NANJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Nine more people were recognized as "inheritors of historical memories regarding the Nanjing Massacre" on Friday at a ceremony held by the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.
A total of 32 descendants, including the offspring of Nanjing Massacre survivors and spouses of the offspring, have been granted the title since August 2022 when 13 descendants from 10 families were first recognized. The youngest of them is nine years old.
The death of six Nanjing Massacre survivors in 2024 has reduced China's total number of registered survivors to 32 with an average age of over 94, demonstrating the need to preserve survivors' testimonies.
"History should not be forgotten. My greatest wish is for more people to learn the truth about the Nanjing Massacre," said 96-year-old Ai Yiying, who witnessed six of her relatives killed by Japanese troops when she was a child.
The descendants are passing on the baton of recording historical truth through diversified methods including writing books and telling the truth about the massacre from the memorial hall to classes, communities and the world.
The Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops captured the then Chinese capital on Dec. 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.
The Chinese government has preserved survivors' testimonies in both written documents and video footage. These records of the massacre were listed by UNESCO on the Memory of the World Register in 2015.
In the future, more descendants of the survivors and the deceased are expected to add to the records of the historical truth, according to Zhou Feng, curator of the memorial hall. ■