She had saved tens of thousands of Chinese by relying on her status as an American missionary at the height of Her life at the height of Nanjing's precariousness, and the people of Nanjing gave her a resounding title at that time."
Living bodhisattva
”。 She is the Chinese-American "Minnie. Wittlyn".
Minnie. Witterine
New to China
Born in 1886 in a small town in Illinois, USA, Wittling was very able to bear hardships and because of her poor family from an early age, Shettering was very able to bear hardships and be patient, and she was smart and studious from an early age. With a great interest in the far East, she first came to Anhui, China, in 1912. At that time, China was during the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, most of the people at the bottom were illiterate, and Wei Telin enthusiastically taught those Chinese women to read, and often helped those poor people.
After graduating from Illinois Normal University in 1919, Wei Tering gave up a high-paying job in the United States and applied for a position as a school official at Jinling Women's University in Nanjing, China. Wei Telin, who is full of enthusiasm for Chinese, has to see the poor people in Nanjing for free every week, and promotes the advanced adult education in Europe and the United States to China, carrying forward the educational spirit of Jinling Women's University, all of which she does only because she loves China.
Witness the tragedy of Nanjing
At the end of November 1937, the Battle of Songhu ended. The Japanese army that captured Shanghai did not stop the pace of the attack, but rushed to Nanjing, the capital of the Nationalist government, in multiple ways. On December 4, the Japanese army, which failed to persuade the surrender, began to launch a general attack on the city of Nanjing, and after more than ten days of fighting, the invading Japanese army with heavy losses finally captured Nanjing. At this time, the Japanese soldiers were like a group of vicious and crazy wolves, and their anger against the Chinese was concentrated on the blood-stained bayonets and mercilessly sprinkled on the innocent people.
The fall of Nanjing
Bloody massacres spread throughout Nanjing, with wailing, faint breathing, and desperate cries echoing throughout the historic city.
The Japanese army that captured Nanjing did nothing wrong, and began to burn, loot, rape and rape women everywhere, and the whole city of Nanjing was full of blood. Wei Telin, who was in Nanjing, was a witness to this massacre. In a diary entry dated December 16, 1937, "Witterine" wrote: "I don't know how long the demons will be slaughtered, but I know that many innocent people die here every day at the hands of the Japanese." They are men, women and children, as long as they are Chinese will be ruthlessly killed, thousands of refugees ran to the door of our campus and begged us to take them in.
In danger, he was ordered to rescue Chinese refugees
Watching this scene of tragedy happen in front of his eyes, Wei Telin, who loved Nanjing, couldn't bear it. So she called the U.S. Embassy several times and proposed an international safety zone for refugees. Many foreigners in Nanjing had fled the area, and under the auspices of WeiTering and Rabe, manager of the Nanjing branch of Siemens, a german subsidiary, more than a dozen foreigners who remained in Nanjing stepped forward and established an International Red Cross Security Zone under the recognition of the Nanjing government and the U.S. government to shelter and protect the Nanjing refugees who had fled to the city. Weitlin is a member of the Red Cross.
Some members of the Nanjing Red Cross Society (Rabe in the middle)
On December 17, a large number of refugees fled to Jinling Women's University and the International Safety Zone, including some soldiers who had taken off their military uniforms and blended into the crowd. Everyone was horrified and hoped that Witterin would take them in. The endangered Weitlin and the members of the safety zone could only guard the gate to let the children and women in first. At this time, the International Safety Zone has already taken in tens of thousands of refugees! At this time, WeiTlin's mouth kept saying to save one more, save one more!
The ferocious Japanese turned a deaf ear to warnings from the International Security Zone. Every day, a large number of Japanese soldiers climbed over the walls and railings of the school gates and side doors into the safe area to rape women and rob their belongings! The wolf-like Japanese soldiers took advantage of the night to sneak into the safety zone and rape whoever they caught, without any humanity. In the first ten days of the Japanese invasion of the city, there were hundreds of rapes at Jinling Women's University and the safety zone.
A Nanjing woman sheltered by Wei Telin
Fearless and dedicated
In the face of the barbaric and shameless Japanese, Ms. Witterin was indignant, and she recorded the atrocities of the Japanese army in her diary, while organizing members of the Red Cross to patrol the campus. Employees of Siemens in Germany were invited to stand guard outside the safety zone to protect the safe zone. And she didn't have time to rest, either guarding the door where the women were resting, or preventing the Japanese soldiers who climbed over the wall and entered. Once she personally ran to the hands of the Japanese to snatch the women who had been taken back, and looking at the trampled women, Weitlin could no longer stop her tears from crying.
Many of the Japanese soldiers who were stopped by her were angry because of this, not only pointing at her with blood-stained bayonets, but also often sending bullets to threaten her, and some Japanese soldiers who could not help but even grabbed her hair and slapped her. In the face of such barbaric acts of the Japanese, Wei Telin could only endure in silence, because once she left, the fate of the tens of thousands of women behind her was really unimaginable.
Wei Telin stills (source Jinling Thirteen Chao)
The Massacre of the Japanese has continued, and many refugees have lost loved ones as a result. In the face of frustrated Chinese, she said: Everyone must be strong, China is not dead, and China will not die, the Japanese will definitely fail. On the one hand, she sent members of the safe zone around to find relatives for these inevitable relatives. At this time, because of the intimidation of the Japanese and the pressure of work, she was already skinny, exhausted, and had a very serious depression!
In order to protect the safety of american expatriates, the U.S. Embassy repeatedly urged her to leave Nanjing immediately, but she refused, saying that Nanjing was her home.
It has been attacked and framed
After the establishment of the Wang puppet government in Nanjing, the members of Wang Jingwei, who were subject to the Japanese, began to smear the Nationalist government and The Rabe and Wei Telin who had given selfless help to the people of Nanjing.
The Wang puppet government published in the newspapers published by the public:
The so-called living bodhisattva Wittrine had sinister intentions, she was a dirty and shameless trafficker, a traitor who betrayed Chinese, and she took the initiative to sacrifice those women to the Japanese.
Minnie who heard this. Wittlin soon fell into deep thought, suffering from severe mental illness, and she felt remorseful for not protecting the women in the first place.
On May 10, 1940, the mentally exhausted Weitlin left her beloved Nanjing to return to the United States for medical treatment. Wittlin, who returned to the United States, did not get better, but fell into deeper self-blame. In her diary, it was found that she wrote this passage:
For many years, I have loved China and everything about China, and dedicated the rest of my life to that land.
On May 14, 1941, the tormented Minnie. Witterine eventually ended her life at the age of 55. After her death, she was found in her diary as a detailed account of what she had experienced in Nanjing, which recorded the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in Nanjing. At the end of the diary she wrote
If there is an afterlife, I will also serve the Chinese people, and China is my home.
After her death, teachers and students of Nanjing Jinling Women's College and Chengdu Jinling Women's Branch held a grand memorial service for her, and the teachers and students present shed tears. It is precisely because of her love and selfless dedication that she has been able to preserve Jinling Women's College and rescue tens of thousands of Chinese. After learning of her death, the Nationalist government expressed its condolences and announced that the Nationalist government had awarded her the title of Guardian of Peace and a special silver medal.
For details, please refer to the book "Weitlin's Diary"