Only 64 survivors of Nanjing Massacre remain

Xu Jiaqing, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, passed away at 96 on Monday.

Xu Jiaqing was born on Feb 8, 1925. He and his families took refuge in shelters on Shigu Road during the Japanese invaders' occupation of Nanjing and were later caught during relocation.

Eight survivors of the Nanjing Massacre have passed away this year, according to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.

Their deaths reduced the total number of registered survivors to 64, according to the memorial hall.

The Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops captured the city on Dec 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed close to 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.

In 2014, China's top legislature designated Dec 13 as the national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

The Chinese government has preserved survivors' testimony, recorded in both written documents and video footage. These records of the massacre were listed by UNESCO in the Memory of the World Register in 2015.