The first ever overseas monument to commemorate the Nanjing Massacre has been unveiled near Toronto.

The 1937 mass executions carried out in China by the Imperial Japanese Army still ring painful today to Chinese descendants at home and across the world in Canada.  

Hundreds of dignitaries attended the unveiling ceremony of the Nanjing Massacre Victims Monument on the outskirts of Toronto.

Organizers hoped it would help remember the victims of the massacre 81 years ago, but also provide a chance to educate younger generations. 

Soo Wong is a former member of Ontario's provincial parliament. He said, "It will provide an opportunity for all young people in our schools to learn about the Nanjing Massacre, known as the Asian Holocaust. But it is also to remember, to reflect and to honor the victims and the families, because we have survivors in the province of Ontario."

In 1937, in a campaign that began on December 13 and lasted six weeks, up to 300,000 Nanjing residents, both soldiers and civilians, were brutally murdered by Japanese soldiers who also perpetrated widespread rape and looting.

A year ago, Ontario's legislature successfully passed a motion to formally recognize December 13 as Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day in the province.

Efforts to pass similar legislation at a national level recently fell short. 

Jenny Kwan is a member of parliament from Vancouver. She's still hopeful of getting that recognition in the future.

"I want to ask the government why they would vote against something like that when we are calling on almost all of us to come together in the name of humanity. So why can't we move forward, to acknowledge this kind of history and to say that we cannot let this happen again in our world," she said.

Organizers say the monument is meant as a reminder of a painful past, so such atrocities will not be repeated.     

Inscribed are the words "Remember History… Pray for Peace," a poignant message as relevant today as ever.