MovieChat Forums > John Rabe (2009) Discussion > Did the bombing of the passenger ship re...

Did the bombing of the passenger ship really happen?

posted 9 years ago by rossml24
1 reply | jump to latest

Was it based on an actual event? Why were the Japs so cruel during WWII? I read somewhere well over 30% of POWs died under the Japanese, whereas only around 1% died under the German and Italians combined.

[–] ayf_1983 9 years ago

I heard Buscemi's character name the boat as "Panay". There was an attack on the USS Panay in 1937 by the Japanese in China, which caused a diplomatic incident. But the historical Panay was a US Navy gunboat and not a passenger liner.