Nanjing Massacre survivor dies, only 27 registered survivors remain

NANJING -- Liu Guixiang, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre in East China born in July 1930, passed away on Friday, reducing the number of living registered survivors to 27, said the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.

The Nanjing Massacre refers to a period which started when Japanese troops captured the then Chinese capital on Dec 13, 1937. In the space of six weeks, they killed approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.

As the Nanjing Massacre unfolded, seven-year-old Liu's world was shattered when his father and younger brother were killed by Japanese soldiers. Liu narrowly escaped death by fleeing to a refugee camp, where he subsisted on porridge.

Liu called the atrocities he witnessed during the Nanjing Massacre "extremely brutal." He also expressed a commitment to sharing his personal story to help others understand the truth of the massacre.

Five survivors, including Liu, have passed away since the beginning of this year, as the number of those able to share firsthand accounts of the massacre continues to decline.

In 2014, China's top legislature designated Dec 13 as a national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

The Chinese government has also preserved survivors' testimonies -- recorded in both written and video transcripts. These documents on the massacre were listed by UNESCO in the Memory of the World Register in 2015.