We are saddened to learn that Gao Hengfa, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, passed away on June 21 at the age of 97.

In 1937, Gao’s family (belonging to Group 4 in their village then) lived along the western road of Jinhua Village in Banqiao Town (today’s Banqiao Subdistrict). There were six people in his family: his parents, his two elder sisters, his younger brother, and Gao. At that time, his family had three thatched cottages and three tile-roofed houses.

According to Gao, after the Japanese troops invaded Nanjing, one day he saw the Japanese soldiers drive several hundred Chinese soldiers toward a pond along the road near his home and kill all of them with machine guns. The grandfather of Wang Jiayin, a man in his village, was beaten to death by the Japanese soldiers. He was in his 50s or 60s then.

Later, Gao’s family took refuge in a valley and didn’t return home until the situation improved. When they went back, their three thatched cottages were burnt down by the Japanese soldiers. One thatched cottage of their neighbor, the Ke family, was destroyed in the fire, too.