Family pictures shed light on Japan's WWII atrocities

When Marcus Detrez first opened a worn leather box in 2021, he was confronted with the black-and-white images that would change the course of his life.

"The images were raw and haunting — civilians being executed, streets filled with fear," he told China Daily, "But one photo marked me forever: a body floating in the Huangpu River. On the back, my grandfather had written the word 'swimmer'."

Printed between the 1930s and 1950s on gelatin silver paper, the photographs captured the daily life of a French family in prosperous Shanghai before the Japanese invaded the city, the chaos and destruction brought about by the Battle of Shanghai, and, most harrowingly, the atrocities committed by the Japanese army against Chinese civilians during World War II.

"I felt a weight in my chest," Detrez recalled in an exclusive interview with China Daily, "I later realized it was a protective lie — his way of shielding children from the truth. That small word carries the full weight of what war does to human hearts."

The photographer was his maternal grandfather, Roger-Pierre Laurens, a Frenchman born in Toulouse in 1914 who moved to Shanghai in the 1930s to work in the French Concession. Laurens, Detrez said, believed truth was worth any risk. "As a witness to the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), he knew these moments had to be recorded — not for his own glory, but for history and for justice," he explained.

For decades, the collection remained within the family, guarded as both a treasure and a burden. Detrez admitted he felt conflicted when friends first suggested donating the images to China.

"These were my grandfather's possessions, part of my family's memory," he said. "But they also documented a cruel chapter that my grandfather worked hard to preserve. He would not have wanted it to remain hidden."

Eventually, supported by his mother, Sylvie Laurens, Detrez decided the photographs should return to China — "to let more people see the truth", as she put it.

Together with his French friend Bastien Ratat and Chinese friend Zhong Haosong, he began posting historical materials on multiple social media platforms, sparking both intense interest and controversy online. While the trio faced questions about the pictures' authenticity and endured personal attacks, Detrez said the most meaningful moments came from ordinary Chinese netizens who wrote to thank them.

"Some said they cried while looking at the photos," he explained. "That's when I knew our work had meaning — these images are no longer just my family's story. They belong to the world."

In February, Detrez, Zhong and Ratat traveled to China at the invitation of the Memorial Hall for Shanghai Songhu War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Shanghai. They first went to Beijing at the start of a journey to donate the collection and to visit historic sites linked to Laurens' time in Shanghai. Their itinerary included memorial halls in Beijing, Shanghai and Shandong, where Detrez deepened his understanding of China's wartime history. "Telling this history is about remembering better," he said.

The images, now permanently housed in the Memorial Hall for Shanghai Songhu War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, offer an extensive and multi-angled record of the 1937 Battle of Shanghai. They document Japanese war crimes, including massacres of Chinese civilians, and are recognized by the museum as significant historical evidence for research into both China's resistance war and the broader global fight against fascism.

Truth with accuracy

"We have donated (the photos) to the Chinese Embassy in France that let this museum display them because it stands at the heart of one of the most important battles of the war in China," Detrez said. "It tells the truth with accuracy, dignity, and respect for the victims. In Shanghai, the photos are not just stored — they become part of the living memory of the Chinese people and a bridge between China and the rest of the world."

His friend Ratat said the group has begun discussions with the People's Publishing House on producing a book about Laurens' pictures. They are also working on their multilingual website "Echoes of China", available in English, French, Chinese and Japanese, to tell more stories about the War of Resistance. Plans include a world tour starting in Japan and the United States to raise awareness of the atrocities committed by the Japanese army against Chinese civilians, such as those of Unit 731 and the Nanjing Massacre, as well as a possible virtual reality recreation of the Shanghai battlefield. "We'd like to use modern technology to teach history and even make a film or documentary on Laurens' experience in Shanghai," Rata said.

Zhong Haosong, Detrez's Chinese friend, said the donation process was deliberately made public. "We believe more 'Detrezes' should stand up, knowing that in the East there are 1.4 billion people ready to welcome them. Peace and justice are what we want to share."

He added that while they faced smear campaigns, the most moving message they received after the donation was from a netizen who wrote, "You have borne burdens you shouldn't have had to, but your future will be bright because you stand for peace and justice. You will always have China as your home."

Earlier this month, the Chinese Embassy in France hosted a handover ceremony for the donation, in which Minister Chen Dong met Detrez and his friends, presenting them with a donation certificate and a letter of appreciation from the Memorial Hall for Shanghai Songhu War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

The ceremony marked not just the transfer of physical photographs, but the continuation of Laurens' mission — to bear witness, and to ensure the suffering of the Chinese people and other victims of Japanese aggression is neither denied nor forgotten.