the People's Republic of China used records of the International Committee to portray its members as part of a propaganda campaign to arouse patriotic anti-American fervor. As part of this propaganda campaign, the Westerners who remained in Nanjing were characterized as foreigners who sacrificed Chinese lives in order to protect their property, guided the Japanese troops into the city and collaborated with them to round up prisoners of war in the refugee camps. As a result of this anti-American propaganda, a detailed study carried out by the researchers at the University of Nanking in 1962 went so far as to assert that Westerners had assisted the Japanese in executing Chinese in Nanjing. The study harshly criticized those foreigners for not having made any effort to prevent the ongoing atrocities. This erroneous perception of the International Committee was eventually corrected in the 1980s as more historical documents became accessible and more thorough studies were published. Today many of the missionaries' private diaries and letters that meticulously documented the scale and character of the Nanjing Massacre are archived at the Yale Divinity School Library. Timeline 22 November 1937 – The International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone is organized by a group of foreigners to shelter Chinese refugees. 12 December 1937 – Chinese soldiers are ordered to withdraw from Nanjing 13 December 1937 – Japanese troops capture Nanjing 14 December 1937 – The International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone lodges the first protest letter against Japanese atrocities with the Japanese Embassy. 19 February 1938 – The last of the 69 protest letters against Japanese atrocities is sent by the Safety Zone Committee to the Japanese Embassy and announces the renaming of the committee as the Nanking International Relief Committee. See also Nanjing International Red Cross Committee Nanking (1937－1945) Sources References External links Nanking Nanking Massacre Project at Yale Divinity School Library. Nanjing Massacre Rescue of Chinese in the Nanjing Massacre