Description:

(RAPE OF NANKING) GEORGE ASHMORE FITCH AND MINER SEARLE BATES
Fine association pair of A.N.S.'s executed by two prominent Western witnesses to atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers during the ‘Rape of Nanking' (now Nanjing): GEORGE ASHMORE FITCH (1883-1979), director of the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone and a witness to Japanese crimes committed in the city who smuggled out hundreds of feet of 16mm film containing evidence of the massacre; and MINER SEARLE BATES (1897-1978) American scholar, one of the leaders of the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone during the Japanese occupation of that city, and a witness to the atrocities, who in his efforts to secure the safety of the city's population risked his own safety by pulling soldiers off women that they were molesting, was shoved down a flight of stairs by Japanese military police, and on several occasions had pistols held to his head. Both men later testified before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMFTE), or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal. Both men execute I.O.U.'s for money borrowed from American associate counsel for the prosecution during the IMFTE DAVID NELSON SUTTON (1895-1974), who was responsible for gathering witness testimony related to Japanese war crimes in China, on a 4to. sheet, [Tokyo], both June 17, 1946. Bates signs his note ‘M.S. Bates', while Fitch signs ‘G. a. Fitch', both in black ink. Shows pencil notations in Sutton's hand recording both debts as paid, ragged at top right, and with a paper clip mark at top left, otherwise in very good condition.

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November 13, 2025 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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