The NJ Commission on Holocaust Education has just published \u201cA Curriculum Guide for Secondary Teachers\u201d on \u201cThe Nanking Massacre and Other Japanese Atrocities Committed during the Asia-Pacific War: 1931-1945,\u201d and is distributing copies of this Curriculum Guide to all high schools in NJ. During the 14 years of WWII in Asia, over 25 million Chinese, and many more millions in other Asian countries, were killed. One particular atrocity that stood out was the Nanking Massacre that started on December 13, 1937. During a six-week period in just the city of Nanking, the then capital of China, about 300,000 Chinese, mostly civilians (including numerous women and children), were slaughtered by the Japanese military, over 20,000 Chinese females (including many young girls and grandmothers, or even great grandmothers) were raped, and one-third of the city was burned to the ground.<\/p>\n
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The Nanking Massacre is undeniable, because it was witnessed and well documented at that time by many people, including western journalists, businessmen, diplomats, missionaries, and other international observers. Unlike Germany which later admitted its holocaust atrocities during WWII and paid compensations to the victims or their families, the Japanese government has never officially (i.e., with a resolution passed by their Parliament) admitted to the Nanking Massacre. As a matter of fact, many Japanese leaders and the Japanese mass media have said on many occasions that there was no Nanking Massacre, or any of the other WWII atrocities committed by the Japanese, such as sex slaves (estimated by historians to be as many as 200,000, and euphemistically referred to as Comfort Women). An example of such statement was the one made in March 2007 by the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who denied that the Japanese military had forced foreign women into sexual slavery during WWII.<\/p>\n
The reason that this part of history should not be forgotten, not just by Asians, but by all peace-loving people of the world, is best illustrated by the following quotes:<\/p>\n
It is to avoid our children and grandchildren from experiencing such horrifying events in the future that we are commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Nanking Massacre.<\/p>\n
According to Douglas Cervi and Robert F. Holden, the coauthors of this Curriculum Guide, the amount of coverage of Asian WWII history for NJ high school students is about 15 minutes per year. Furthermore, even if teachers want to spend more time teaching this topic, very few have the background knowledge or can easily find reference material to learn more about this subject so they can teach their students. <\/p>\n
The Curriculum Guide is a 165-page document, and contains the following chapters:<\/p>\n
It provides a comprehensive teaching guide and excellent reference material that allow teachers to be able to quickly learn about this subject matter and prepare teaching material to teach their students. This is why the publication and distribution of this Curriculum Guide is a watershed event for teaching WWII Asian history in NJ schools.<\/p>\n