New evidence of the Japanese atrocities committed in the Nanjing Massacre has been uncovered in diaries written by a military doctor in 1937 and 1938. The diaries and accompanying letters were sent anonymously to Zhu Chengshan, head of the Nanjing Massacre Museum, who opened the package on Wednesday afternoon.

The diaries appear to have been written by military doctor Jiang Gonggu from December 23, 1937 until February 27, 1938. Jiang was a member of the Chinese army stationed in Nanjing.

When Japanese soldiers invaded the city, he hid in the safety zone and eventually fled in February 1938. The diaries record the atrocities he witnessed.

The package also contained letters apparently written by 11 senior officials of the Kuomintang government, including Zhang Zhizhong, Chen Bulei, Bai Chongxi and Jiang Dingwen. The letters include the officials' reactions to reading the diaries.

"It is a record of the blood, it is the reality, and it shows the Japanese invaders' cruelty and violence..." says one of Zhang's letters.

Zhang Yiping, secretary of the Collectors' Association of Jiangsu Province, has seen the letters and is treating them as genuine. "It is the first time the museum has had such materials concerning the massacre written by Kuomintang officials themselves," said Zhu.

The donor of the letters and diaries remains a mystery. Zhu said that the museum would do its best to find out who sent them.

(China Daily August 20, 2004)