decision" pointed out that in order to mourn the victims of the Nanjing Massacre and all the compatriots killed by the Japanese aggressors during the Japanese imperialist war of aggression against China, to expose the war crimes of the Japanese aggressors, and to bear in mind the profound disasters caused by the war of aggression to the people of China and the people of the world, it showed the firm stance of the people of China against the war of aggression, defending human dignity and safeguarding world peace. December 13th was designated as the National Day of Public Sacrifice for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.