Illustrated materials related to Japan’s invasion of China, brought back from Japan by Marcus Detrez and Zhong Haosong, are displayed at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province, on August 15, 2026. Photo: Shen Sheng/GT

August 15 this year marks the 81st anniversary of Japan’s unconditional surrender in World War II. A ceremony themed “Nanjing Will Never Forget” was held on Saturday at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province. 

At the ceremony, a batch of newly acquired artifacts, historical materials, and documents related to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, including Japanese soldiers’ private letters, wartime postcards, educational materials on gas warfare, news compilations and French diplomatic archives, was officially added to the memorial hall's collection.

Overseas‑sourced historical archives drew wide attention among the donated materials. French youth Marcus Detrez, his compatriot Bastien Rata and Chinese youth Zhong Haosong jointly donated a set of historical documents on Japan’s aggression against China from the French diplomatic archives in Nantes, as well as Japanese‑language materials they had collected in Japan.

Zhong Haosong (left), Bastien Rata (center) and Marcus Dretz (right) visit the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province, on August 15, 2026. Photo: Shen Sheng/GT

According to Bastien, the French diplomatic archives brought back this time total 891 pages. They are organized by province and cover wartime historical events in Nanjing, Shanghai, Guangdong and other areas. The archives document relevant situations during Japan’s invasion of China, while also preserving observations by French diplomatic personnel on Chinese society during the wartime period.

Marcus told Global Times on Saturday that, through these archives and related research, they have gained a deeper understanding of the brutality of the Nanjing Massacre. He said that collecting these materials was also aimed at conducting more educational work to help more people learn about this period of history.

The materials brought back from Japan by Zhong include albums of documentary paintings of the Japanese invasion of China by artists accompanying the invading Japanese army, privately taken photo albums of the invading Japanese troops, and original publications from the same period, including the Asahi Shimbun. These materials all come from original Japanese records.

The overseas historical materials were collected over an extended period. Zhong said they contacted sources online and searched through antique and secondhand book channels while continuing to collect materials in Japan.

The new collection on Saturday also includes materials gathered by Chinese youths. High school student Yu Ningpeng and Xu Weizhe donated 12 private letters written by a soldier of the 20th Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army’s 16th Division, documenting his experiences during the invasion of China. One letter, dated December 20, 1937, contains accounts related to the Japanese occupation of Nanjing.

Meng Guoxiang, a researcher at the Institute for National Memory and International Peace Studies, told the Global Times at the event on Saturday that historical research places great importance on the sources of historical materials, with original archives holding significant value. 

Some of the materials donated this time were records left by the perpetrators themselves, while archives from third-party countries such as France provide another perspective, Meng said, adding that cross-checking materials from different sources can help build a more complete body of evidence.

Notably, alongside the handover of the latest batch of archival materials, the memorial hall also held a ceremony to induct the fifth group of inheritors of the historical memory of the Nanjing Massacre. Six people were named as the latest inheritors, including descendants of Nanjing Massacre survivors, descendants of eyewitnesses, and descendants of international friends. They help pass on historical memory through family traditions, educational activities and efforts to raise public awareness of history.

In recent years, a growing number of post-1990s and post-2000s private collectors, as well as foreign nationals, have joined efforts to collect historical materials, a trend that has deeply moved and impressed Zhou Feng, curator of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, he told the Global Times.

A staff member arranges archival materials documenting Japan’s invasion of China brought back from Japan by Marcus Detrez and others at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province, on August 15, 2026. Photo: Shen Sheng/GT

Zhou said that preserving history and historical records was once widely seen as the responsibility of museums, cultural institutions and professional scholars; however, today, more and more private collectors are taking the initiative, spending their own money to collect historical materials scattered across China and overseas. 

Historical memory, he said, needs to be passed down from one generation to the next. The donors come from different generations, nationalities and backgrounds, but share a common respect for historical truth and commitment to justice.

Since the beginning of this year, the memorial hall’s Nanjing Massacre Documents Center has launched a global campaign to collect relevant historical materials, receiving support from various sectors both in China and abroad. Nearly 100 donors from China and overseas have so far contributed materials to the memorial hall, Zhou said.