People lay a wreath to mourn the victims of Nanjing Massacre during a memorial in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Dec. 12, 2017. (Xinhua/Rick Nederstigt)
Nanjing Massacre, a 40-odd-day slaughter in 1937 during which the Japanese army brutally murdered about 300,000 civilians and unarmed Chinese soldiers, was mourned Tuesday at Niewspoort in The Hague.[Special coverage]
Some 200 Chinese people and students living in the Netherlands attended the memorial, held one day ahead of China's "National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims".
"We hold a memorial ceremony in The Netherlands not only to mourn the victims, but also to tell the truth of the history. No attempt to deny history will ever be accepted," said Zhong Linchang, head of the association of Cantonese Business in The Netherlands.
Japanese troops captured Nanjing, then China's capital, on Dec. 13, 1937 and started the massacre. In February 2014, China designated December 13 as a National Memorial Day to mourn Nanjing Massacre victims and all those killed by Japanese invaders, and to reveal war crimes committed by the Japanese.
The move was also aimed at remembering the deep calamities the war caused for the Chinese people and people around the world, conveying the Chinese people's firm stance of resisting aggression and safeguarding human dignity and world peace.
Henk Kool, president of Friendship Society Netherlands-China (VNC in Dutch), urged Japanese who denies the truth to look into the facts. In his speech, he listed numerous proofs of the calamities of Nanjing Massacre.
"If you want to be forgiven, you must first recognize and remember," he told Xinhua.
Jaap Post, former president of VNC, compared Germany's attitude towards its World War II history to that of Japan.
"Germany has recognized the history in a good way. What Japan has done in China is also important to the world history," he told Xinhua. "It is always hard to recognize the crimes, but to build peace for the future, you must look into the history and face the truth."
China will hold an annual memorial for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre on Wednesday.
