The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which began in 1931, was extremely arduous, and the Chinese people resisted fascist aggression alone and won the respect and sympathy of people all over the world. Communists from many countries volunteered to come to China to participate in this great anti-aggression struggle. Bethune is the most familiar warrior among them, and there is also a Fu Lai, who is also a medical worker like Bethune, who has made great contributions to the Chinese people.
Fuley was an Austrian whose original name was Richard Stein. Born in Vienna in 1920, he threw himself into the struggle against fascism from an early age. What many people may not know is that during the period from 1919 to 1934, the Austrian government was led by a socialist party, known historically as Red Vienna.
In 1935, Nazi Germany under Hitler's control supported the Austrian Nazis in waging a civil war. Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938. Hitler's anti-communist behavior was one of the main reasons why countries such as Britain and France were able to tolerate the Nazi annexation of Vienna.
Fu Lai joined the Youth Organization of the Austrian Communist Party in 1935 and participated in the defense of Marx's apartment during the Austrian Civil War. His specializations at the Medical University of Vienna are internal medicine, infectious diseases, microbiological laboratory and diagnostic X-ray radiography. After the annexation of Austria, Fu Lai was blacklisted by the Nazis, and his first wish after escaping from Austria was to go to China to support China's anti-fascist war of resistance.
In January 1939, Fu Lai came to Shanghai alone, and with the medical expertise he studied in his homeland, he first found a job at the Shanghai Hongkou Refugee Infectious Disease Isolation Hospital. Two months later, he further learned that there were CCP-led bases and troops in North China, so he went to North China to look for anti-Japanese troops. He worked in many hospitals in Tianjin, Beiping and Shunde, and participated in the anti-Japanese work in Tianjin.
In 1941, Fu Lai finally contacted the CCP underground. After receiving the invitation of Commander Nie, Fu Lai risked his life to cross the Japanese blockade line and come to work in the Jin-Cha-Ji base area. Dr. Bethune also fought and died in Jin-Cha-Ji.
After coming to the base area, Nie Rongzhen gave him a Chinese name "Fu Lai", a consonant of "freedom" in German. He liked the name so much that he used it for a lifetime.
Fu Lai's main job was at the Bethune Health School, training military doctors and hygienists of the Eighth Route Army. Due to the backward transportation conditions at that time, there were very few wounded who could be sent to the field hospital in time, so the allocation of a sufficient number of military doctors and hygienists in the front-line troops was of great significance to the rescue and treatment of the wounded.
Fu Lai trained thousands of military doctors and hygienists, greatly improved the treatment rate of the wounded of the Eighth Route Army, and saved the lives of many eighth route army soldiers. At school, Fu Lai also became acquainted with Ke Dihua, an Indian doctor who aided China, and the two formed a deep friendship.
Fu Lai has also made outstanding contributions in the field of preventing and controlling infectious diseases in the base areas. In 1943, infectious diseases such as measles and malaria began to circulate in the base areas. Fu Lai used his knowledge of infectious diseases and combined with the acupuncture methods of traditional Chinese medicine to create a set of treatment methods that combined traditional Chinese and Western medicine, and achieved good results. Many masses and warriors learned to use sewing needles for acupuncture. Chairman Mao, Commander Zhu, and Nie Rongzhen all praised Fu Lai's invention.
Fu Lai's greatest contribution to the base areas and the anti-Japanese struggle was the successful trial production of penicillin. Before World War II, wound infection was a very high complication of external treatment, with almost no specific drugs. Once the wound becomes infected, it can range from amputation to death.
Penicillin has been hailed as one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century, saving countless wounded warriors. Because of the effectiveness of penicillin, when it first came out, there was a penicillin in Shanghai that was said to be worth a gold bar. Dr. Bethune died of a wound infection, and if there had been penicillin at that time, such a tragedy would not have occurred.
In 1944, Fu Lai received penicillium strains and some academic materials from the American Committee for China Aid, but there was no production process. Fu Lai was determined to develop penicillin himself and personally built a biochemical research laboratory in Yan'an.
Without supporting precision equipment, Fu Lai replaced it with various indigenous methods. After repeated failures, finally developed a qualified initial penicillin, creating a record of the first in China. More importantly, the initial penicillin saved the lives of a large number of wounded members of the Eighth Route Army from the hands of the god of death.
In October 1944, through the introduction of Commander Nie Rongzhen, Fu Lai joined the Communist Party of China. Because he worked at the Bethune Health School, people often mistook Fu Lai for Bethune, and later everyone simply referred to him as "living Bethune".
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Fu Lai was specially approved to become a Chinese national. He has done extensive field research and reporting on hookworm disease control in the southwest. After the 1960s, a national medical intelligence network was also established.
On November 16, 2004, Fu Lai died of illness in Beijing at the age of 84. In his later years, he proposed that the body be dedicated to Chinese studies, and after his death, he scattered his ashes on the land of Tang County, Hebei Province, where he had fought. The state-funded monument to Fu Lai, together with the tombs of Bethune and Ke Dihua, the three outstanding fighters of international communism, rested in peace forever.