National Memorial Day: Survivors fight to keep memory alive

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03:27

Events to mark the anniversary of the Massacre are happening right across China.

Nanjing itself held a flag-raising ceremony and visitors to a memorial hall in the northern city of Shijiazhuang paid silent tribute to the victims. Meanwhile, in the city of Guang'an, in south-west China's Sichuan Province, school children visited a cemetery to remember the dead and to pray for peace. The Nanjing Massacre -- a tragedy that China will never forget.

The names of the dead may have blurred. But those who survived will never forget. Because they can't.

LU HONGCAI NANJING MASSACRE SURVIVOR "When the Japanese came, they pointed at the big stove and bed to my grandma, who thought they were asking why she was alone in a big house. She couldn't understand Japanese. They proceeded to burn the house down, then found the rest of the family hiding in a silo, and shot them all to death."

On December 13, 1937, imperial Japan invaded the former Chinese capital Nanjing. What followed was a six-week reign of terror: the city was ransacked, its people slaughtered, raped and tortured.

XIA SHUQIN NANJING MASSACRE SURVIVOR "I was only 8 back then. The Japanese stabbed me three times, in here, here and in the back. I passed out and when I woke up after a very long time, I saw blood all over myself but I didn't know what happened."

A household of seven people, but only Xia Shuqin and her 4-year-old little sister survived. As if history wants itself remembered, Xia's story was also recorded in photographs taken by an American priest, John Magee. Prior to the fall of Nanjing, Magee and a few other Western expatriates had helped set up a safety zone which at its height, accommodated more than 200,000 civilian refugees.

XIA SHUQIN NANJING MASSACRE SURVIVOR "My uncle and his kids took shelter at the safety zone, and when I lost my home, I was also taken there."

XU MENGQI NANJING "What the international community captured with their cameras, letters and diaries later became an important testimony to the Nanjing massacre, and what they did with the safety zone offered a ray of hope to those who fell victim to the dark side of humanity."

Now 89 years old, talking about 1937 still brings Xia Shuqin to tears. And every year, she insists on paying a visit to the "wailing wall", onto which names of those killed are carved.

XIA SHUQIN NANJING MASSACRE SURVIVOR "I want justice for those who died. Even if I'll only be alive for another day, I will fight to have Japan acknowledge their mistakes. Then and only then, will I make peace and stop talking."

The list of victims on the memorial wall grows longer and longer, as survivors of the Nanjing massacre, who are now mostly in their 90s, pass away one by one. But those alive are still telling their stories and waiting for the apology they desire. XMQ, CGTN, Nanjing.