The USS Panay is shown as a passenger ship when she was in fact a U.S. Navy River Gunboat. The movie shows the Panay being attacked within sight of Nanking (now known as Nanjing) but in reality it had moved 28 miles upriver and dropped anchor, along with three Standard Oil tankers. The attack lasted for 2.5 hours until the ship finally sunk. The attack left 3 sailors dead, 43 sailors and 5 civilians wounded.
Jinling Girls' College Master of Studies Valérie Dupres never existed. The real person - Minnie Vautrin - was an American missionary who was so traumatized by the tragedy that she committed suicide in 1941.
When the safety zone is being established, a banner is being hung over the portal. The mis-spelled inscription reads "INTERNATIONAL SAFTY ZONE".
There is a scene where Dr. Rosen and John Rabe are drinking together and then join in a duet of "Hitler. He only had one ......". This was set just before Xmas 1937. The song is not believed to have been written until 1939. (Autobiography Fringe Benefits, by writer Donough O'Brien where he says that the original was written in August 1939 by his father, Toby O'Brien)
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