Today (November 23) is the birthday of Mr. Rabe, and the staff of the Memorial Hall of the Compatriots Killed in the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese Invasion of China held a flower laying ceremony in front of Rabe's bronze statue.
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Johann Rabe was born on November 23, 1882 in Hamburg, Germany. In mid-November 1937, the Japanese army approached Nanjing. In the face of the coming war and disaster, a large number of civilians could not escape Nanjing. More than two dozen Westerners risked their lives to stay in Nanjing to participate in humanitarian relief.
Referring to the precedent of setting up refugee zones in Shanghai, they established the "Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee" and designated an area of 3.86 square kilometers in the northwest of Nanjing as a safe zone. On 22 November, German Johann Raabe was elected Chairman of the International Committee for the Nanjing Safety Zone.
△ Group photo of some members of the Nanjing Committee of the Nanjing Safety Zone and the Nanjing Committee of the International Red Cross Society The third from left is Rabe
At its peak, the safe zone hosted more than 250,000 refugees. During the Nanjing Massacre, Mr. Rabe fought to stop the atrocities, and he used his residence as a refugee shelter, protecting more than 600 refugees day and night. Rabe's diary has become historical evidence of the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in the Nanjing Massacre.
△ A page of Rabe's diary about the Japanese army sacking the city
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, Rabe's grandson turned to China for help, and 620 bottles of designated drugs, 200 sets of protective clothing, and 30,000 masks were sent from Nanjing to Germany. Peace is rewarded with consolation and gratitude. (CCTV reporter Wu Rui)
(Edited by Chen Zhuoran)