NANJING, CHINA – DECEMBER, 1937 The Nanjing Massacre has been written in the black annals of human history. It occurred during the Second Sino-Japanese War. When the Japanese army captured the then capital city of Nanjing, the torture, massacre, rape of civilians (and soldiers as well) began. The number of civilians raped is estimated at 20,000 to 80,000. Between 260,000 and 430,000 people lost their lives afterwards.
According to many historians, these war crimes were the second worst case of mass rape in human history. The Indo-Pakistani wars take first place. Japanese soldiers targeted women of all ages, including young children. The rapes were carried out in a brutal manner in front of the family. There are also known cases where family members were forced to have sex with each other. Afterwards, they were often killed or imprisoned in army brothels.