Gegenmiao massacre
The Gegenmiao massacre, also known as the Gegenmiao incident,[1] was a massacre conducted by the Soviet Army and a part of the local Chinese population against over half of a group of 1,800 Japanese women and children who had taken refuge in the lamasery Gegenmiao/Koken-miao (葛根廟) on August 14, 1945, during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.[1][2]
The massacre occurred in Gegenmiao/Koken-miao (present day: Gegenmiao zhen; 葛根廟鎭), a town in the Horqin Right Front Banner of the Hinggan League of Inner Mongolia. Refugees were shot, run over by tanks or trucks, and bayoneted by the red army after they raised a white flag. After two hours, well over one thousand Japanese refugees, mostly women and children, had been killed.[3] Angry Chinese chased a group of Japanese refugees into a river, where many drowned. Some women were stripped and raped by soldiers.[4] A woman was stripped and killed by Chinese after her child was killed by Red Army Soldiers.[5] One family tried to hide in the trenches, but were pursued and gunned down by Soviets.[6] They also beat mothers into submission[4] in order to steal children.[4] In the market a Japanese boy could sell for 300 yen, a girl for 500 yen.[7]
By the end of the killings over 1000 people had died.[8]
Aftermath[]
August 14 has been designated by the survivors and their families as a day of memorial for the event. The ceremony occurs in the temple of in Tokyo.[6]
In 2017, a documentary named Witness to the Gegenmiao Massacre was released, directed by a survivor who lost his mother and little siblings during the attack.[9][6]
References[]
Citations[]
- ^ a b Mayumi Itoh, Japanese War Orphans in Manchuria: Forgotten Victims of World War II, Palgrave Macmillan, April 2010, ISBN 978-0-230-62281-4, p. 34.
- ^ Ealey, Mark. "An August Storm: the Soviet-Japan Endgame in the Pacific War". Japan Focus. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ^ Fujiwara, 1995 p.323
- ^ a b c Okushi, 1996 pp.163-165
- ^ Okushi, 1996 pp.158-164
- ^ a b c "Survivor of 1945 'Gegenmiao' massacre continues to tell tale". Mainichi Daily News. 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
- ^ Hando, 2002 p.317
- ^ "As World War II entered its final stages the belligerent powers committed one heinous act after another". History News Network. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
- ^ "Witness to the Gegenmiao Massacre". The Japan Times. 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
Sources[]
- (August 1976). 殺戮の草原 満州・葛根廟事件の証言. Tokatsu Shoko Newspaper & Co. ASIN B000J6NAVG.
- Tsuchiya Okushi (June 1996). 蒼空と草原―殺戮の草原葛根廟巡礼記. Ron-syobo Publishing. ISBN 4845510286.
- Yomiuri Shimbun Osaka (1992). 葛根廟-新聞記者が語りつぐ戦争 (5). Shimpu Publishing. ISBN 4882691981.
- (December 1995). 満洲、少国民の戦記. Shakaishiso-sha. ISBN 4-390-11561-8.
- Nobukatsu Fujioka (August 1996). 教科書が教えない歴史. Sankei Shimbun. ISBN 4594020402.
- (August 2002). ソ連が満洲に侵攻した夏. Bungeishunjū. ISBN 4167483114.
External links[]
- Massacre stubs
- 1945 in Asia
- Anti-Japanese sentiment in China
- Chinese war crimes
- Japan–Soviet Union relations
- Manchukuo
- Massacres in China
- Massacres committed by China
- Massacres committed by the Soviet Union
- Massacres of women
- Murdered Japanese children
- Soviet World War II crimes
- War crimes in China
- Wartime sexual violence in World War II
- Women in World War II