The team found many witnesses’ diaries, letters, memoirs and films of the massacre, and learned how some Westerners there helped refugees at the time.

The team also interviewed many historians, scholars and descendants of those witnesses to share their stories and knowledge.

Jiangsu Broadcasting also interviewed and filmed many survivors of the atrocity now living in Nanjing and across China.

From these survivors, they learned many more stories of Westerners who helped the local people. Bu said that telling the stories of these heroic Westerners is an important part of showing the truth of the carnage.

The film team found that ordinary people in the West know very little about the tragedy. Many know the Holocaust against the Jews by Nazi Germany, but not the Nanjing Massacre, in which more than 300,000 innocent Chinese were slaughtered and many women raped, according to Bu.

“It shouldn’t be the case for people not knowing such an important historical event,” he said. “It’s especially true when right-wing Japanese still try to cover up the truth and confuse the public.”

Bu said the docu-drama also shows that the Chinese are a grateful people.

“People in Nanjing and all Chinese people will never forget Robert Wilson, Minnie Vautrin, John Magee, George Fitch, John Rabe, Miner Bates, Bernhard Sindberg and other international friends,” Bu said, citing the names of some of witnesses of the Nanjing Massacre.

“We hope such humanitarian spirit and actions in pursuit of peace and justice will be carried forward in the world,” he added.

Humphrey, the executive producer, believes that few Americans know anything about China’s incredible history.

“After watching Scars of Nanking I hope they will realize that this superpower from Asia also endured immense suffering at the hands of the Japanese during World War II,” he said.

He said he hopes that people in the US will also realize that Americans have been living and working in China for centuries.

“I think they will be genuinely surprised by the massive cultural bonding that the Nanjing Massacre brings between Americans and Chinese to this day,” he said.

“The fact that 80 years later the Chinese still give thanks and pay respect to those Americans who stayed behind in Nanjing is a testament to how important it is to them,” Humphrey said.

chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com