Combo photo taken on Aug. 9, 2017 shows daily life of Shen Guiying, a survivor of Nanjing Massacre, a heinous crime committed by the Japanese militarists during World War II in 1937, in Nanjing, capital of China. (Han Yuqing, Li Xiang and Ji Chunpeng/Xinhua)
Shen Guiying, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, died at about 9 am on Saturday, the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders announced on Sunday. She was 90.
Japanese troops captured Nanjing on Dec 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in the city.
Among them were three of Shen’s relatives, including her father, uncle and aunt, who Japanese soldiers murdered. Another uncle disappeared after being taken away by Japanese troops and soldiers burned down the family's house.
Shen is the second survivor to have died this week.
Chen Yulan, another survivor, passed away on Friday at noon. She was 99.
Chen was an 18-year-old woman who had just given birth to her daughter in the winter of 1937. She and her husband, Zhou Hanchen, who was 6 years older, had been married for 11 months. He made a living by framing paintings at home in Hubei Lane, Nanjing.
When Japanese soldiers invaded Nanjing, the couple fled to a refugee camp in Shanghai Lane. Zhou was later captured and murdered at the riverside by Japanese soldiers while Chen luckily survived in the refugee camp.
Netizens felt sorrowful about their deaths and prayed for them by posting candle icons in Weibo's comments section.
The number of officially registered survivors has declined to less than 100, according to the memorial hall.
