Nanjing Massacre's oldest survivor dies at 97

Wu Xiulan offers a flower in memory of the victims at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial hall on December 13, 2005, which was the 68th anniversary of the slaughter.

Li Sufen, born in 1923, is one of the survivors of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. Her mother and 10-year-old sister were raped and her aunt killed by the Japanese army.

Chang Zhiqiang, born in 1928, survived during the massacre but lost most of his relatives. His father, mother and four brothers were slaughtered while Chang's sister Dai Guizhen was killed after being raped.

Zhou Fenying was 22 years old in 1938. She was carried off by the Japanese army and forced to become a comfort woman (sex slave for Japanese soldiers) for three months.

The oldest survivor of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre died on February 10, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.

Wu Xiulan, 97, was injured by shell fragments in both of her legs during the Japanese army's aggression against Nanjing on August 26, 1937. Two of Wu's daughters were killed in explosion, though she survived with her left leg sawn off.

In recent years, Wu insisted on attending memorial activities related to the Nanjing Massacre and called upon the people to remember history and cherish peace.

Zhu Chengshan, director of the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese invaders, said that the survivors of the slaughter are vital witnesses to that period of history. Their oral testimony is the best evidence to hit back at the Japanese right wing's denial of the aggression and its horrors.

"But the aging survivors are passing away one after another. At present, there are only about 300 survivors," Zhu added.

The Nanjing Massacre is known as the "Six weeks of terror by Japanese troops" which had occupied Nanjing, the then capital of China, on December 13, 1937. Chinese records show that more than 300,000 people -- not only disarmed soldiers but also innocent civilians -- were slaughtered by the invading forces.