Gu was 13 when the Japanese took the city and her father was a farmer growing vegetables near the city's Beijingxi Road. A Japanese soldier killed him by crushing his chest with a rock.

Gu's older sister was pregnant. She fled in terror and died in a refugee center at Jinling Women's University.

"Both my sister and the baby died. Both of them," said Gu.

Xia Shuqin is also a survivor, and her story is one of those broadcast in the hall.

Xia, 83, won a lawsuit in Japan after suing two rightist historians in 2009.

In the case, the Japanese Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Shudo Higashinakano, an Asia University scholar, and Tendensha, a publishing house, and ordered them to pay a combined total of 4 million yen ($44,500) in damages to Xia.

In his book, Higashinakano defamed Xia by saying she was a false witness to the mass murder, and claimed that she was not featured in a documentary shot by John Magee. The book, published by Tendensha in 1998, was translated into English and Chinese and sold thousands of copies.

The court ruled that Xia's reputation had been damaged and that she had suffered psychological trauma. The verdict demanded an immediate end to the publishing of the books and the recall and destruction of all sold books.

Seven members of her family were killed by the Japanese army during the massacre. Xia, then 8, narrowly escaped death after she was stabbed three times. Of her family, only she and her 4-year-old sister survived the slaughter.

"I lived with the bodies of my family for 14 days before I dared to go out. My mother and my two sisters were raped and tortured before they were killed," Xia recalled.

Xia's story was also written in The Diaries of John Rabe, a collection of stories written by a German businessman who helped protect Chinese civilians during the massacre.

"I met Mr Rabe in the safety zone. He did not mind how dirty I was and held me in his arms. He even proposed adopting me when he was about to return to Germany, but my uncle refused, although my uncle's family could barely make ends meet," Xia said.

As an orphan, life was hard.

She helped her uncle sell vegetables and worked as a maid for a living.

In 1994, the mother of three became the first survivor to recount her experience in front of a Japanese audience at a peace rally organized by Japanese non-governmental organizations.

She has two daughters and one son and a grandchild. She thinks about her slaughtered family every day.

"I miss them, especially when festivals approach," said Xia.

"How wonderful it would be if they were still alive and with me.

"I stand as a witness of the Nanjing Massacre to remind future generations of the cruelty of war. The history should always be remembered and people should cherish peace."

Yu Changxiang, another survivor of the massacre, flew to Japan on Wednesday to start a seven-day visit.

"I'll tell them what I saw during the massacre," he said. "Whether they believe it or not, I will tell them what I experienced."

Contact the writers at cangwei@chinadaily.com.cn and songwenwei@chinadaily.com.cn

Xinhua and Cao Yin contributed to this story.