80 years ago, he saved 250,000 Chinese, and now posterity has turned to China for help, China: free gifts
In China's modern history, the Nanjing Massacre is a wound that can never be erased. But in the midst of the holocaust, some foreigners with conscience stepped forward and saved thousands of Chinese. Their humanitarian spirit shines with the brilliance of humanity, and their feats make Chinese unforgettable. The most famous of these was the German businessman Johann Rabe.
John Rabe
On the eve of the fall of Nanjing: Rabe resolutely chose to stay
At the end of November 1937, on the eve of the imminent fall of Nanjing, 27 foreigners resolutely chose to stay in Nanjing, and 15 of them spontaneously organized the establishment of the Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee. 50-year-old German businessman Johann Rabe was unanimously elected chairman of the safe zone, responsible for the management of the entire safe zone.
In 1908, John Rabe came to Nanjing. In 1930, he became the manager of the Nanjing branch of Siemens AG. Rabe is a German who has lived in China for more than 30 years and has a lot of affection for China. During the Battle of Songhu in Shanghai, Rabe joined the Nanjing Committee of the International Red Cross Society set up by Pastor Ma Ji in Nanjing, and did a lot of work to rescue a large number of refugees from Shanghai.
Raabe with colleagues in the safe zone
On the eve of the fall of Nanjing, Rabe and 26 foreigners resolutely chose to stay in Nanjing. He knew that staying in Nanjing meant risking his life, but he refused his friend's advice, and Rabe told his friend: "I am not blindly involved in all this, I am determined." Rabe believes that his sons and grandchildren were born in China, his career is also in China, and his family has received great favors from China, and he wants to stay and do something for Chinese, protect the Chinese who have protected him and cared for him.
At noon on December 9, the Japanese embassy in Nanjing issued a notice to the embassies of various countries, demanding that all foreigners leave Nanjing immediately. Rosen, the secretary of the German embassy, after repeatedly persuading Rabe to return home hopelessly, boarded a British ship and prepared to leave Nanjing. After receiving the notice from Japan, Rosen hurriedly disembarked and returned to the city again to persuade Rabe to return home, but Rabe again refused. Rosen left China with regret in his heart.
Group photo of the person in charge of the safety zone
Guarding 250,000 Chinese: repeated negotiations with the Japanese army
Late on the night of December 12, Nanjing fell. Holding aloft a flag bearing the security zone emblem, Rabe took his secretary Smith into the city to negotiate with the Japanese. On the morning of the 14th, Rabe handed over the official letter of representation translated into Japanese to the Japanese officers, but none of the five Japanese officers present accepted it. The next day, Rabe found Major General Harada, the head of the Japanese secret service, and asked the Japanese to ensure the safety of the soldiers and ordinary people who laid down their weapons. Major General Harada of the Japanese army said that the Japanese army would ensure the safety of Chinese soldiers and civilians.
The commitment of the Japanese officers proved to have no effect. The atrocities committed by the Japanese army in the city are getting more and more every day, and Rabe and his assistants run around the city like firefighters, driving away Japanese soldiers everywhere, stopping The atrocities of the Japanese army, and recording the daily atrocities of the Japanese army. Rabe wrote 428 atrocity reports and 69 official letters, protesting to the Japanese Embassy and demanding an end to the atrocities. Thanks to Rabe's efforts, the atrocities committed by the Japanese army have decreased, but the degree of brutality of the Japanese army's extermination of humanity has never decreased.
Safe area gate
In the two-mile safe zone, Rabe protected 250,000 people, more than 100,000 of whom were penniless and lived on daily assistance. In the security zone, Rabe repeatedly prevented the Japanese army from coming in to harass, there was no atrocity in the security zone, there was no fire alarm, although the Japanese soldiers came to harass many times, but each time they were driven away by Rabe and his assistants in time.
In the house rented by Rabe at No. 1 Xiaofanqiao, Guangzhou Road, Rabe took in more than 600 nearby residents, and he was responsible for providing food and clothing to the more than 600 people to protect their safety. On December 23, Rabe recorded in his diary that he had expelled 5 or 6 groups of Japanese soldiers who had come to harass him.
Raise the flag to rescue Chinese refugees
In order to solve the refugees' food and drink: he worked hard and sought perfection in the cracks
After the fall of Nanjing, the Japanese army sealed all the rice and coal in the city, and 10,933 bags of grain and 10,000 bags of flour left for the refugee area to be transported away were confiscated by the Japanese army. By the end of December 1937, the food supply in the safe zone was about to run out, and the problem of feeding 250,000 people was imminent. On December 21, Rabe protested to the Japanese army, demanding that the seized grain be sent out to provide relief to 250,000 people in the refugee area. After repeated negotiations, Ishida Shosa, the Japanese Quartermaster Office, promised to sell 5,000 bags of rice and 1,000 bags of flour. On January 7, 1938, Rabe ordered 3,000 bags of rice, 5,000 bags of flour, and 600 tons of coal from Ishida, but when Rabe went to transport the grain, Ishida rebelled, saying that the materials had been handed over to the Han traitor autonomous committee.
Wounded Chinese soldiers in refugee areas
The Autonomous Committee obtained the grain and played a trick, saying that only the safety zone was allowed to take 1,000 bags of rice every three days, and the more than 2,000 tons of coal stored were all moved or burned by the Japanese army. Rabe was furious when he learned of this, and Rabe told the Japanese army how to eat 1,000 bags of rice for 300,000 people. Rabe also confronted the Japanese army about how much rice Ishida ate in a day. After the negotiations were fruitless, Rabe wrote to Counselor Fukuda of the Japanese Embassy, denouncing the inhumane behavior of the Japanese army and demanding the supply of grain and rice noodles.
Subsequently, Rabe found the Japanese army Ishida Shosa, he told Ishida 300,000 people (actually about 250,000) eat white rice every day, this is not enough, a few weeks later there will be many people sick, ask the Japanese army to supply soybean oil, peanut oil, vegetables, the Japanese Army Ishida Shosa immediately refused. Rabe could not, so he had to find a way to contact Shanghai outside and buy 600 tons of food from Shanghai. However, during the transportation, the Japanese army intervened and did not allow Rabe to deliver the grain.
People waiting in line for dinner in refugee areas
In order to transport the grain, Rabe went to the embassies of Britain, Germany and the United States to exert pressure on the Japanese army. The Japanese army only allowed the grain to be transported to the safe zone and allowed to supply 1,000 bags of grain per day. Subsequently, Rabe lobbied all parties to ask countries to donate money to the refugee areas to buy food to eat, and embassies from various countries reached out to raise 215,000 yuan. This money is a life-saving money for refugee areas, because food will be eaten quickly and it will have to be relied upon to buy food.
However, the Japanese occupying forces brazenly offered to ask Rabe to hand over the money and give it to the puppet government in Nanjing for use. Rabe immediately refused, and informed the British, American, and German embassies of the matter, and the British, American, and German embassies intervened, believing that the Japanese army's move was so brazen that it simply broke through the bottom line of humanitarianism. When the Japanese army saw the situation, it did not dare to continue to interfere in this money.
Raabe negotiates with the Japanese army (stills)
Under The painstaking management of Rabe, the porridge factory in Nanjing has raised cooking smoke again, and 250,000 refugees have food to eat and have the opportunity to live. During the fall of Nanking, during the most dangerous two months, Rabe and his International Security Council rescued 250,000 refugees, more than 100,000 were protected by Raabe from Japanese slaughter, and tens of thousands of women hid in refugee areas from Japanese ravages.
In Nanjing, Rabe wrote down what he saw and heard, and his "Rabe Diary" from September 21, 1937 to February 28, 1938, with a total of 2117 pages, recorded more than 500 tragic cases, becoming ironclad evidence of the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese army. After the victory of the War of Resistance, Rabe and the 26 foreigners who had stayed in Nanjing were awarded medals by China to thank them for their immortal contribution to the rescue of Chinese refugees.
Rabe's descendants receive Chinese aid
Today, more than 80 years later: Rabe's grandson asks China for help
Today, more than 80 years ago, when the epidemic is raging in Europe and the United States, Thomas Rabe, a doctor at Heidelberg Hospital in Germany and the grandson of Rabe, wrote a letter to the Chinese Embassy in Germany asking for help, hoping that China can urgently assist a batch of drugs to Heidelberg Hospital to rescue patients who lack medicine there. Rabe's grandson thought of Chinese for the first time, of the country that his grandfather had sheltered more than 80 years ago, of the country of heroes.
After receiving Thomas Rabe's request, the Chinese Embassy immediately found a company that produced this drug and urgently sent the batch of drugs to Rabe's hands free of charge to solve the urgent need. The friendship of more than 80 years reminds people of Mr. Rabe's feat of sheltering 250,000 Chinese, Rabe's grandson asked China for help, and China gave away medical supplies for free, which is a tribute to Mr. Rabe, and it is also the true intention of Chinese to repay the peach and repay the plum.
Statue of Rabe
Mr. Rabe is immortal, Chinese has not forgotten, and will never forget.
References: "Rabe's Diary", "Nanjing Massacre Historical Materials"