Johann Rabe, a German businessman and a Member of the German Nazi Party, was not a "qualified" Nazi Party member, and it was his Nazi Party membership that allowed him to successfully save more than 200,000 refugees.
John Rabe
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Johann Rabe was born on 23 November 1882 in Hamburg, Germany.
After the end of World War I, Trade between China and Germany resumed, and on August 18, 1908, Rabe came to Beijing, China, to work on trade.
In 1911, Raabe entered the German Siemens AG and worked in the Beijing branch.
In November 1931, Johann Raabe was deputy director of the Nanjing branch of the German Nazi Party and began writing the Raabe Diary (at that time the Nazi Party was a party dedicated to helping the poor and the workers' revolution in Germany, and Raabe had to join the Nazi Party for the sake of the children' needs to run schools).
In 1934, John Rabe took the initiative to build a German school near his residence in Nanjing.
In November 1937, when the invading Japanese army began to attack Nanjing, Rabe converted his place of work into a shelter and began to rescue the poor people in Nanjing.
In February 1938, the Chinese Nationalist Government awarded Rabe the Order of Three Colors of Jade for rescuing refugees.
In April 1938, he was forced to return to China under pressure, and after returning to China, he was arrested and imprisoned by the German government for publishing a report on the Nanjing Massacre, (Germany and Japan were allies at the time, and there was no criticism of Japanese behavior in Germany.) ）
At the end of World War II in 1945, Rabe was arrested by the Soviet Union and then the British for his nazi party status. In June 1946, after confirming that no mistake had been made, he was de-Nazified and released by the Allies.
He died of a stroke on 5 January 1950.
John Rabe and friends who build safe zones
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On the eve of the Japanese invasion of Nanjing in 1937, Rabe and a dozen foreign friends established the Nanjing Security Zone, which was dedicated to hosting refugees from Nanjing, and Rabe served as the chairman of the security zone. Ding Yongqing, Zong Youqin, and Li Shizhen were all protected by Rabe here.
In the early days of the establishment of the security zone, Rabe negotiated with the Japanese army many times as a Member of the German Nazi Party, hoping that the Japanese army would not bomb the slums and not kill innocents (because on the eve of the Japanese attack on Nanjing, the Nationalist government had decided to move the capital to Chongqing, so the city of Nanjing was left with poor people and a small number of police forces to maintain order. Of course, Rabe also received a notice to evacuate China, but he did not want to see that the people of the country he liked were hurt, so he decided to stay and help these poor people and refused to leave.) After many negotiations, the Japanese army, fearing for his identity as a Nazi Party, ostensibly agreed.
On December 31, the Japanese attacked Nanjing, carrying out an indiscriminate attack and failing to fulfill their commitments. After the capture of Nanjing, the Japanese army carried out a bloody massacre of Nanjing. Rabe could not bear to see innocent people killed, and risked his life again and again to save people from the guns of the Japanese army, perhaps his Nazi armband played a role, and each time he was able to successfully save the people who were about to be killed.
As for the people who hid in his safe zone, they were safe at first, but later the Japanese army repeatedly entered the safe zone to arrest and execute people on the grounds that there were soldiers inside. Although Rabe wanted to save but there was no way, if he forcibly stopped, he himself might die, the Japanese army just did not want to clash with the Nazi Party, not afraid of him Rabe. Although he was unable to save these people, his safe zone still provided shelter for more than 200,000 people, so that these 250,000 people could live.
The John Rabe family
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There are 20 copies of Rabe's Diary, of which 10 are about the Nanjing Massacre. It is his diary written from September 19, 1937 to February 26, 1938, 2460 pages, entitled "Enemy Planes Flying to Nanjing" "Wartime Diary", which records this period of history that he personally experienced.
In December 1996, Rabe's Diary was written by Rabe's granddaughter, Rhine Rabe. Mrs. Hart dedicated to the world. For these important evidence exposing the crimes of the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese army, 7 German teachers from Nanjing University and Southeast University sorted out and translated, and in 1997, the Chinese edition of "Rabe's Diary" was published in Nanjing, and the famous historian Hu Sheng wrote a preface, (whether it is the German version, the English version, the Japanese version, are partial excerpts of the original text of the diary, the chapter selection is slightly different, and the Chinese edition publishes the entire diary.) ）
Rabe's own Diary of Rabe is widely regarded as the most numerous and well-preserved historical record for the Nanjing Massacre, and is also a powerful evidence of Japanese atrocities.
Rabe in a steel helmet under Japanese bombardment
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After Rabe was released in 1946, he returned home and was suppressed everywhere because of his Nazi status. Living a life of starvation, he could only nibble on vegetable leaves every day and barely survive.
When these things were transmitted back to China, the people and government of Nanjing did not forget him and divided them into his donations and donations. It was finally delivered to Rabe by mail and a Swiss bank. After receiving the donation from China, Rabe was very moved, and did not expect that the people of Nanjing would remember him as a foreigner. Since then, the Nanjing government has mailed supplies to him every month, and has insisted on it for many years, which is the grace of dripping water when the spring repays, not to mention that this is the grace of life.
Although the problem of food and clothing was solved, his Nazi identity made it difficult for him to survive. He died at home on January 5, 1950.
In 1997, at the request of the Chinese Embassy in Germany, Rabe's tombstone was accepted by the Nanjing government to nanjing for preservation. Rabe's tombstone is still preserved in the Nanjing Massacre Compatriots Memorial Hall.
China donated materials to Rabe's descendants
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In 2020, the outbreak of the epidemic in Germany was raging, and there was a lack of effective medicines in the country. At this time, Rabe's family, Thomas Rabe (Rabe's grandson) and his family, were unfortunately infected with THE NEW CROWN. In the absence of medication, he had no choice but to turn to the Chinese Embassy in Germany for help. When the country learned the news, a pharmaceutical company in Zhejiang was impermanent to donate drugs, and the Nanjing government and people were also actively donating various medical and protective materials. Due to the inconvenience of transportation due to the epidemic situation, the Nanjing government resolutely delivered a special plane. If nothing else, but not to let the people who have helped us be sad, we are a people who know gratitude.