DistantNews
Support us
US Lawyer's Diaries Reveal Grueling Effort to Prosecute Japanese Atrocities of Nanking Massacre
🇨🇳 China /Culture & Society

US Lawyer's Diaries Reveal Grueling Effort to Prosecute Japanese Atrocities of Nanking Massacre

From South China Morning Post · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Newly revealed diaries from a US prosecutor at the Tokyo Trial offer insights into documenting Japanese wartime atrocities.
  • The diaries of David Nelson Sutton detail the gruelling effort to prosecute Japanese war crimes in China, including the Nanking massacre.
  • Six volumes of Sutton's diaries and a report on the Nanking massacre were donated to a memorial hall in Nanjing, China.

Newly unearthed diaries from a US prosecutor involved in the Tokyo Trial are shedding light on the arduous process of documenting Japanese wartime atrocities. David Nelson Sutton, an assistant prosecutor at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, meticulously recorded his efforts to build a legal case against Japanese militarism.

The diaries, along with a report on the Nanking massacre, were recently donated to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanking Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, China. Their public debut coincided with a symposium commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Tokyo Trial's opening on May 3, 1946.

When you read these diaries, you understand the efficiency and the enormous personal sacrifice of the prosecutorial team

— Yang XiamingYang Xiaming, a researcher, commented on the diaries' insights into the prosecution team's work.

Yang Xiaming, a researcher who has dedicated 20 years to studying Sutton's legacy, praised the archives' historical significance. Yang highlighted Sutton's "pursuit of justice for a country not his own" and noted that reading the diaries reveals the "efficiency and the enormous personal sacrifice of the prosecutorial team."

pursuit of justice for a country not his own

— Yang XiamingYang Xiaming praised David Nelson Sutton's dedication to seeking justice.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by South China Morning Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog