preface:
Nanjing is a city full of history and suffering, and the massacres of decades ago have affected the present day. But while the devil is running rampant, an area of less than 4 square kilometers in the city is full of emotions. This is the safe zone established by John Rabe (hereinafter referred to as Rabe).
Fast forward to 2020, and Rabe's grandson, Thomas Rabe (hereinafter referred to as Thomas), sent a request for help to China, hoping to send him a batch of supplies.
Why did Thomas ask for help, and how did our country respond? All this must start with Rabe.
First, Raabe became acquainted with China
In August 1908, Rabe came to Beijing, China, to work as a clerk in a German store. Before that, Rabe had heard his father tell stories about China. After many years, Rabe finally set foot on this mysterious land.
The more he learned about China, the more Rabe liked Chinese culture and experienced the enthusiasm and kindness of Chinese. Soon after, Rabe married his wife in Beijing.
In order to be able to get richer and live a better life, Rabe plans to work for Siemens' company in Beijing. Unexpectedly, Rabe not only successfully applied for a job, but also promoted to manager because of his excellent work ability.
If life continues like this, perhaps Rabe will be able to enjoy his old age in China. It wasn't until the Japanese army began to invade China that Rabe's life changed dramatically.
Because Chiang Kai-shek was bent on targeting the Communist Party and thus passively dealing with the Japanese invaders, the people in Nanjing were constantly panicked and uneasy, and their work and life were greatly affected.
In this case, the children of Siemens employees working in Nanjing are also facing the dilemma of not having access to school. More importantly, Nanjing lacks German schools and cannot let children receive the influence of German culture.
In any country, the education of children is a big deal. To this end, Siemens specially transferred Rabe to Nanjing, hoping that he could solve the difficult problems of employees.
As soon as he arrived in Nanjing, Raabe began to build German schools. In order to raise more money, Raabe repeatedly wrote to Germany for help, and Germany's only request was for Raabe to join the Nazi Party.
Rabe, who had been living in China for many years, did not know what kind of regime the Nazi Party really was, and simply thought it was an ordinary political party. In order to provide a good education for the children, Rabe agreed to this request.
In this way, Rabe built a school in Germany and had a fixed residence in Nanjing. But what he did not expect was that Nanjing would soon usher in a disaster.
In 1937, the Nationalist government withdrew from Nanjing, and the Japanese bombed and massacred Nanjing. When all this happened, Rabe was not in Nanjing. But when he returned to Nanjing to see this scene of human tragedy, Rabe's heart was full of sympathy for the people and anger for Japan.
2. Shelters
Rabe's father was a sea captain who traveled frequently between countries. Every time I came home, I would bring Rabe some gifts. One day, Rabe took a piece of white porcelain from his father and has been full of longing for China ever since.
Since his father's death, Rabe has taken on the responsibility of supporting the family and in 1896 came to a colony in Africa to become an employee of a British company.
During this time, Rabe worked and taught himself English and French, while also experiencing the exploitation and oppression of the indigenous people by the colonizers, and since then he has been full of rejection of the brutal invaders.
After the fall of Nanking, Rabe once again saw the tragedy of Africa, even more serious. While the Japanese government announced to the outside world that it had not taken any action against civilians, it burned and looted without fear.
Just then, Rabe received orders from the Germans to evacuate Nanjing as soon as possible. But thinking of the people who were suffering, Rabe resolutely stayed.
In a house of just 4 cubic meters, Rabe built an air raid shelter and took in nearby refugees unconditionally. In order to allow japanese bombers to bypass the area, Raabe raised a large Nazi Party flag.
At the end of November, Raabe, along with more than 20 other members of the International Security Council, raised funds for the shelter and did everything in his power to accommodate as many victims as possible.
This action immediately caused dissatisfaction among the Japanese, who more than once ordered Rabe to disband the shelter, and in severe cases, pointed a gun at Rabe's head. But when Rabe revealed himself to be a member of the Nazi Party, the Japanese had to go away in sorrow.
Later, although the Japanese did not bomb the safe zone established by Rabe, they would also try to harass the people in the safe zone from time to time. But compared to the outside of the earthly purgatory, this place is simply heaven.
Ever since discovering that japanese would sneak in the safe zone, Rabe had been guarding herself every day and did not dare to rest for too long.
However, at this time, Rabe did not realize what kind of people the Nazi Party was, and often wrote letters complaining about the atrocities in Japan, hoping that the Nazi Party would lend a helping hand, but unfortunately did not get a response.
Under the joint pressure of the Japanese and the Nazi Party, the safe zone established by Rabe was not preserved, and Rabe had to return home. At this time, everyone found that a total of 250,000 victims had been protected in the safety zone of Rabe.
But Rabe's story didn't end there, and it was only when he returned home that he finally saw the true face of the Nazi Party.
The days after returning home
Because of his habit of keeping diaries and taking pictures, Rabe recorded the crimes of the Japanese in his own diary and took many photos. Rabe's original intention was simple, to report Japan to the world.
The first thing he did after returning to China, Rabe handed the evidence of the crime to the German government and gave several speeches in a short period of time, telling his own experience of the crimes committed by the Japanese invaders.
Unfortunately, the Nazi Party not only confiscated his evidence, but also imprisoned Rabe and ordered him to sign a confidentiality agreement and not to disclose what he had seen or heard, so that he could be released.
When the Soviets broke through Berlin, Rabe was also imprisoned because he was also a member of the Nazi Party. Later, it was only after our country received the news that it personally guaranteed it, which successfully released Rabe.
However, at this time, Rabe was in his sixties, and Siemens had lost his job, and he had to rely on picking up garbage and begging to support his family.
After the news reached Nanjing, the mayor of Nanjing took the lead in donating money to Rabe, and eventually raised $20 million. In view of germany's shortage of supplies, the mayor of Nanjing purchased many canned beef and luncheon meat from Switzerland, intending to give them to Rabe.
Unfortunately, the Berlin crisis broke out too suddenly, and Rabe lost news, and the supplies did not reach Rabe.
Until his death, Rabe was not able to return to China to see where he once lived.
Fourth, the story of the descendants of Rabe
Due to the age of the cemetery in Germany, when the Rabe cemetery expired, his granddaughter's son re-installed him elsewhere.
After hearing about this incident, the Nanjing government took Rabe's tombstone back to China and erected it in Nanjing to accept the remembrance and worship of the people of Nanjing.
Until the global outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, Rabe's grandson Thomas Zuo asked China for help, hoping to buy a batch of anti-epidemic drugs and masks and other supplies from China.
It turned out that Thomas and his son were both doctors, and the family had symptoms of new crown. However, Germany has been affected by the epidemic, and there is an urgent shortage of anti-epidemic supplies, but China has entered a stable stage, and the normal supply of anti-epidemic supplies has been restored.
With the mentality of trying it out, Thomas sent a plea to China for help, one is to treat his family, and the other is to help more patients.
In fact, China receives calls for help from many countries every day, but when it is heard that the helper is Rabe's grandson, it immediately reports to the country and contacts the manufacturer to produce anti-epidemic materials.
The Nanjing government also took immediate action, donating 30,000 masks, hundreds of sets of protective clothing, and hundreds of bottles of medicines to be sent to Berlin, Germany.
On April 21, all anti-epidemic materials were personally given to Thomas by the Chinese Embassy in Germany, and Thomas's family eventually recovered.
From rabe's early arrival in China to China's collection of supplies for Thomas, this friendship spanned a century and will continue. No matter what kind of country people are, as long as they are friendly to China, they will eventually reap the friendship of the Chinese people.