Chapter 9 December 37 Diary 2

Last night was very restless.The rumble of gunfire, rifles and machine guns rang out from 8pm yesterday until 4am this morning.Then this deafening roar gradually died down, and at 5 o'clock it stopped completely.I heard the Japanese almost took the city yesterday.They pushed as far as Gwanghwamun, which is said to be almost undefended.A Chinese reserve regiment was not replenished in time, but the units that should have been replaced were withdrawn except for a few companies.Just at this time, the Japanese appeared.At the last critical moment, the reserve troops who arrived fought hard to drive the enemy back.I heard too early today that the Japanese had advanced to the waterworks near the Yangtze River last night.It was generally believed that by this evening at the latest the city would be in Japanese hands.We have decided to publish the two telegrams sent last night, but not the opening chapters, so as not to embarrass General Tang. Three correspondents are now trying to get the two telegrams out with the help of the American gunboat Panay (Mr. Acheson).Now only the city gate to Xiaguan is passable, and journalists are likely to risk their lives trying to get this message out, because they don't have the military cover like we did last night.

Dr. Kim, who speaks German, offered to help the committee.He led 8 military hospitals, all of which were located outside the safe zone, and these 8 military hospitals housed all the lightly wounded.According to Dr. Jin, most of them self-mutilated to protect themselves.Doctor Jin wants to place the seriously injured to our safe zone.This approach was originally a violation of the agreement, but I hope that the Japanese will not raise blame for it after they know it.I told Dr. Jin to contact Dr. Trimer of Gulou Hospital, who is the head of our health committee.According to Dr. Jin, he can provide 80 Chinese doctors.We didn't know there are so many doctors in Nanjing.Of course, if there are so many people, and they can come to us, then we will be very happy, the more people the better.Over the past two days, there have been 1,000 wounded in the city.

The Reverend John Magee intended to establish a European branch of the Red Cross here.Although he also had funds (Colonel Huang gave him 23,000 yuan), but there was no progress because there was no reply from the Red Cross headquarters.And without the approval of the headquarters, he obviously dare not proceed with this matter, what a pity!If it were me, I wouldn't hesitate.If good things can be done, why ask for instructions?Anyway, it will be agreed in the end. We anxiously awaited the Japanese authorities and Chiang Kai-shek's reply to our telegram.The fate of the city and the lives of 200,000 people are at stake.

The streets of the safe zone are crowded with refugees.Unable to find suitable accommodation, many continue to sleep on the streets.Unfortunately, we continue to find that there are still many military personnel in the zone.We finally reached the following agreement with Colonel Long and Mr. Zhao: 1. General Tang clearly recognized the Wutai Mountain boundary (southwest line) of the safety zone. 2. Long is responsible for the construction of the porridge factory without interference from the soldiers. 3. Three representatives of the Weicheng Command and three members of the committee patrol the safe zone together, and every soldier encountered along the way will be expelled from the safe zone.Any one of General Tang's three deputies had full powers to drive soldiers out of the safe zone.

Mr. Han reported that the soldiers in Xiaguan were going to burn our remaining food reserves, and Long promised to intervene immediately.I got a military pass that allowed me to go in and out of the city gates to Xiaguan.The east of the city seems to be preparing for battle. The sound of heavy artillery can be heard, and the sound of aircraft attacking can also be heard at the same time.The anti-aircraft guns on Mount Wutai were still firing at the Japanese, and the position was indeed within the safe zone.This is really hopeless!If this situation is not changed, our security zone will be shelled, which will be tantamount to a terrible bloody massacre, because the streets in the zone are crowded with people.Even if the Japanese only give an affirmative answer!What makes people feel most regretful is that the whole truth cannot be told to the European war correspondents who stayed here!Some must be blamed because the promise to clear military personnel from the safe zone has never been kept.I declared to these people again this morning that I am not willing to haggle over these matters, and I am even more unwilling to play with the reputation of the Chinese people.Then they backed down, but didn't take action.But now there is no time to lose a minute!

We are all deeply depressed!Word came from the American ambassador at Hankow, Johnson, that he had forwarded our telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, and that he himself agreed and supported our proposal.At the same time he sent another secret telegram telling us that the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hankow had formally informed him orally that they believed General Tang to be wrong in agreeing to a three-day cease-fire and withdrawal of troops from Nanking.Moreover, Chiang Kai-shek had declared that he would not accept such proposals.We double-checked that we were not mistaken.Long and Lin were present when we sent the telegram, and they confirmed that everything was true.It seemed to them that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief would certainly agree to the matter.It may be that a senior official of the Hankou Ministry of Foreign Affairs made things difficult for this matter, which resulted in our proposal being rejected.We sent telegrams repeatedly to Chiang Kai-shek, and at the same time to the German ambassador Trautmann in Hankow, asking him to support our proposals.Now there is no time to lose a minute!

From: Hankou, 14:00, December 10, 1937, and: Peace Proposals of the International Committee: Washington, State Council, Embassy in Nanjing, Embassy in Peking, Consulate in Shanghai, No. 24—Nanjing, December 10, 1937, 11:00 Telegram No. 1026 - December 9th at 18:00 The following content was sent to the diplomatic missions in Hankou at 11:00 on December 10: At 12:00 p.m. on December 9, 1937, the U.S. ambassador received a wireless message from Mr. Acheson, Chargé d’affaires of the U.S. ambassador to Nanjing at 6:00 p.m.The telegram contained two telegrams sent by the International Committee of the Nanking Safety Zone to the Japanese authorities and the Chinese authorities respectively, making recommendations on how to avoid fighting in the city of Nanking and how to prevent the inevitable deaths of many civilians in the fighting.The Committee requested that I forward the telegram to the appropriate authorities through the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and the U.S. Embassy in Hankow.Attached is a copy of Mr. Acheson's telegram for circulation to the Hankou diplomatic corps.

After receiving the above information, a copy has been forwarded to the relevant Chinese authorities in Hankou by the US Embassy in Hankou.The relevant Chinese authorities replied this morning that the proposal had been submitted to the Supreme Command.Once the High Command has a reply, it will be notified immediately. It can be estimated that on the night of December 9, 1937, the message was delivered to the Japanese authorities in Tokyo and Shanghai in the same way. I would like to point out here that the International Committee urgently requests all embassies to support this proposal.The American ambassador has informed the Chinese authorities on his own behalf that he fully supports the humanitarian proposal of the Nanjing International Committee and would welcome it if it is implemented in its entirety and within the plans of the military commanders.

The original copy of this telegram was sent to Nanjing. Copy to Peking and Shanghai, and send to Tokyo via Peking. Signature: Johnson From the Navy Radio Station: Hankou, December 10, 1937 at 15:30 and: International Committee Peace Proposal Series: Washington, State Council, Embassy in Nanjing, Embassy in Peking, Consulate in Shanghai, Consulate No. 25—December 10, 1937, 15 Telegram from Shiren - 11:00 on December 10, 1937 I was informed verbally but formally by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the International Committee was wrong in its assessment that General Tang Shengzhi had agreed to a 3-day ceasefire and the withdrawal of Chinese troops from the city of Nanking.I have also been further informed that General Chiang Kai-shek has stated that he cannot (I repeat: cannot) accept this proposal.

The original copy of this telegram was sent to Nanjing. Copy to Peking and Shanghai, and send to Tokyo via Peking. Signature: Johnson December 10, 1937 Telegram to US Ambassador Mr. Johnson Hankou confidential!Only for the ambassador The Committee hereby expressly confirms the news about General Tang's statement.The headquarters here firmly believed that if General Chiang Kai-shek understood the military situation, he would agree. Signature: Rabe chairman December 10, 1937 Telegram to the German Ambassador in Hankou His Excellency Dr. Oscar Trautman: As the chairman of the International Committee, I telegraphed my proposal to the American Ambassador on December 9th, and sincerely hope that you will support this proposal.

Signature: Rabe Telegram to Supreme Commander Chiang Kai-shek on December 10, 1937: The International Committee hereby sincerely requests that this message be conveyed to General Chiang Kai-shek: Garrison Commander General Tang Shengzhi welcomes the proposal for a ceasefire out of humanitarian considerations.However, since General Tang had to be ordered to defend the city, the question of the retreat of the Chinese troops was left to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.Tens of thousands of civilians in Nanjing have been displaced by military action, and 200,000 lives are at risk.At this critical juncture, the International Committee takes the liberty of reiterating its proposal, which it is hoped will be accepted without delay. Signature: Rabe chairman At noon, the radio broadcast said that if General Tang did not withdraw his troops immediately, the Japanese would launch a large-scale attack on Nanjing tomorrow.The city was bombed all day today, the windows were rattling.Several houses were burning on Zijin Mountain, and the outskirts of the city were still burning.Residents on the streets of our refugee area felt so safe and secure that they hardly cared about the Japanese planes.God, if one day people find out that their feelings are wrong, that is, they have been bombed by the Japanese, then this bloody massacre must be devastating!I've been hoping that things will turn around for the better.Japanese radio reported that Nanking would be captured within 24 hours.The morale of the Chinese army has been significantly low.The Capital Hotel (the best hotel in town) has been taken over by the army.The soldiers were lounging on club couches, drunk one by one, at the bar, and they were going to have a good time.A considerable number of people believe that it is entirely possible that the city fell into Japanese hands overnight.But so far, that doesn't seem to be the case.It was quiet outside, and there was another group of refugees sleeping on the streets with their wives and children. At 22:30, according to Shanghai Seaman Radio, Nanjing has been occupied by the Japanese this afternoon.Since General Tang did not withdraw his troops by 12:00 noon, the Japanese are now busy clearing the remnants of the Chinese army out of the city.Of course not a word of it is true.But now it is not far from the "difficult time" mentioned before.I sleep with my clothes on.At 2:30 midnight, there was heavy artillery fire, accompanied by machine gunfire.Cannonballs began to roar horribly over our roof. I let Mr. Han's family and our servants enter the bomb shelter, and I put on a steel helmet myself. The head was "the most noble" and must be intact.A fire broke out on the southeast side, and the flames illuminated the surrounding area for hours.All the windows rattled incessantly, and the building trembled regularly at intervals of a few seconds amidst the roar of shell explosions.The Wutaishan anti-aircraft artillery position was shelled and returned fire at the same time, and my house was within the shelling area.Shelling also began from the south and west.After a little getting used to the deafening explosion, I lay down on the bed and went to sleep again.In fact, I can't sleep at all, just take a nap. At 8 o'clock in the morning, the water and electricity stopped.The shelling continued.Sometimes the gunfire would die down a little, but then it would start again.Our canary "Peter" seemed to like this, he let go of his throat and sang, the canary seemed calmer than "The Crow", I was not in the mood to sing!The streets of the safe zone were already crowded with people, they didn't mind the roar of the shelling anymore, and they believed in the "safe zone" more than I did.In fact the safe zone is not "safe", there are still armed soldiers here, and all efforts to clear the soldiers are in vain.It seems that the words of a Chinese general are useless!Sad!We were unable to inform the Japanese, as originally planned, that there were no more troops in the safe zone. At 9:00 a.m., the first batch of artillery shells fell in the safe area near the Fuchang Hotel and World Theater. A total of 21 people were killed and about 12 were injured.Sperling, who was in charge of the restaurant, was hit by shards of glass and was slightly injured.Two cars in front of the hotel burst into flames.Another shell fell inside the safe zone (secondary school), killing 13 people.There have been repeated complaints that Chinese troops have not withdrawn from the safe zone.Fortifications are being built in front of the Drum Tower Hospital, and on the side of the safety zone.The officer on the mission refused to build on the other side of the street, preferring the sandy mound on the side of the hospital.Magee and I drove there with the intention of calmly reconciling the matter.On the way, we found soldiers digging trenches in Shanxi Road Square.The houses that formed a sharp corner on the edge of the square were broken down by soldiers, and I saw the doors and windows smashed.Why this is so, no one can explain it to me!Many wounded were carried over from Zhongshan Road.Soldiers are preparing for the defense of Zhongshan Road.Those roadblocks made of sandbags, felled trees, and barbed wire fences are hardly obstacles to tanks.We negotiated with the officer in front of the Gulou Hospital, but he politely but firmly refused to comply with our wishes.I called Long at Gulou Hospital and asked him to contact General Tang immediately. At 6 p.m., the only people attending the 6 p.m. press conference, apart from representatives of the press, were members of our committee.Other foreigners either boarded the three-masted sailing ship of Jardine Matheson, or boarded the American gunboat "Panay" and headed upstream.Dr Smythe said police officers nominally affiliated with us had caught a thief and wanted to know what to do with him.This brought laughter from some of those present, because we hadn't considered so far that even the High Court was going to be represented by us.We sentenced the thief to death first, then commuted his sentence to 24 hours of detention, and later released him because there was no detention center.At 8 o'clock in the evening, I called Mr. Han in front of me and suggested that he and his family move to our headquarters at No. 5 Ninghai Road. The air-raid shelter there is better than the one here.In addition, my house is too close to the Wutaishan anti-aircraft artillery position, and the Japanese have now aimed their guns there.I'm considering whether I should move there too, since the Japanese are likely to make a violent attack tonight.Mr. Han doesn't want to leave his residence (he is currently living in the original German school) for the time being.Tomorrow he intends to find another apartment in the residential area.Then I also decided to stay in my house.From 9:00 pm the city was shelled.But the attack soon subsided, and an incomprehensible silence ensued.The western part of the city was ablaze. I originally thought that the Japanese could take over the city in peace, but this idea has not been confirmed.In the safety zone, Chinese soldiers wearing yellow armbands can still be seen constantly. They are fully armed and carry rifles, pistols and grenades. Even the police are no longer wearing pistols, but are wearing rifles in violation of regulations.It seemed that neither the soldiers nor the police obeyed General Tang's orders.Clearing the safe zone is already impossible in this situation.At 8 o'clock in the morning, the shelling began again. At 11:00 noon, Long and Zhou were ordered by General Tang to invite us to make one last effort and sign an agreement for a three-day ceasefire.During these 3 days, the garrison retreated and then handed over the city to the Japanese (as originally thought).We drafted a new telegram to the American ambassador, a letter that should be sent to us by General Tang before the telegram is sent, and a rule of conduct that the peace negotiators should abide by. The content of the rules is: Under the protection of the position, he delivered a letter about the ceasefire agreement to the supreme commander of the Japanese army at the front of the position.Sperling volunteered himself as a peace negotiator.The whole noon, we waited for Long and Zhou who returned to General Tang to pick up the necessary letter.When it was almost 6 o'clock in the evening, the dragon came.Our efforts, he said, were useless; it was too late for a ceasefire, and the Japanese were already at the city gates.I don't feel sad about it, nor have I ever been sad about the ending, because I didn't like this last-ditch effort from the start.It was clear that General Tang wanted to sign a ceasefire without the approval of the Supreme Commander.When notifying the Japanese, the four words "surrender to Jiaocheng" should not be mentioned in any case.When drafting an application or request for a ceasefire, be sure to make it appear as if the motion was made by an international committee.In other words, General Tang intended to hide behind us because he expected a severe rebuke from the Supreme Commander and the Foreign Office in Hankow, which he feared.He wanted to put all the blame on the committee and its chairman Rabe.This is something I really don't like! At 6:30 in the afternoon, the artillery on Zijin Mountain was bombarding non-stop, and the surrounding area of ​​the mountain was surrounded by lightning and thunder.The whole mountain was suddenly engulfed in flames, and houses and ammunition depots were set on fire somewhere. (This is an ancient symbol of the fall of Nanjing. There is a folk proverb that says: "If the Zijin Mountain is burned, the Jinling will be destroyed.") Chinese civilians can be seen fleeing from the south, running along the streets of the safe zone to their shelters .Several Chinese troops following them claimed that the Japanese had followed them in.But this message is not accurate!Judging from the gait of the fleeing troops, the last few troops were walking leisurely through the streets.It can be judged from this that they were not pursued by the enemy.We concluded that these troops must have been bombarded by enemy artillery at Nancheng Gate or Guanghua Gate, and fled in panic.The closer they got to the inner city, the calmer they became.The original running and running has now become a free and easy march.Of course, there is no doubt that the Japanese are already approaching the city, and the general offensive is about to begin. I told Mr. Han and other staff at the headquarters that we had to go back early so that the family members of the Chinese committee members would not worry about their husbands or relatives who were away.Myself and Mr. Han started walking back home to make some preparations in case we got into trouble due to shelling or bombing.I packed the necessary toiletries in the suitcase, insulin, bandages, etc. in the essential medicine cabinet.Then I had them sent to a newly dug shelter, which I thought was safer than the original one.Inside my parka I stuffed the necessary doses of medicines and medical equipment in case I had to leave the house.I was stuffed, I looked like Santa Claus, and I had a hard time walking, but there was no other way because I was insulin dependent.For a little while I was a little apprehensive, what else could I take with me?I walked through all the rooms again, and looked carefully again, as if I wanted to say goodbye to the junk in the house.There are also a few photos of the grandkids in there, which have to be pocketed.Now I am equipped.I know very well that there is nothing funny at this moment, but the humor before the execution still prevails after all-clown, you laugh!The show goes on!Just before 8:00 pm, two gentlemen Long and Zhou (Lin had retreated) came to me and asked to be protected in my house.I agreed.The two gentlemen deposited $30,000 in the committee cash drawer before we went home. At 8 o'clock in the evening, the last scene of the whole play began-violent shelling!The flames reddened the entire southern sky.Refugees in the yard squeezed all the way to the edge of the air-raid shelter.Someone was banging on the two courtyard doors, and women and children begged us to let them in.Some daring men climbed over the courtyard wall from behind the German school and tried to enter my courtyard for protection.I couldn't bear to listen to this kind of begging, so I opened the two doors and let in everyone who wanted to come in.There was no room in the air-raid shelter, so I put people between the houses and in the corners of the houses.Most people brought their own bedding and lay down on the ground in the open air.Some smarties have placed their beds under a horizontally hung German flag for protection against Japanese bombing, and the place is considered a "bulletproof zone"!Cannonballs and bombs roared non-stop, getting denser and closer.The entire horizon to the south turned into a sea of ​​fire, and the sound of landslides and ground cracks was everywhere.I put on a steel helmet, and I put one on for my Chinese assistant, the kind Mr. Han, because the two of us were not allowed to go into the air-raid shelter, and there was no room there anymore.I ran up and down the yard like a hound, weaving among the crowd, reprimanding here, soothing there, and finally everyone listened to me obediently. Towards midnight there was a dreadful muffled noise in front of my courtyard door.Here comes my friend Christian Kroeger (our Treasurer, Finance Minister of the Safe Zone) from Lihe Matheson. "Krisan, my God, what are you doing here?" "Just to see how you are!" He told me that the main street, Zhongshan Road, was littered with military uniforms, grenades and all kinds of things thrown by the fleeing Chinese troops. of military supplies. "One more thing," Christian said, "Just now someone offered to sell a bus that is still in use for only 20 yuan, do you want it?" "Christian, what time is it!" Christian continued: "I've made an appointment with him to come to our office tomorrow." The gunfire died down in the middle of the night, so I lay down and fell asleep.To the north, the handsome Department of Transportation building is burning.I feel pain in every muscle and bone, and I haven't closed my eyes for 48 hours.My guests are all asleep too, 30 people sleep in the office, 3 people sleep in the coal storage basement, 8 women and children sleep in the servant's toilet, and the remaining more than 100 people are in the air-raid shelters, In the open air, in the yard, on the gravel road! At 9:00 p.m., Mr. Long secretly told me that according to General Tang's order, the Chinese army would retreat between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.Later I heard that General Tang actually broke away from his own troops at 8:00 p.m. and went to Pukou by boat.At the same time, I also heard from Mr. Long that he and Zhou were ordered to stay and take care of the wounded.He earnestly asked for my help in this regard.The 30,000 yuan deposited with me can only be used for this purpose.I am more than happy to accept this donation and promise to help, because words cannot describe the suffering of those wounded who are in urgent need of all kinds of medical care! ! My last thought before falling asleep is: Thank goodness the hardest time is over! Early in the morning, when I was awakened again by the air raid, I was very disappointed.Another hail of bombs fell.The Japanese captured only a few city gates last night, and they have not yet advanced into the city. After arriving at the committee headquarters, within 10 minutes we had established an international Red Cross society, and I became a member of the organization's board of directors.John Magee, president of the Red Cross, had been planning for weeks to start one.The three members of the committee drove to several military hospitals set up in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Military Affairs and the Ministry of Railways.Through their visits, we were assured of the dire conditions in these hospitals, where medical staff fled leaving unattended patients during the fierce exchange of fire.So we quickly got a Red Cross flag to hang over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and recalled a considerable number of personnel. They dared not return to the military hospital until they saw the Red Cross flag flying over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The entrance and exit roads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are strewn with casualties.The courtyard, like the entire Zhongshan Road, was littered with discarded weapons and equipment.A pile of shapeless objects lay on a trolley parked at the gate, as if it were a corpse, and the exposed feet showed that he was still alive.We drove carefully along the street, at any moment in danger of running over the scattered grenades and being blown into the air. We turned and drove into Shanghai Road. There were dead civilians lying everywhere on the street. We drove forward and ran into the advancing Japanese soldiers.The detachment told us through a German-speaking doctor that the commander of the Japanese army would not arrive in two days.Seeing that the Japanese were advancing northward through Xinjiekou, our car bypassed the Japanese troops and drove past them quickly.Along the way, we rescued about 600 Chinese soldiers from three detachments by disarming them.Some soldiers were unwilling to comply with the request to lay down their weapons, but when they saw the Japanese approaching not far away, they finally decided to lay down their weapons.We housed these people in the Foreign Office and the Supreme Court. The other two members of our committee continued to drive forward and encountered another Chinese army of about 400 people at the Ministry of Railways.Our people are also asking them to lay down their arms.At this moment someone shot at us from somewhere.We just heard bullets whizzing by, but we didn't know where they came from.At last we found out that it was a Chinese officer on horseback with a carbine shooting around, probably because he didn't agree with us.It must be admitted that, from his standpoint, he was not entirely unreasonable in doing so.But despite this, we still insist on our approach after consideration, we have no choice!If street fighting broke out on the edge of the safe zone, the fleeing Chinese soldiers would undoubtedly retreat into the safe zone, so that the safe zone is not a demilitarized area.It was, if not destroyed by the Japanese, then heavily shot by the Japanese.Therefore we have always hoped that these fully disarmed Chinese soldiers would be in no danger other than being taken as prisoners of war by the Japanese.We have no way of knowing what happened to the Chinese officer who shot at us, I just saw Mr. Hartz, our auto expert, grab his gun. After returning to the headquarters, I found that the gate was very crowded, and there were also a large number of Chinese soldiers who could not cross the river and retreat.They all accepted our request to disarm and were placed in various places in the safe zone.Sperling stood at the gate with a very serious face, a Mauser pistol in his hand, of course it was not loaded.He supervised that the weapons were neatly arranged and counted, as we intended to hand them over to the Japanese at a later date. We were concerned that the Japanese would disperse or otherwise harass or punish the crowds gathered in the refugee area, so issued the following announcement: Important Notice to Refugees in Refugee Shelters 1. Urgently appeal to all people not to stay on the street as much as possible. 2. In the most dangerous time, it is recommended to hide in the house or a place where you will not be seen. 3. We draw attention to the fact that the refugee area is exclusively for refugees.We have to point out with regret that refugee areas have no right to provide protection for Chinese soldiers. 4. If the Japanese come to inspect or inspect the refugee area, they must pass through and no resistance shall be imposed on them. We drafted a letter in English and Japanese, and prepared to present it to the Japanese commander.Here is a translation of the letter: Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee, No. 5, Ninghai Road, Nanjing, December 14, 1937, to Mr. Commander Dear Commander of the Japanese Army Stationed in Nanjing: Please allow us to express our gratitude to your Artillery Corps, whose disciplined behavior has allowed the safe zone to survive.In order to protect the interests of Chinese civilians, we would like to get in touch with you about future plans. The International Committee has assumed the responsibility of relocating Chinese residents stranded in the city in a safe zone.Rice noodles have been stored, which can temporarily help refugees.The committee also took over the management of the Chinese police in the safe zone. The Committee makes the following request: 1. Urge to station Japanese guard posts at all passages in the safe zone. 2. The safety zone is protected by the civilian police in the area, and the civilian police only carry pistols.Please approve. 3. Approve the committee to sell rice noodles and set up porridge factories in the safe zone.The committee has food stockpiles in other urban areas, please allow our trucks to pass to deliver food. 4. Allow the committee to retain its current management of the houses until all the refugees return to their original places of residence (even if they can return, there are still thousands of refugees who are homeless and must be cared for). 5. The approval committee will cooperate with your army to restore water and electricity supply and telephone communication as soon as possible. Yesterday afternoon, an unexpected situation occurred. A large number of fleeing Chinese soldiers had nowhere to retreat in the north of the city. Some of them came to our office to ask for mercy and save their lives.Our representative tried to get in touch with the headquarters of your army, but only met a captain on Hanzhong Road.Those Chinese soldiers mentioned above, we disarmed them and put them in houses in the safe zone. I implore you to forgive these soldiers, consider their wishes, and allow them to return to peaceful civilian life. Here, we would like to introduce you to the International Red Cross, of which Mr. John Magee (American) is the President.The association has taken over several former military hospitals belonging to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Railways, and the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs, and disarmed all personnel in the hospitals yesterday.The association guarantees that the buildings responsible for this site will not be used for other purposes than hospitals in the future.If space is available, we recommend that all Chinese wounded be housed in the Foreign Office. For the well-being of Chinese common people, we look forward to having the opportunity to cooperate with you in any form. Sincerely respect Signed: John Rabe Chairman of Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee Mr. Song (transliteration), the former secretary of the Japanese Consulate in Nanjing, also undertook the translation work. The 60-year-old Mr. Song is also a member of our subordinate Red Swastika Society.We found about 6 Japanese military officers, and they put us in touch with General Hisao Tani of the Japanese Army who arrived only tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. It's on the drive through the city that we really get a sense of the extent of the devastation.For every 100-200 meters the car drove, we would come across several corpses.The dead were all civilians, and I examined the bodies and found marks on the back from bullets.It appears that the men were killed when they were shot in the back while fleeing. The Japanese formed a small team of 10 to 20 people. They walked through the city and ransacked the shops.I couldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.They smashed open the doors and windows of the shops and took whatever they wanted, presumably because they lacked food.I witnessed them looting Kisling pastry shop in Germany.Hempel's restaurant was also smashed open, as was almost every shop on Zhongshan Road and Taiping Road.Some Japanese soldiers hauled away loot by boxes, and others commandeered rickshaws to transport loot to safety. We went with Mr. Foster to see his Anglican Church of England on Taiping Road.There were several houses next to the church, one of which was hit by two bombs.The houses were broken into and looted.Several Japanese soldiers were about to take away Foster's bicycle, but when they saw Foster and us, they were stunned, and then quickly slipped away.We stopped a Japanese patrol, pointed out that this was American territory, and asked them to let the looters leave the place.They just smiled and ignored us.We met a group of about 200 Chinese workers who were picked out from the refugee area by Japanese soldiers, bound and driven away.Our various protests were fruitless.We placed about 1,000 Chinese soldiers in the building of the Ministry of Justice, and about 400 to 500 were forcibly dragged away from there by being tied up.We figured they had been shot because we heard various machine gun shots.We were stunned by this practice. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs where we placed the wounded soldiers has not allowed us to enter, and the Chinese medical staff are not allowed to leave.We managed to quickly settle a group of 125 Chinese refugees in empty houses before the Japanese army attacked.Mr. Han said that three girls aged 14 or 15 were snatched from a house next door to his home.Dr. Bates reported that even the few things that refugees were housed in the safe zone were robbed of what little they had, and not even a dollar was escaped by the intruders.Several teams of Japanese soldiers also came to my private residence, and they withdrew after I showed them the National Socialist swastika armband on my arm.The American flag was so unpopular that the American flag was taken from the car of our committee member, Mr. Thorne, and the contents of the car were stolen.We have been on the road since 6 am to get an accurate picture of this atrocity.Mr. Han dared not leave home even half a step.The Japanese officers are more or less polite and behave decently, but the behavior of some troops is really abominable.Propaganda materials were scattered on the plane, announcing to ordinary people that they will be treated humanely in every way. Exhausted and almost hopeless, we returned to our headquarters at No. 5 Ninghai Road.There was famine in many parts of the city, and we sent bags of rice in our private car to the building of the Ministry of Justice, where hundreds of people were starving.外交部里的人和那些伤员靠什么活下来，对我来讲简直是个谜。在我们总部的院子里，有7个重伤员已经躺了好几个小时，他们最后终于被救护车送到了鼓楼医院。重伤员中有一个约10岁的男孩，他的小腿被子弹击中，连发出呻吟的气力都没有了。 我不想说自己对艺术一窍不通，但是我不得不承认，在生活中我很少把时间用来阅读诗歌以及诸如此类的东西。我总觉得这和一个汉堡正派商人的职业协调不起来。但是随着时间的流逝，当“教育的缺陷”最终令人难堪地表现出来时，我便开始时常从“女性”书目中选出这本或那本书来，以弥补我知识上的缺陷，当然我首先不免左顾右盼，确定不会被人发现。但是不知是谁听到了风声——女士们已经发现了一切，她们面带沉静的微笑对我们的过失并不理会，对我尤其如此。但是不管怎么样，台历背面的那些格言警句变得越来越美好。某些特别有诗意的东西在我不知不觉、因而也就没有提出非议的情况下，被塞进了我的每日笔记本里，塞进去的纸条常常还露出点边。今天又有一张纸条摆放在了我的面前： life 脉搏的每一次跳动——必胜的信念 日光的每一次来临——不尽的奋争 life. 死亡吓不住我们—— 每一个沉寂 都萌发出生命的 意志。 我们切齿痛恨 虚伪、半途而废。 我们真切热爱 自由、光明。 这就是我们的生命。 脉搏的每一次跳动——必胜的信念 日光的每一次来临——不尽的奋争。 父辈和大地的神圣遗产 这个生命，人民和国家的造化。 我将这张纸条反反复复看了好几遍，而且每天都放在我的面前。如果生命每时每刻都处于危险之中，那么读起这些来便有特别肃穆的感觉——谢谢你，妻子！ 《纽约时报》记者德丁先生打算乘车去上海，这种想法值得称道。但是我不相信他能顺利通行，尽管如此，我还是托他带一份电报到上海，电文如下： 上海西门子洋行（中国），本电文签署人和当地办事处的全体职员到12月14日晚上9时为止一切都好。请通知D.拉贝夫人（天津，马场道136号）和柏林的施莱格尔先生。 拉贝 我刚刚得到消息，德丁先生已经返回，上海之行没有任何结果。Pity! 上午10时，日本海军少尉关口来访，他向我们转达了海军“势多”号炮舰舰长和舰队军官的问候。我们把致日本军最高司令官的信函副本交给了他。 11时，日本大使馆参赞福田先生来访，我们同他商谈了我们工作计划的细节。福田先生明白，尽快使发电厂、自来水厂和电话局恢复正常不仅符合我们的利益，而且也符合日本当局的利益。有关这一点，我们，或者说我，可以向他提供帮助。韩先生和我对这3个地方的情况非常了解，我相信我们能够让工程师和工人们将工厂重新运转起来。在新街口的交通银行（日军司令部）我又遇见了福田。在拜访当时的指挥官时，他作为翻译帮了我们很多的忙。 由于昨天，也就是12月14日，我们没能和日军指挥官取得联系，因此为了澄清如何处理已经解除武装的中国士兵的问题，我们向福田先生递交了一封信，信文如下： 南京安全区国际委员会南京宁海路5号1937年12月15日致福田德康先生日本大使馆参赞南京 尊敬的福田先生： 南京安全区国际委员会对已经放下武器的中国士兵的命运深感震惊。委员会从一开始就力争做到安全区没有中国军人，到星期一，也就是12月13日的下午之前，这方面的工作成效良好。但是在这一天的下午，有数百名中国军人接近并进入了安全区，他们（出于绝望）请求我们帮助。委员会明确地告诉他们，无法提供保护。但是我们同时向他们解释说，如果放下武器，放弃对日本人的一切抵抗，我们认为，他们可以期待得到日方的宽待。那天晚上，由于匆忙和混乱，再加上有些士兵已经脱下了军装，委员会未能将已经解除武装的士兵同中国平民区分开来。 委员会当然认为，这些中国士兵，一旦验明身份，根据法律就应当被看作是战俘，但是同时又希望，不要因此而殃及中国平民。 此外，委员会还希望，日军能够根据有关战俘的战争法律规定，并本着人道主义的原则，给予这些过去的士兵以宽大处理。战俘适合充当劳工，他们自己也会因为能够尽快重新过上平民的生活而感到高兴。 顺致崇高的敬意 Signed: John Rabe chairman 作为对这封信和12月14日我们给指挥官信函的回答，我们现在收到了指挥官以纪要的形式给予的回复，回复由福田先生翻译，纪要如下： 与日军参谋部参谋长在南京（交通银行）的会晤纪要1937年12月15日，中午翻译：福田先生 委员会出席成员： 约翰·拉贝先生，主席斯迈思博士先生，秘书施佩林先生，总稽查 （前面提到的12月14日和15日两封函件经过福田先生的翻译，递交给了指挥官。指挥官此次会晤是要对此表态，而不是要回答问题。） 1.在城内搜索中国士兵。 2.在安全区入口处设置日本岗哨。 3.居民应尽快重新回到自己的家中。 4.如何处理已经解除武装的中国士兵，您交给日军办理，您可以相信日军是有人道主义的。 5.中国警察可以在安全区内巡逻，但必须解除武装，仅携警棍。 6.贵委员会在安全区储备的1万担米可以供难民使用，但是我们的日本士兵同样也需要米，必须允许他们在区内购买粮米。（关于区外储备的粮米，没作明确表态。） 7.电话和水电供应必须恢复。我们定于今天下午和拉贝先生视察这些设施，我们将在视察后制定相应措施。 8.从明天起将对城市进行清理，我们急需劳工，请委员会在这方面提供帮助。我们明天需要100个～200个劳工，干活付酬。 签名：刘易斯SC斯迈思 南京安全区国际委员会秘书 我们同指挥官和福田先生告别时，原因将军走了进来，他当即表示要我们带他去安全区转一圈看看。我们约好下午去察看下关发电厂。 遗憾的是我错过了约定的下午察看时间，因为一队日本士兵要带走一部分已经放下武器逃到我们安全区的原中国士兵。我以德国人的身份向他们担保，这些难民已经不会再战斗，应将他们释放。我刚回到委员会总部还没进办公室，杂工就告诉了我们一个不好的消息，日本人又回来将所有1300名难民捆绑起来。我、斯迈思和米尔斯3人试图再次将这批人解救下来，但是白费口舌。大约100名荷枪实弹的日本士兵将这批人围起来，捆绑着拖走，准备拉出去枪毙。我和斯迈思又一次开车去找福田，替这批人求情。福田答应尽自己最大的努力去办，但是希望渺茫。我向他指出，如果这样处决人的话，我将很难为日本人招募到劳工。福田也深以为然，安慰我并答应明天去办这事。我的心情悲痛极了，把人像动物一样强行拖走，这是很残酷的。但是他们声称，在济南中国人枪毙了2000名日本战俘。 我从日本海军处听说，负责安全接运美国大使馆官员的美国“帕奈”号炮艇被日本人误炸沉没，死亡两人。一人是桑德利，意大利一家报社的记者；另一人是查尔森，“梅平”号的船长。美国大使馆的帕克斯顿先生肩部和膝部受伤，斯夸尔的肩部也受了伤，加西的一条腿断了，安德鲁斯少尉受了重伤，休斯艇长也断了一条腿。这段时间里，我们委员会也有一个人受了伤。克勒格尔拿着一盏油灯靠着一个几乎是空的汽油罐太近，结果把双手给烧伤了，我把他狠狠地批评了一顿。黑姆佩尔抱怨日本人把他的饭店完全摧毁了。基斯林糕饼店看来也已经片瓦不存了。我急切地盼望着这段动荡不定的日子能早日过去，我们现在对生存的忧虑的的确确要大于南京沦陷前的那段时间。人们对手榴弹和炸弹已经习以为常，现在要做的是同占领军搞好关系。对一个欧洲人来讲，这不是一件难事，但是对委员会主席来讲，要胜任这一点，并不简单。 今天下午“帕奈”号炮艇的幸存者们要被运送到停泊在下关港的美国炮艇“瓦胡”号上。据说日本的舰队凡是能够航行扬子江航道的也已经驶入下关港。我估计，美国“瓦胡”号炮艇能够而且会驶往上海，因为受伤人员几乎是不可能安置在南京的。 我们再次写信给日本人，正式提请他们注意我们成立的红十字会分会。The full text is as follows: 国际红十字会分会南京宁海路1937年12月15日致福田德康先生日本大使馆参赞南京 尊敬的福田先生： 目前已经有大量士兵和平民受伤，为了能够应付由此形成的困难局面，我们成立了国际红十字会南京分会。 我们已经采取了必要的步骤，以便该分会能得到上海国际红十字会和中国国际红十字会的承认。 现在我们恳请您，帮助我们获得南京日本军事当局的批准，以便我们开展人道主义工作。 随本函附上委员会名单。 谨致良好的问候 签名：欧内斯特H.福斯特 secretary 国际红十字会南京分会宁海路5号 电话：32346，31641，31961 约翰C.马吉牧师主席 李春南先生（音译）副主席（中国红十字会，南京） 洛先生副主席 欧内斯特H.福斯特牧师秘书 克里斯蒂安·克勒格尔先生财务主管 保罗·德·威特·特维内姆夫人 明妮·沃特林小姐 罗伯特O.成尔逊大夫 PH门罗.福勒先生 CS特里默大夫 詹姆斯·麦卡勒姆牧师 MS贝茨博士 约翰HD拉贝先生 刘易斯SC斯迈思博士 WP米尔斯牧师 克拉·波德希沃洛夫先生 沈玉书牧师