US priest filmed atrocities of Japanese army during Nanjing Massacre

US priest John Gillespie Magee (1884–1953) not only remained in the city during the massacre to help establish the Nanjing Safety Zone that helped to save 200,000 lives, he also captured the only film of atrocities committed by the Japanese army during the Nanjing Massacre in 1937-38.

As pastor at Daosheng Church of Nanjing and later the chairman of the International Commission of Nanking Red Cross Organization, he remained in the city along with another 20 westerners, including German businessman John Rabe in December 1937. He helped establish the Nanjing Safety Zone, which is estimated to have sheltered around 200,000 refugees and saved many thousands of lives during the Nanjing Massacre.

While helping Chinese refugges escape Japanese atrocities, Magee also used his 16mm movie camera to record evidence of Japanese war crimes.

The Japanese had banned any street photography or filming, but Magee took a risk and managed to shoot 105 minutes of secret footage. He captured such scenes as women in agony after being raped and tortured by Japanese invaders, severely injured locals being treated in hospitals and the ruthless murders in the city. Many scenes in his film have been later edited into related war documentaries.

Magee attended the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal in 1946 as a witness of the crimes committed in Nanjing.

When Magee passed away in 1953, his 16mm camera and the film were left to his son David Magee, who came to Nanjing in 2002 and donated the camera and related historical materials to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing.

His film capturing seven members of Xia Shuqin's family killed later also served as important evidence in the family’s survivor Xia’s decade-long battle to win over the libel suit in 2009 against Japanese rightist scholar Shudo Higashinakano and author Magsumura Goshio, as well as publisher Tendensha, for books that claimed Xia was a false witness to the massacre.

US priest John Magee used his 16mm movie camera to capture 105 minutes of footage relating to atrocities committed by the Japanese army’s during the Nanjing Massacre of 1937-38. [Photo/media.workercn.cn]