Editing Nanjing Massacre (section)

=== Looting and arson ===
Stationed in Nanjing, an eyewitness, journalist F. Tillman of ''[[The New York Times]]'', sent an article to his newspaper where he described the [[Imperial Japanese Army]]'s entry into Nanjing in December 1937: "The plunder carried out by the Japanese reached almost the entire city. Almost all buildings were entered by Japanese soldiers, often in the sight of their officers, and the men took whatever they wanted. Japanese soldiers often forced Chinese to carry the loot."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/nanking.asp |title=Internet History Sourcebooks: Modern History |website=sourcebooks.fordham.edu |access-date=May 8, 2023 |archive-date=May 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508201620/https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/nanking.asp |url-status=live}}</ref>

One-third of the city was destroyed as a result of arson. According to reports, Japanese troops torched newly built government buildings as well as the homes of many civilians. There was considerable destruction to areas outside the city walls. Soldiers pillaged from the poor and the wealthy alike. The lack of resistance from Chinese troops and civilians in Nanjing meant that the Japanese soldiers were free to divide up the city's valuables as they saw fit. This resulted in widespread looting and burglary.<ref name=RapeOfNankingP162>Chang, Iris. ''The Rape of Nanking'', [[Penguin Books]], 1997, p. 162.</ref>

On December 17, chairman [[John Rabe]] wrote a complaint to Kiyoshi Fukui, second secretary of the Japanese Embassy. The following is an excerpt:
<blockquote>In other words, on the 13th when your troops entered the city, we had nearly all the civilian population gathered in a Zone in which there had been very little destruction by stray shells and no looting by Chinese soldiers even in full retreat... All 27 Occidentals in the city at that time and our Chinese population were totally surprised by the reign of robbery, raping and killing initiated by your soldiers on the 14th. All we are asking in our protest is that you restore order among your troops and get the normal city life going as soon as possible. In the latter process we are glad to cooperate in any way we can. But even last night between 8 and 9 p.m. when five Occidental members of our staff and Committee toured the Zone to observe conditions, we did not find any single Japanese patrol either in the Zone or at the entrances!<ref name=GoodMan(271-274)>{{cite book |first=John E. |last=Woods |title=The Good Man of Nanking, the Diaries of John Rabe |year=1998 |page=271}}</ref> </blockquote>