USC Shoah Foundation interviewed Nanjing Massacre survivor Xie Guiying on June 4, 2016, in Nanjing, China, where she currently lives in a senior home. Xie is now 92 years old and in very good health. Xie never received a proper education, however, she is a wonderful storyteller and still has a very vivid memory.

In 1936, her father built a new house for the family, but they remained in their home when the Japanese army was approaching Nanjing. She remembers one of the bombings, saying it was intended to destroy the railway station near her house. There was a bomb that fell on their neighbor’s field, causing dirt to fall all around her and her family like snow. Luckily no one was injured, but they heard the news that the Japanese were soon approaching. Her mother took the family to the north bank of the Yangtze River to stay with some relatives, while her father and her uncle stayed at home to guard their properties. Soon after, they received the terrible news that their father was killed by the Japanese and the family decided to return home to bury their father.

They took a small boat to cross the Yangtze River, where they saw bodies floating on the river and piled on the south bank. The bodies were mostly naked, with only a belt on their waists. When they arrived back to their home, they found their father’s body lying at the front gate. Her uncle had witnessed everything and said he was killed on the morning of December 13. When Japanese soldiers broke into the city, Xie’s father was standing at the front gate to greet the them. But when the Japanese soldiers saw him, they immediately fired. Xie’s father fell to the ground, crying in pain, saying to Xie’s uncle “I’m dying, and you will die too.” He died several minutes later. Her uncle then went back to the house and hid under a big cabinet, where the Japanese couldn’t find him.

Nanjing Massacre survivor Xie Guiying told a part of her story for the first time to @USCShoahFdn.

The interviewing team said they could hear Xie’s hesitation in her voice as she changed topics and began to tell them about the several times she escaped from Japanese soldiers who attempted to rape her. Her family dug a hole in the ground to hide Xie and her sister-in-law, and covered it with straw whenever Japanese soldiers would approach their home. One day, seven Japanese soldiers broke into her home and took her. Her family and neighbors all knelt to the Japanese, begging them to spare her, but they refused. She then decided if she was raped, she would jump into the river nearby and commit suicide. But by some miracle, two Japanese military police showed up in time and scolded the seven soldiers as they left.

Xie then began to share the story of the second escape. One day she was working in the field, carrying her two-year-old brother on her back, when a Japanese soldier passed by and saw her. He pushed her down, grabbed her ankles and started to drag her. Her little brother was tied on her back and was also dragged on the ground. She kept fighting, until her head hit a rock and blood was running out, covering half of her body. The soldier was disgusted, so he walked away. Her wound was cured later, but her little brother was wounded severely and died two days later. 

The third time, Xie was not spared. The Japanese soldiers had found her again and her family begged them to stop, as Xie cried, “spare me please, I’m just a child!” But the soldiers would not listen. This time there was no miracle. During the interview, Xie started to cry and said she could not share the rest of the story. She said that people always tell her how lucky she is to live such a long life, but they do not know the truth of her suffering.

After Xie was able to recollect herself, she resumed talking about what happened after the massacre. Her oldest brother went to work for the Japanese on the railway station near their home to support the family. He came to know a young technician there, who became Xie’s future husband. They were married soon after and had two boys. They lived a pleasant life, but in early 1945 there was an accident at the train station. Xie’s husband was arrested and tortured by the Japanese, who pinned the accident on him. Later, he was released but with severe injuries, and he passed away two years later in 1947. Following her husband’s death, Xie was enrolled in an occupation school that focused on making cloth, where she was also able to learn some basic reading and writing skills. She went to work for a cloth factory in 1952 and retired in her late 70’s.

Xie has not shared her experience with many people and very few know that she is a survivor. But in 2000, three Japanese women came to her home and interviewed her with the help of a translator. Soon after, Zhu Chengshan, director of the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, came to her, asked to hear her story, and invited her to Japan to share with others. A couple months, later she and other survivors, including Xia Shuqin, started their one month journey through Japan. They did numerous speeches in different cities, and she recalled there were Japanese audiences crying after hearing her story almost every time.

Xie disclosed to the Shoah Foundation team that she never told Director Zhu about her rape because Director Zhu “is a man” and she felt ashamed. They found Tamaki Matsuoka’s book, which included Xie’s testimonies online. Xie’s chapter’s name was “I escaped all three raping from Japanese soldiers,” showing that she did not share the true story with Tamaki either. After searching her other interviews in Chinese, they found that she never mentioned that she was actually raped and even avoided the topic of escaping rape altogether. This interview might be the first time she has ever revealed that part of her story.