Following the September 18 Incident, on July 7, 1937, Japanese militarism brazenly launched an all-out war of aggression against China, and the Chinese people have since sounded the clarion call of the national war of resistance. The great War of Resistance Against Japan, the heroic Chinese wrote a magnificent and breathless epic with their lives and blood.
Today, although the smoke of war is gone, the voice of history still echoes in our ears, and those classic articles still reach the hearts of the people through time and space. The voices and words preserved in history have become the precious wealth and eternal witness of the Chinese nation.
Recreating the precious historical soundtrack and re-reading the quotations of classic articles, the Voice of China of the Central People's Radio launched a series of special topics "Eternal Voices of the War of Resistance" in the "News and Newspaper Summaries" program, using sound to restore the glory years of national independence and feeling the grandeur of the Chinese nation with words.
Today is 17 days away from September 3, the "70th Anniversary of the Victory of the War of Resistance.". "The Eternal Voice of the War of Resistance", today we re-read the "Rabe Diary", which records the atrocities of the Japanese army invading China.
Click on the audio below to listen to The Eternal Voice of Resistance
John. Rabe
On December 13, 1937, after the fall of Nanjing, the German businessman Johann Rabe, then chairman of the International Committee of the Nanjing Safe Zone, used his special status and influence to save the lives of about 250,000 Chinese. During this time, he recorded the atrocities he witnessed by the Japanese army in his diary.
John Rabe: December 14, 1937: Driving through the city, we know the extent of the damage. Every one or two hundred meters the car would crush the corpses, which were the corpses of civilians. I checked that the bullet was shot from behind, most likely killed from behind as ordinary people fled.
During World War II, he had a Chinese named "Erapei" and wrote a letter of thanks to the people of Nanjing
On December 24, 1937, ten days after the fall of Nanking, Rabe wrote in his diary: "But I want to witness these atrocities with my own eyes, so that I can speak out about them as witnesses in the future." There can be no silence about such cruel atrocities!"
This diary, which records the atrocities of the Japanese invasion of China, has been lying quietly in the attic where Rabe's son lived. It wasn't until more than half a century later that it officially entered people's sights. In 1997, this long-dusted and valuable historical material was first published, and has since been translated into Chinese, English, Japanese and German, and is recognized as the largest number and most complete historical material for studying the Nanjing Massacre.
A list of the aborigines of Rabe's family, with signatures and handprints
Nanjing Safety Zone and International Rescue
In mid-November 1937, when the Japanese army approached Nanjing, the foreigners in Nanjing, for the safety of the residents of Nanjing, decided to establish an international relief agency in accordance with the precedent of the Shanghai refugee area, named the "International Committee of the Nanjing Safe Zone", so that the refugees who had not evacuated in time to have a place to hide in the most critical time and avoid the bombing of the Japanese army. The Committee elected Mr. John Raabe of Siemens as Chairman, Professor Smyes of Jinling University as Secretary, Mr. Hang Liwu as Director General and Mr. Feige of the United States as Deputy Director General. Soon, Mr. Hang Liwu was ordered to escort the chaotian palace antiquities to the west and leave Nanjing, and the post of director general was replaced by Mr. Bades, a professor of the history department of Jinling University. In addition to the International Committee, there is also the Nanjing Committee of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which works closely with it, chaired by the American Pastor John Magee.
Schematic Map of Nanjing Safety Zone (selected from Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House: Atlas of the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese Army Invading China)
List of the International Committee of the Nanjing Safety Zone and the Nanjing Committee of the International Red Cross Society (from Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House: Atlas of the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese Army Invading China)
Also known as the "refugee zone", the safe zone covers an area of about 3.86 square kilometers, centered on the location of the U.S. Embassy and church schools such as Jinling University, and is bounded by roads on all sides, Hanzhong Road in the south, Zhongshan Road in the east, Shanxi Road and its north in the north, and Xikang Road in the west. There are 25 refugee shelters within the boundary, including the Ministry of Communications Building, the Overseas Chinese Guest House, the Jinling Women's Liberal Arts College, the Supreme Court, and the Jinling University. The vast majority of the refugees taken in were Nanjing citizens and refugees who had fled from other places, as well as a small number of Chinese soldiers who had laid down their arms. The maximum number of refugees hosted and protected in the entire security zone was 250,000.
List of refugee shelters in the Nanjing International Safety Zone (before December 17, 1937) (selected from the "Nanjing Safe Zone Archives")
Jinling University Refugee Shelter (selected from the collection of "Memorial Hall of Compatriots Killed in the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese Army Invading China")
At the end of January 1938, the Japanese authorities began to force refugees in the safe zone to return home. On 18 February, the International Commission for the Safe Zone was forced to change to the "Nanjing International Relief Commission", the International Commission and the refugee area ceased to exist, and the last refugee camps were forced to close in May 1938.
Image courtesy of ShowChina, Baidu Encyclopedia