Genocide project Nanking Massacre
Alicia Armstrong
“Light at the end of the tunnel.”
My genocide project is on the Nanking massacre, which was committed against the Chinese by the Japanese, in Nanking China 1937. During the Massacre many atrocities were committed such as rape, looting, burning of the victims, and mass execution of the Chinese. Emperor Hirohito wanted control of Asia and the south pacific, so he removed the constraints of the International law, which basically gave his army free reign to cause damage anywhere and anytime they pleased.
The main focus of my project is on the survivors from the massacre, and their struggle to overcome the atrocities. I really want to emphasize the obstacles they had to overcome, in order to still see the good in life. I believe from personal experiences that when a tragedy, such as genocide, occurs there are many challenges to overcome. The biggest challenge is being able to move on. What this means is being capable of accepting the fact that the genocide did happen and that it is now part of your life. By accepting this you are better able to move on not completely, but enough to still see the goodness in your life.
“The light at the end of the dark tunnel,” I used this analogy to create the structure of my project; the tunnel represents the hard dark times the survivors had to go through. By walking through the tunnel you’ll get a feel on how dark the times were during the massacre. The light at the end of the tunnel represents the remaining hope in life after the genocide, and what the survivors are thankful for. In the light section of my project you will see a colorful half face mask, behind the mask you’ll see a colorful back ground In the dark tunnel there are three masks hanging from the ceiling, these masks represent the survivors. Posted under the masks are the survivors’ personal stories, they are there to help give you a formal understanding of what the survivors been through during the massacre. On the mask you can see scars, I choose scars because as you may already know scars aren’t known for healing, they get better over time but they never completely disappear, just like the inhumane crimes committed during the massacre. They’ll get better overtime, but they will never fully disappear.
From my research I found enough evidence from the survivor’s stories, and from the facts to bring together my final project. Evidence such as Chu-Yeh-Chang a survivor from the massacre who had to deal with the death of her grandmother, the rape of her 11 year old sister and her mother, and the betrayal of the Japanese soldiers. At age 14 Chu-Yeh-Chang and her family had to bury their grandmother in an empty coffin after being raped. She had to leave the home she once knew in search of a safer home. She witnessed thousands of dead bodies and later became part of a society that looks for missing bodies by the time she was done she had helped locate a thousand bodies. Although Chu-Yeh-Chang has been through more than enough during the massacre she is still able to move on and forgive the Japanese for what they’ve done. As she says “ in spite of the atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers against my family, I am not seeking revenge, and do not hold any animosity against the Japanese people.”
My name is Alicia Armstrong; I am a sophomore here at Animas High school. I feel that this project is one of my best pieces of work. I have been struggling with the concept of genocide, both in my personal experiences and in my life as a Native American. Suffering, forgiveness, and pride are the main challenges that I share with Chu-Yeh-Chang, and other survivors of any personal or racial genocide. During this project I am better able to see my own questions in a larger context. In life suffering often seems unfair and irreversible, particularly when it is unexpected and undeserved. But in order to move on and reclaim a sense of peace, you have to forgive both the perpetrators and the unfairness. It is only by working through the grief of suffering and the healing of forgiveness that one can regain a sense of personal and cultural pride. As I watch my people struggle with the consequences of genocide, I wonder how forgiveness and pride can help us heal as a people. What I’ve realized in thinking about this in relation to my Native American people is that genocide doesn’t stop with the murders and the atrocities committed. Without forgiveness and pride the suffering is passed on from generation to generation. It is my struggle to move on personally, and it is my peoples’ challenge to reclaim the dignity and the pride of their heritage.