A MOURNING ceremony for four victims of the Nanjing Massacre who passed away this year was held yesterday in Nanjing, the capital of East China’s Jiangsu Province.

The “lights out” ceremony was held at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders. Among the photo wall composed of 100 survivors of the Nanjing Massacre, the lightboxes of Zhu Zaiqiang, Pu Yeliang, Wang Suming, and Wang Heng were turned off in a few seconds, and their colored photos then turned to black and white.

The loss of the four survivors has reduced the number of registered survivors to 57.

Family members laid flowers and bowed low to say their farewells.

“Although my father underwent the cruelty of wars, he also witnessed the rapid development of the new China. He was a veteran and a college student. He is the pride of our family,” said Zhu Xiaoliang, son of Zhu Zaiqiang, who passed away at 90.

The senior Zhu was only a 5-year-old and saw many people shot dead by the Japanese invaders in a paddy field in west Nanjing. His family fled from their home in December 1937 when the city was captured, and the notorious massacre took place.

Family members donated victims’ items, including some documents, to the memorial hall after the ceremony.

“Memories of the Nanjing Massacre never belong only to the survivors but also need to be engraved on everyone’s mind and should be remembered by the whole country,” said Zhou Feng, curator of the memorial hall.

(Xinhua)