Chinese Memorials and Archives Release New Wartime Records on Japanese Military Atrocities

Memorial halls and provincial archives across China have unveiled new collections of historical materials documenting World War II-era atrocities by the Japanese military. Ahead of the anniversary of Japan's 1945 surrender, institutions in Nanjing, Harbin, and Guangzhou received and released primary records, including thousands of photographs, video testimonies, and artifacts from survivors of the Japanese military's "comfort women" sexual slavery system, wartime correspondence from soldiers, and archival records concerning biological and chemical warfare units.

As the remaining survivors of wartime atrocities advance in age and pass away, the acquisition and preservation of firsthand photographic, oral, and physical evidence by national institutions safeguards irreplaceable historical records and reinforces the evidentiary chain for international academic research.

Institutions across China have released and accepted new collections of historical materials detailing wartime atrocities committed by the Japanese military during World War II, state media reported around the anniversary of Japan's 1945 surrender. In Nanjing, the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders and its affiliated Lijixiang Former "Comfort Stations" Exhibition Hall received a substantial donation of primary materials on August 14. Li Xiaofang, a photographer and longtime researcher of wartime atrocities, contributed more than 200 photographs documenting over 70 survivors of the "comfort women" sexual slavery system, along with 43 replica handprints and approximately 30 personal artifacts belonging to survivor Yi Yinglan, according to China News Service and People's Daily. Photojournalist Yan Meihua also donated visual documentation of Korean-origin survivor Mao Yinmei compiled over two years, comprising more than 7,000 photographs and 10 raw video recordings. On August 15, the Nanjing Memorial Hall announced the acquisition of over 150 physical artifacts and more than 100 documentary collections gathered during the first half of the year. Among the materials is a December 20, 1937 letter by Ishikawa Seita, a soldier in Japan's 16th Division, referencing the killing of over 10,000 defeated soldiers a week after Nanjing's fall. The institution also received 861 pages of archival materials from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nantes diplomatic center alongside Japanese publications, donated jointly by French and Chinese researchers. In Harbin, the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 disclosed archival personnel declarations (*Shinjin Shinkokusho*) from Unit 731's Hailar branch. Museum researchers noted that the records demonstrate how the unit operated under conventional infantry designations to obscure biological warfare activities, while additional testimony confirmed the burning of facilities and covert burial of chemical munitions during the retreat. In Guangzhou, the Guangdong Provincial Archives displayed newly donated Japanese-language testimony manuscripts from veterans of Unit 8604, a biological warfare detachment stationed in southern China, detailing operations and post-war revelations.