Nanking Page #4

on the face of one of them,

he reaches for his pistol.

But his hand drops quickly enough

when I yell at him

and hold my swastika armband

under his nose.

Then, on my orders,

all six have to scramble back over the wall.

My gates will never be opened

to a riffraff like that!

Every day, we call at the Japanese Embassy,

and present our protests and appeals,

our reports of violence and crime.

"For the kind attention of Mr. Kiyoshi Fukui,

"Second Secretary, Japanese Embassy.

"Dear Sirs,

we are very sorry to trouble you again,

"but the sufferings and needs

of 200,000 civilians

"for whom we are trying to care

make it urgent

" that we try to secure action

from your military authorities

"to stop present disorder

among Japanese soldiers

"wandering through the Safety Zone."

"Case number 15,

"Japanese soldiers entered a house

on Hankow Road,

"raped a young wife,

and took away three women.

"When two husbands ran,

the soldiers shot both of them."

"Case number 154,

"a girl, 13 years old, was raped

by three Japanese soldiers

"at Chen Chia Chai number 6."

"Case number 290,

"four soldiers raped a young girl,

a little over 10, by turns."

Fukuda and Tanaka of

the Japanese Embassy had nothing to say,

except Fukuda's remark

that the army is very mad,

because they say

it is the first time in history

that an army had to conquer a place

with neutral observers on hand.

Quite a false view,

but we felt it was not time to argue.

We have come to understand the Japanese

much better than we did.

A week before their entry,

I preached to our group,

and I urged them to have faith in the

goodness and humanity of the Japanese.

The Chinese are still laughing at us

for our innocence.

And we better understand

Japanese propaganda.

In the midst of great suffering,

Japanese news squads

went around staging pictures

of Japanese soldiers giving candy to a child

or an army doctor examining 20 children.

Some Japanese newsmen came to the camp

and handed out cakes and apples,

and a few coins to the refugees.

A moving picture was taken of this kind act.

At the same time, a bunch of soldiers

climbed the back wall of the compound

and raped a dozen or so women.

No pictures were taken out back.

We are introduced

to Commandant Matsui,

who shakes hands all around.

I assume the role of spokesman

and explain to Mr. Tanaka

of the Japanese Embassy

that we infer

that the city is to be burned down.

Tanaka denies this with a smile.

Statement by the Japanese military

posted throughout the city.

" The municipality of Nanking is quiet.

" The herds of refugees

who fled for their lives

" from the midst of death have met with

the gentle soothing of the Japanese army.

" The Imperial army entered the city,

"put their bayonets into sheaths,

and stretched forth merciful hands

" in order to examine and to heal,

" diffusing grace and favor

to the excellent, true citizens.

" Many thousands of refugees

" cast off their former absurd attitudes

of opposing Japan,

" and clasped their hands in congratulation

for receiving assurance of life.

" Looking down, one sees a playground

for Nanking children,

" with soldiers and Chinese children

playing joyfully on all sides."

The proclamation on the handbills

which airplanes scattered over the city,

saying the Japanese

are the only real friends of the Chinese

and would protect the good, of course

meant no more

than most of their statements.

And to show their sincerity,

they raped, looted, and killed at will.

In these hard times,

it is certainly a life-saver to be in a gang.

The thing about the whole situation

that startles us all

is how we, unarmed handful of foreigners,

can chase the Japanese soldiers

out of rooms in school buildings,

rooms in foreign houses,

and rooms in Chinese homes.

And still, no one gets hurt.

The soldiers often actually run away.

Part of it is pure bluff.

If we batted an eye, we'd be done for.

Our group here at the house

drafted a message

to the American Consulate General

in Shanghai,

asking that diplomatic representatives

be sent here immediately,

as the situation was urgent,

then asked the Japanese

to send it via Navy radio.

Needless to say, it was never sent.

When things were at their worst,

the fellows at our house remarked at supper,

" The first fellow that gets killed,

" we're going to carry his body over

and put it in the Japanese Embassy."

Each night, the eight of us wonder

who would be missing the next night.

We said,

"We just can't all get through this alive."

At noon, a man was led to headquarters

with head burned cinder-black,

eyes and ears gone, nose partly gone...

A ghastly sight.

I took him to the hospital in my car,

where he died a few hours later.

His story was

that he was one of the gang of some 100,

who had been tied together,

then gasoline thrown over them,

and set afire.

December 24th, the day before Christmas.

About 10:
00, I was called to my office

by a high military advisor.

Miss Minnie Vautrin, our American Minnie,

a proper lady to the core...

She believes in her girls and guards them

the way a hen guards her chicks.

I shall never forget her

marching at the head of some

right past groups of vagabonding

Japanese soldiers,

to guide the refugees to the safety

of her girls' camp in Ginling College.

And now, something terrible

has happened to our Minnie.

The request was

that they be allowed to pick out

prostitute women from our 10,000 refugees.

They said they wanted 100.

They feel that if they can start a regular,

licensed place for the soldiers,

then they will not molest innocent

or decent women.

And, with hands clenched in horror,

Minnie is forced to watch

as authorized underlings force their way

into her girls' assembly hall,

filled with hundreds of good girls.

She's not going to hand over

even one of them willingly.

But then, a number of young refugee girls

step forward.

Evidently, former prostitutes.

Minnie is speechless.

They finally secured 21.

But group after group of women

have asked me

if they will select the other 79

from the decent women and girls.

And all I can answer is,

"They will not do so

if it is in my power to prevent it."

Bob Wilson helped out

at our house last night.

He got home early

for the first time in two weeks.

So he went to the university gardens,

brought six big poinsettias,

and put them around our living room.

So we look like Christmas, anyway.

Everyone is competing to make this

a happy Christmas for me.

It's really touching.

Chang brought some Christmas roses

and has decorated the house with them.

He even managed to find a little fir tree

that he wants to decorate.

And he just came in grinning with joy

and carrying six very long candles

that he rounded up somewhere.

Everybody likes me, suddenly.

And it used to be, or so I thought,

that no one wanted

to have much to do with me.

Or might I have been wrong there?

How strange, my dear Dora,

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