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Young seekers uncover Japan's wartime past across borders; Precious historical archives delivered amid 8Ist anniversary of Japanese surrender_我的网站

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    Visitors view exhibits at the exhibition "Justice Will Prevail, Peace Will Prevail, the People Will Prevail—Exhibition on the Victory of the Anti-Fascist War in the China Theater and the Trial of Japanese War Criminals" at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province on August 14, 2026. Photo: VCG
August 15 this year marks the 81st anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender in World War II. As the main battlefield in the East for the war, China fought a 14-year resistance war at the cost of 35 million casualties. It pinned down the bulk of Japanese military forces and made indelible contributions to the victory of the global anti-fascist cause.
On this significant anniversary, French youth Marcus Detrez, his compatriot Bastien Rata, and Chinese youth Zhong Haosong will donate precious historical archives to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.
Global Times reporters accompanied the trio throughout their cross-border archival retrieval mission, witnessing firsthand the handover of historical materials collected in Paris and Tokyo to archival institutions and memorial halls in Chongqing, Shanghai and Nanjing.
"Without justice, there can be no true peace," Marcus told the Global Times during his trip from Shanghai to Nanjing on Thursday.
History through multiple perspectives
A landmark handover of historical documents shedding new light on Japan's wartime bombing of China took place on August 10 at the Chongqing Municipal Archives, as Marcus and Zhong donated digital scans of 138 pages of rare materials related to the devastating Chongqing Bombing. 
Compiled by Bastien from the Nantes Diplomatic Archives Centre in France, the mostly French-language files—accompanied by Chinese texts and maps—offer an unflinching third-party account of Japanese air raids on Chongqing, Chengdu and other cities between 1938 and 1941. The archives detail exact bombing dates, aircraft formations, ordnance types, civilian casualties and infrastructure destruction.
Of particular note within the archives are the Chinese and French translations of a so-called Statement of the Government of the Empire of Japan. Attached to a letter dated November 1938, the document brazenly demanded that China cease its resistance against Japanese aggression and submit to Japan's so-called "new order in East Asia", threatening military punishment if its demands were rejected.
Marking the 89th anniversary of the August 13 Battle of Songhu, also known as Battle of Shanghai, the historical preservation effort reached another milestone on August 13 in Shanghai, where youth activists presented 891 pages of invasion-era archives to Shanghai Songhu Memorial Hall for the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression for further research.
The archives, obtained from the Nantes Diplomatic Archives Centre, include records detailing the dates and locations of Japanese bombing raids on parts of Shanghai during the Battle of Shanghai, as well as the number of aircraft involved. The materials also cover Japan's aggression in Northeast China, the puppet state of "Manchukuo", Japanese atrocities and bombings, with some records also relating to the Soviet Union and the Korean Peninsula. 
The third batch of materials, scheduled to be handed over to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders on August 15, was brought back from Japan last week by Marcus, Zhong and others. During their trip, they visited several WWII archival collections and secondhand bookstores in Tokyo, uncovering more than 50 items weighing about 20 kilograms, including pictorials, publications, books and photo albums dating mainly from 1932 to 1945. The materials cover the Nanjing Massacre and Japan's preparations for launching the July 7th Incident, among other topics.
Among the finds was a book titled The Nanjing Front, which documents events related to the Nanjing Massacre despite not mentioning the massacre in its title. They also found photos taken by Asahi Shimbun of Japanese air raids, as well as images of the Great Wall after it was damaged during the Japanese military's occupation.
"These archives should go where they belong," Zhong told the Global Times.
'Guarded' Japanese collectors
In France, archival research was a race against time. Bastien told the Global Times that they had only four days to work at the French diplomatic archives in Nantes. Each person could access no more than six boxes a day, or 24 boxes over four days. Some contained as many as 10,000 to 20,000 pages, while only 10 to 20 percent might relate to Japan's war of aggression against China. "We had to go through the pages one by one, quickly identify anything relevant and scan it immediately," Bastien said.
The team then spent nearly a month organizing the material, working about eight hours a day. They also developed an AI-powered system to translate and classify the records and extract information on dates, locations, people and events, while linking the French diplomatic archives with photos and notes left by Marcus' grandfather.
Finding wartime records in Japan posed a different challenge. Much of the material is not publicly catalogued online, so the team had to visit collectors one by one and keep asking specific questions. 
"The biggest challenge is that many Japanese collectors are cautious about what we are looking for. Some know these materials exist but choose to avoid the issue, while others have clues but are unwilling to share them," Zhong said.
The team visited one Tokyo collecting institution twice. Despite explaining during their first visit that they were looking for wartime materials from the 1930s and 1940s, the collector initially showed them only ordinary photos of Japanese soldiers. The team then changed its approach, asking why many Japanese WWII records contain gaps concerning China. The collector said Japan generally refers to the conflict as the "Sino-Japanese War," rather than Japan's war of aggression against China. The team pressed further, asking whether there were records related to Shanghai, Nanjing or Chongqing. Only then did previously unseen materials gradually emerge.
The team also cross-checked promising finds with Chinese institutions, including the the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, and traced their provenance. One photo album, for instance, came from the family of a Japanese soldier and still contained the photographer's details and names of people pictured.
Anchoring hard-won peace
In early August, Marcus and Zhong stood at a busy intersection in Tokyo's Shibuya district, dressed in black and holding Japanese-language banners urging Japan to confront its history of aggression, including the Nanjing Massacre. They spent about three hours raising awareness on the street. Some foreign tourists stopped to ask what had happened, while some Japanese passersby tried to stop them.
There was also support. A Japanese female blogger livestreamed the event, saying she wanted to share the truth and promote peace. Japan's refusal to face its wartime history and apologize, was "irresponsible," she said. 
"Our long-term goal is simple: to let the world see the truth of history," they told the Global Times.
Zhao Yongsheng, a professor at the Institute of Regional and International Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said the growing involvement of international friends in uncovering Japan's wartime history and preserving the truth carries unique value. It not only helps safeguard historical truth, but also challenges long-standing Western biases and neglect of the Eastern theater of World War II. More importantly, it demonstrates that exposing wartime atrocities and defending peace and justice are shared moral responsibilities of humanity.
"There are concerns that confronting Japan's wartime past could create new instability in Asia. In fact, the opposite is true," Zhao said. "Germany became a 'stabilizer' in Europe partly because it confronted its Nazi past. In Asia, only by fully confronting Japan's wartime crimes and curbing the ambitions of right-wing forces can the region escape the shadow of militarism and achieve lasting peace and development."
Regarding the newly recovered materials, an official with the Shanghai Songhu Memorial Hall for the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression told the Global Times that experts will first authenticate the archives before their formal handover. Zeng Jin, deputy director of the Chongqing Municipal Archives, said the materials would complement existing collections and provide new evidence for research through third-party perspectives from foreign governments and societies.
。    MANCHESTER, England -- Bobby Charlton, an English soccer icon who survived a plane crash that decimated a Manchester United team destined for greatness to become the heartbeat of his country's 1966 World Cup-winning team, has died. He was 86.A statement from Charlton's family, released by United, said he died Saturday surrounded by his family.An extravagantly gifted midfielder with a ferocious shot, Charlton was the leading scorer for both United (249 goals) and England (49 goals) for more than 40 years until being overtaken by Wayne Rooney.“Sir Bobby was a hero to millions, not just in Manchester, or the United Kingdom, but wherever football is played around the world,” United said.“He was admired as much for his sportsmanship and integrity as he was for his outstanding qualities as a footballer; Sir Bobby will always be remembered as a giant of the game.”Alex Ferguson, who managed United from 1986-2013, said before Charlton's death that he “is the greatest Manchester United player of all time — and that’s saying something.”“Bobby Charlton is absolutely without peer in the history of the English game,” Ferguson said.Charlton was also renowned for his humility, discipline and sportsmanship. He was never sent off in 758 appearances for United from 1956-73 or 106 internationals for England from 1958-70.Charlton played with George Best and Denis Law in the so-called “Trinity” that led United to the 1968 European Cup after surviving the 1958 Munich crash that wiped out the celebrated “Busby Babes” team. He won three English league titles at United, and one FA Cup.“For a footballer, he offered an unparalleled combination of grace, power and precision,” said former United defender Bill Foulkes, another survivor of the Munich air crash.“It added up to a greatness and something more — something I can only call beauty.”Charlton’s England scoring record stood for 45 years until Rooney scored his 50th goal for the national team in September 2015. Three of his England goals came in the World Cup in 1966, during which Charlton played every minute for the team and stood out especially in the semifinals when he scored twice against Portugal to lead England to a first major final.England beat West Germany 4-2 after extra time in the final.Although Ryan Giggs beat Charlton’s appearance record for United in 2008, his scoring record for the club lasted another nine years. It was only in 2017 — 44 years after Charlton last wore the famous red jersey of England’s most successful club — that Rooney scored his 250th goal for United.After retiring in 1973, Charlton went into coaching and founded a youth scheme that included David Beckham, a future United and England great, among its participants.After brief spells in charge of Preston, Wigan and Irish side Waterford, Charlton returned to United in 1984 as a director and persuaded the board in 1986 to appoint Ferguson, who delivered 38 trophies during nearly 27 years in charge.Knighted in 1994 by Queen Elizabeth II, Charlton remains a mainstay at Old Trafford, featuring alongside Best and Law on a statue outside United’s stadium.Charlton avoided the controversies and distractions that damaged the career of Best, with his style and demeanor bringing a popularity that transcended the tribalism of club and international football.“I felt he could be a bit aloof,” the late Best said in a 2001 magazine interview. “We were never at each other’s throats, we simply didn’t go and have a pint together.”Robert Charlton was born Oct. 11, 1937, in the coal-mining town of Ashington, northeast England, and his talent was obvious from a young age.“We realized Bobby was going to be a bit special as a player when he was about 5 years old,” said older brother Jack, who played for Leeds and won the World Cup alongside him. “He was always kicking a football or a tennis ball against a wall and when it bounced back it stuck to him like a magnet.”Charlton wrote in 2007 that his family sometimes relied on illegally caught salmon or rabbit to ward off hunger, while his father — also named Robert — gathered coal washed up on local beaches and sold it to bolster his income.His father’s commitment to his mining colleagues meant that in 1966 he missed Charlton scoring both goals against Portugal in that World Cup semifinal because he didn’t want someone else to have to cover for him in the pit. He was, however, persuaded to attend the final when the Charlton brothers lifted the trophy.Charlton’s playing career began far from home in Manchester after leaving school at 15, making his United debut three years later against Charlton in 1956.Within two years, tragedy struck the tight-knit group of United players whose relationship was forged as trainees in austere conditions. The team was still celebrating winning at Red Star Belgrade to secure a place in the European Cup semifinals when their plane caught fire on its third attempt to take off in heavy snow after a refueling stop in Germany.Charlton miraculously emerged from the smoldering wreckage with only light head injuries and picked his way through the wreckage to help survivors. Spotting manager Matt Busby groaning in agony on the smoke-shrouded runway, Charlton rushed to help the father-figure who had promoted him to the first team.But eight members of the “Busby Babes” team packed with bright prospects were among the 21 fatalities. They included Duncan Edwards, considered one of England’s most talented players at 21.“Sometimes it engulfs me with terrible anger and regret and sadness — and guilt that I walked away and found so much,” Charlton wrote in 2007.Charlton became driven by a lingering obligation to preserve the memories of the Munich dead, returning to action less than four weeks later and helping a hurriedly assembled team of survivors and stand-ins reach that season’s FA Cup final.Busby rebuilt his team around Charlton, adding the 1965 and 1967 English league titles to the championship they won in 1957.“There was always one great hope — the return to greatness of my beloved club,” Charlton said.The biggest prize of his club career arrived in 1968 as United became the first English club to become champion of Europe. Charlton scored twice in a 4-1 extra-time win over a Benfica team containing Portugal great Eusebio.But Charlton is perhaps best known for being part of the England team that won the World Cup. It remains England’s only major title in men's soccer.Charlton and his brother fell out over Jack’s public assertion that Bobby’s wife caused him to become estranged from his mother. But the pair reconciled and Jack presented Bobby with a lifetime achievement trophy at the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.“We have had our public disputes, proving that in any family discord can sometimes disrupt the force of love and blood, but throughout that time I never lost the sense of wonder and gratitude that we were together in 1966 on such a great day in the history of our nation’s sport,” Bobby Charlton said.In November 2020, it was announced that Charlton had been diagnosed with dementia, the same disease that afflicted his brother — who died in 2020 at age 85 — and another World Cup winner, Nobby Stiles. “This man, from day one, was everything I wanted to be,” United striker Marcus Rashford wrote of Charlton after hearing about the diagnosis. “Kind, professional, caring, talented.”He is survived by his wife, Norma, whom he married in 1961, and his two daughters.___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer。

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