In August 1937, Japanese forces advanced heavily on Shanghai. On the afternoon of August 28, Japanese bombers launched a devastating air raid directly targeting the Shanghai South railway station, where thousands of terrified, displaced civilians—predominantly women and children—had gathered in desperate hopes of catching an evacuation train to safety.
The attack killed over 200 people and wounding hundreds more.
The child’s mother lay dead just a few feet away.
Prior to the photo, Western countries maintained a largely isolationist stance toward Asia’s conflicts. The raw horror of a helpless, wounded child single-handedly turned global public opinion against Japanese military aggression, prompting official diplomatic condemnations from nations like the United States, Britain, and France.