Chapter 13 December 37 Diary 6

The previous letter written by Dr. Bates at Jinling University shows that even if there is a slight turn for the better, we have no reason to be happy about the current situation.Countless rapes, lootings and murders continue to occur every day.A man who was stabbed five times was taken to Gulou Hospital today.He stated that he was one of 200 executed ex-soldiers who were housed as refugees at Jinling High School, all of whom were bayoneted rather than shot.This method was chosen because we foreigners prick up our ears when we hear a machine gun and ask why it was fired. Today Zhang and Han came to tell me that a joint-stock company, Jizhong Company, was opened in Xinjiekou Central Shopping Center, where all possible food can be bought.Han and I drove there immediately to see if the report was correct.We arrived just in time to be witnesses to the burning of the building.If this destructive activity is not stopped immediately, the refugees in our safe zone will simply not be able to return to their former settlements, because almost everything has been destroyed.It was already clear that the city would literally be razed to the ground.

Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee, No. 5, Ninghai Road, Nanjing, at 17:00 on December 27, 1937, to Mr. Fukui, Japanese Imperial Embassy Nanjing You asked Mr. Rabe and me this afternoon about coal reserves that could be shipped to meet the needs of the International Commission, and we commissioned Mr. Riggs to check this afternoon. As a result of our efforts, we hereby send you a stock list of warehouses in 4 different locations that have not yet been occupied by your army.We draw special attention to the 50 tons of coal burned at the end of the list, which are stored in the yard located in the jurisdiction of the United States.This batch of coal can meet our current needs, however, until February 1 next year, we need a total of 300 tons.We need another 300 tons until March 1st.The amount mentioned above is only enough for the porridge factory, and the coal needed by private households is not counted.The quantity required by civilians is estimated at over 1,000 tons.Therefore, 600 tons of coal should be reserved for porridge factories, and another 1,000 tons should be used by civilians for private use.

We thank you in advance for your consideration of our wishes. with great respect Signed: Lewis SC Smythe secretary List of coal reserves; 1. No. 156 Hongwu Road, Tongyi Company, about 50 tons, some of which are currently being transported away; 2. No. 91 Wulaoqiao East, Qingtai (transliteration) company, about 100 tons of soft coal (hard coal has been burned); 3. No. 36 Luxi Lane, Tianyuanhuang Company, about 60 tons to 100 tons; 4. Muxing Assembly Hall (transliteration) (the warehouse behind) at the entrance of Hanzhong Road, there are about 500 tons in the compound, some of which are currently being transported away.

There are about 50 tons in the small compound located in the jurisdiction of the United States.The international committee asked for special protection and assistance in removing the coal necessary to cook the refugees' food. December 27, 1937 Arson incidents continue!People feel like a sick person, watching the hour hand with horrified eyes, thinking it moves too slowly, as if there are 100 hours in a day instead of 24 hours, and no one knows when they will recover.It was a peaceful night, will it be the same tomorrow during the day?We look forward to it day after day.All the refugees dreaded the New Year because they knew that the Japanese soldiers would get drunk and run amok.We try to comfort them, but our words of comfort are so weak that we don't even believe it ourselves!

Someone spread the word that today is the last day for registration, so tens of thousands of people flocked to the registration office.The streets of the safe zone are so congested that it is impossible to pass on foot.Relying on the German flag on the car, I struggled to carve my way through the crowd.Everyone in the safe zone will recognize my swastika-flagged car.People are pushing against each other to create a gap for cars to pass.In this way, I slowly drove towards the destination, and the gap behind me immediately closed again.If the car breaks down, I certainly won't be able to squeeze my way out of the crowd.The reports we got from all quarters were horrifying and almost impossible to write down.Because it was estimated that there were former Chinese soldiers in the crowd, before the registration of several schools where the refugees lived, the Japanese asked the former Chinese soldiers to stand up and promised to protect them, saying that they were only to be included in the labor force.Some refugees came forward, about 50 in one, and they were taken away immediately.According to a survivor's report to us, they were taken into an empty house, all valuables and clothes were taken away, their clothes were stripped off, and they were tied together in groups of five.Then the Japanese lit a large pile of firewood in the yard of the house, led groups of people there, stabbed them with bayonets, and threw them alive on the fire.Ten of these men were able to break free from the ropes, climb over the wall and escape into the crowd, where they were voluntarily clothed.We get the same message from 3 sides.The other group was larger than the previous group, and it is said that they were stabbed to death in the cemetery in the west of the city.Dr. Bates is currently trying to get more details about this group.We must be careful about the reporting of these events so as not to endanger those who provide them.Mr. Fitch had a letter from Shanghai in which the Roulette Club informed him that thirty-five thousand dollars had been raised for us.This money is of no use to us here.We need people (Europeans) to come and help us here, but the Japanese won't let anyone come to Nanking.This letter was brought with the Nisshin Steamship Company ship that arrived yesterday.The ships carried Japanese and not passengers from other countries.We cannot entrust the mail we want to send to the people on this steamer.We still sit on an island all the time.The Japanese embassy officials here seem intent on making our situation bearable, but they don't seem to be getting past their own compatriots (military people).We have heard that the military command here is not prepared to recognize the Japan-China committee (similar to our safe zone committee) set up by the embassy.It is now confirmed that Mr. Fukuda was right what he said to us on his first day here: "The military people are going to make a mess in town, and our embassy is trying to avoid that!" Regrettably, Neither Mr. Fukuda, nor Mr. Tanaka, nor Mr. Fukui could convince the army! !

On December 23, a Chinese newspaper "Xin Shen Bao" published by the Japanese and printed in Shanghai published a photo of the entrance of the safe zone with the flag of our safe zone hanging.The article stated that the International Committee for Refugee Areas requested the Japanese to distribute beds and bedding for the refugees.It never occurred to us that maybe we had verbally protested against Japanese soldiers taking some of the refugees' bedding.However, the idea of ​​asking the army for bedding has never occurred to us, because the army itself does not have any. Dear George:

Next to the Xie Gong Temple (big temple) near No. 17 Mingyang Street, lay the corpses of 50 Chinese who were executed for being suspected of being Chinese soldiers. The corpses had been there for two weeks and had begun to decompose, so should be buried immediately.I have several people here who would like to undertake burial work, but they are afraid to start the work without permission from the Japanese authorities.Is it necessary to obtain such permission?Could you do it for me if necessary? thanks in advance your Ernest H. Foster The above letter from Mr. Foster to Fitch clearly shows the present situation here.In addition to the 50 corpses mentioned above, the bodies of about 50 Chinese soldiers who were killed lay in the pond not far from our headquarters.We have requested permission to bury these bodies several times (both with the Japanese embassy and with the military authorities), but have always been denied.How this will end is something we all can't fathom, especially now that it's raining and snowing, and the decay will accelerate.

Dr. Smythe and I had a two-hour meeting with Mr. Fukui and Mr. Saoka at the Japanese embassy.Gon informed us that he had received a request from the German ambassador, Dr. Trautmann, to be in charge of our security, and he asked all the Germans (5 of us in total) to move into one house so that he could protect the house.If I do not agree with this suggestion, I will write a letter to Mr. Gang, declaring that I will give up the protection.I expressed my opinion frankly, stating that I did not ask for any special protection for my personal safety other than that promised by the Japanese Army to the Chinese in this city.If I had ignored the Chinese now after what had happened here for the past fortnight, I could have been aboard the Kutwo with Dr. Trautmann and the other Germans.Of course, I can't completely reject Gang Shaozuo's suggestion, because this person only has to perform his duties and specially remind me of this point.In this way, I said that I would discuss it with other Germans. I guess Kroeger would not move out of the house that he just moved in, because the house would be robbed.Shao Zuo Gang explained to me that I was entrusted to protect your life. If it can be proved that the property was robbed or destroyed by Japanese soldiers, the Japanese government will be responsible for repaying or compensating you.Of course we can do it with such cunning, but how to provide evidence?Oka asked me directly what evidence I had that the German embassy house and 38 other houses (Dr. Blumer's house should also be counted during this period) were looted by Japanese soldiers.What I could answer him was that I walked around town with some American members of our committee on December 14, 1937, and found all German possessions (after the fall of Nanking) intact.The looting, arson, rape, murder, and massacre began as the Japanese army entered the city.We'd all be willing to swear by it, and the same goes for American property.The few houses that were looted by the retreating Chinese army were on Taiping Road, where there are no foreigners' houses at all, the question is, do people believe us! ! !We also request coal for our 4 porridge factories.We were offered to truck the coal ourselves, but were refused.They didn't send us the coal until we told them the address - the Japanese themselves were in dire need of coal!

Ha-ha-ha, Mr. Gang Shaozuo, it would be great if I could laugh to my heart's content again.At 7 o'clock in the evening a Japanese engineer came.I had known him in Shimonoseki, and he was accompanied by a reserve officer (Michuyi, a bank clerk who knew a little English) who wanted to restore power to the power plant.The power plant needs another 50 workers, and I want to supply them tomorrow morning.I promised to do my best because Han nodded knowingly and he would know where to recruit these people. At 7:30 while we were still negotiating, a sergeant came in with my "honor guard" - two strong soldiers with bayonet-mounted guns and hideously dirty boots - and put The rugs are a mess, and they're here to protect me.They had to go out quickly again, patrolling back and forth in the rain and snow outside. (I even felt a little sympathy for them, because the weather outside was very bad.) At 9 o'clock in the evening, during the meal (Kroeger was a guest), two Japanese bandits suddenly and quietly climbed over the back yard wall.By the time I was ready to go out, they were already in the pantry.I told Kroeger to tell the two guards to catch them, but they were gone! !And just as Kroeger reported to me the result of calling the guards, the two bandit soldiers jumped out of the fence nimbly.They're a little too active for this in my house.Ha-ha-ha-shouldn't you be laughing?Mr. Gang Shaozuo, please convey my greetings to His Excellency Mr. Dr. Trautmann, Ambassador of Germany.You have to apply for your patent on the idea of ​​sending guards for protection.There is no other protection here, only the party emblem-the swastika armband and my very loud voice from Hamburg.All I have to say is, "Get-out-go, you rascals, you rascals!!" and thank goodness they usually cower or run away!

I recruited 50 workers for the Japanese engineer who was going to restore power to the power plant, and sent another 30 workers to repair the water plant.We Europeans are as concerned as the Japanese about getting light and water as quickly as possible.At noon, Dr. Smythe and I visited Mr. Fukui of the Japanese embassy.We ask permission to transport coal and rice.Mr. Fukui is willing to intercede with the military on our behalf, but he cannot help us personally, because everything has to go through the military authorities. At 10 o'clock, Mr. Fukui and Mr. Gao Yu came to visit, and they sent me mail from Shanghai.This is extremely gratifying.Among them were three letters sent by his wife from Shanghai (the last letter was dated December 22), and two other official documents: one was from Dr. Bauer, the manager of the foreign firm, to Kroeger. , the marked date is December 17; the second is the official document given to me by Fischer, the counselor of the embassy, ​​and the marked date is December 22. The full text of this official document is as follows:

German Consulate General Shanghai December 22, 1937 Dear Mr Rabe: On the 18th of this month, Hidaka, the counselor of the Japanese embassy in Nanjing, informed me that according to his personal verification, the house of the ambassador, the office building of the German embassy and my house are still intact, and the Japanese side is responsible for the security of these houses.Although a car parked in the embassy office building was snatched, it was returned shortly after the Japanese embassy urged it.I have sent a telegram to Mr. Troutman about the situation mentioned above. If you or some German gentleman can make an ascertainment (if it is possible) of the housing conditions of other Germans, Mr. Troutman. Will be very welcome.Also, I would be glad if I could get information about your situation so far and the situation of other German expats stranded in Nanking.I also want to know whether the Chinese personnel in the embassy and officials' private residences were injured and whether they are in their posts. This letter is forwarded to you by the Japanese Embassy.If you have any news for us, I ask you to also get in touch with the Japanese Embassy in Nanjing.A regular exchange of messages may be possible through this avenue. I am truly glad that you escaped all danger unharmed.Your name is known here, and perhaps has been repeated around the world by wire and radio. I wish you all the best and my heartfelt Christmas greetings to you and all the gentlemen of Germany. Long live Hitler! Your Signed: Fischer Also: Are the private residences of the rest of the embassy gentlemen intact and protected?Philippines It has been almost 40 days since November 19th and I have not heard from my wife.Mr. Fukui begged me not to write to Shanghai about the situation in Nanking, that is, not to report any facts that would upset the Japanese embassy.I promised him, what else can I do?If my letters can only be delivered through the Japanese embassy, ​​then I must obey.One day the truth will be revealed to the world.I take this opportunity to ask Mr. Fukui to try to remove the bodies of the Chinese soldiers who were shot here on December 13th.Fukui promised to find a way.He also informed me that from now on, Japanese sentries will be deployed around our safe area, and they will be responsible for preventing Japanese soldiers wandering around from entering the safe area.I have observed these sentry posts in some detail and confirmed that no soldier was stopped or questioned by them.I've even seen soldiers walk out of the safe zone with loot, absolutely undisturbed by the sentries.Where is the protection? ? John H. Rabe Nanjing 30 December 1937 (Rabe included this letter and the following three letters in his diary on the 29th) To Mr. Fukui Secretary of the Imperial Japanese Embassy Nanjing Dear Mr. Fukui: I hereby take the liberty of sending you an envelope which should be forwarded to the Consulate General of Germany in Shanghai, containing the following letters: 1. A letter to Shanghai Consul General Mr. Fischer; 2. A letter to Mrs. Rabe, whose address is Shanghai Siemens Co., Ltd. (China); 3. A letter to the board of directors of Shanghai Siemens Co., Ltd. (China); 4. A letter to Shanghai Lihe Co., Ltd. I beg you to forward these letters to their recipients, and I express my deep gratitude in advance for your assistance. With high respect your faithful Signed: John Rabe John Rabe Nanjing December 30, 1937 to Consul General Mr. Fischer German Consulate General Shanghai Dear Mr. Fischer: Your enthusiastic letter dated December 22 was forwarded to me by Mr. Fukui, First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy yesterday. Thank you very much. In view of the checks by the military authorities and the friendship of the gentlemen of the Japanese embassy (who were kind enough to help me as much as they could), I cannot answer the questions in your letter referred to above in as much detail as you wish. On December 23rd I found the following buildings intact besides your own house: Embassy, ​​Falkenhausen, Stark, Leibsanft, Janssen, Hürter, Spemann , Schulcher-Panding, Mook and Rabe, that is to say, a total of 11 residences, and there were only some minor damages in Mr. Ambassador's residence.Kroeger has just informed me that Stark must be placed on another list from yesterday, this one with more than 40 residences. All Europeans and Americans are in good health.By the way, I also attached a list of all the staff. I heard that several officials from the American embassy are on their way here, and I hope the German embassy will follow as soon as possible. Our communication with the outside world has been almost cut off since December 11th, so please tell me how the Kutwo is doing, how the passengers are, how are our luggage on the Kutwo Sample?thanks. On December 22nd I received a brief letter of December 19th from Dr. Rosen, Huerter, and Scharfenberg (from the British ship "Bee") stating that they are in good health.I don't know how these three people got on the "Bee". Best New Year's greetings from all Germans here, we very much hope to hear from you again soon. Long live Hitler! Your Signed: John Rabe appendix: Foreigners in Nanjing December 16, 1937 Name Nationality Company or Organization 1. Mr. John HD Rabe Siemens Co., Ltd. (China) 2. Mr. Christian Kroeger German Lihe Company 3. Mr. Edward Sperling German Shanghai Insurance Company 4. Mr. A. Cao Dixi Kisling-Baader Bakery, Germany 5. Mr. R. Hempel German North Hotel 6. Mr. RR Harz Austrian Safe Area Mechanic 7. Mr. Krala Podshivorov Belarusian Sangren Electrical Firm 8. Mr. A. Ziar Mechanic of the Belarusian Safety Zone 9. Mr. Charles H. Riggs Jinling University, USA 10. Mr. Dr. MS Bates Jinling University, USA 11. Dr. Lewis SC Smythe, Jinling University, USA 12. Dr. CS Trimer American University Hospital 13. Dr. Robert O. Wilson American University Hospital 14. Miss Grace Ball American University Hospital 15. Miss Eva Hinds American University Hospital 16. Rev. Mr. James McCallum American Christian Missionary Corps, USA (currently at University Hospital) 17. Miss Minnie Watling, Jinling Women's Liberal Arts College, USA 18. Mr. WP Mills, American Northern Presbyterian Mission 19. Rev. Mr. Hubert L. Thorne, Jinling Theological Seminary, USA 20. Mr. George Fitch YMCA of America 21. Reverend Mr. Ernest H. Foster Episcopal Church 22. Reverend Mr. John Magee Episcopalian John H. Rabe Nanjing 30 December 1937 My dear Dora: Yesterday, December 29th, I received your kind letters of December 6th, 12th, 15th and 22nd through the Japanese embassy here.I cannot report to you the details of my experience at this time, but I can assure you that all 22 of us Europeans (according to the attached list) and Han and his family are healthy.I still have insulin on hand, so you don't have to worry about it.What happened to my luggage on the Kutwa?Do you have any news on this matter?Hope not to lose it.All my books are there.There are many things to do here.If the "mayorship" was revoked for me, I would not be sad at all.As mentioned earlier, each of us is working in our own position, but each of us needs a vacation in our hearts.I hope we will be reunited soon. Greeting you warmly, kissing you (despite all the checks!) your Signature: Johnny Attachments (same as for Mr. Fischer) John H. Rabe Nanjing 30 December 1937 dear children: I am here to send my heartfelt New Year greetings to you and all the lovely people in your family.May we all be healthy and happy when we meet next year.I've been physically unharmed so far, thank goodness! Warm greetings and kisses to you your father and grandfather John H.D. Rabe Nanjing December 30, 1937 Siemens Matheson (China) Council Shanghai Here, I send my heartfelt New Year greetings to you and all the staff in the office there! Long live Hitler! Signed: John Rabe Also: the letter check does not yet allow me to report my experiences in detail. signature above The Self-Government Committee asked to make many five-color flags, which were used by the appeasement government in the past.We look forward to the big public rally on January 1st where the new flag is said to be waved.This self-governing committee is going to replace us.We have no objection if it takes over our jobs, but people obviously just want our money.I'm curious to know if people really dare to press us to hand over the committee's property.We've been through some rapes and rapes in the past two weeks, so nothing surprises us.But I will not offer to hand over anything.I will only give in when I am forced to, but even then I protest violently.I am well aware of the shyness of Japanese diplomats about what the Japanese military is doing.Faced with the fact that 40 German-flagged homes were looted, and several even burned, it was tempting to pass the buck.But we are all witnesses that the rampage was committed by Japanese soldiers, not Chinese soldiers, and other atrocities committed against Chinese civilians in the city, not to mention, were also committed by Japanese soldiers.Atrocities by the Japanese military continued, as our report below shows. Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee No. 5 Ninghai Road, Nanjing December 30, 1937 To Mr. Fukui or Mr. Tanaka Embassy of the Japanese Empire Nanjing Hereby send you a new compilation of atrocities committed by soldiers of your army, that is, incidents numbered 155-164.The bulk of this compilation (on the first page), ie incidents 155-160, was previously briefed to you.The 4 incidents on the second page, 8P161-164 incidents, are only known to us today.Two of them happened this morning. Incident No. 164 reported that a 12-year-old girl was taken away from the building of the China-British Cultural Association. I hope you will check it as soon as possible. Incidents No. 161 to No. 163 did not occur in the safe zone, but 2 of them happened on the edge of the safe zone.Incidents of this type in the vicinity of the safe zone in any event create difficulties and hazards for civilians returning to their places of origin. I thank you in advance for your acceptance and consideration of our wishes, especially the verification of Incident 160. Best regards Signed: Lewis SC Smythe secretary Atrocities by Japanese Soldiers in the Nanjing Safety Zone December 30, 1937 (155) At 1:30 p.m. on December 26, a Japanese military officer broke into the University Hospital. He demanded that the handyman who was working should be handed over to him.Miss Ball protested the removal of the boy, but the boy went with the officer because he feared Miss Ball would get hurt.Although the orderly returned three hours later, the hospital suffered from understaffing.Especially since Miss Bauer had to guard the hospital outpatient department against Japanese soldiers looting, removing those who were on duty was a serious disruption to the work of the hospital. (Dr. Wilson) (156) On December 24, Japanese soldiers took down the American flag from the Agricultural College of Jinling University. (Bates and Mills) (157) On December 27, Japanese soldiers broke into the Agricultural College of Jinling University and demolished a building built with tin. (Dr. Bates) (158) Between 11:00 and 12:00 at night, three Japanese soldiers broke into the gate of the university in a car, claiming that they were dispatched by the headquarters to conduct an inspection.The guards were forcibly stopped and failed to raise the alarm, and were forced to accompany them to find the girl. 3 girls were raped by these soldiers (one was only 11 years old) and one of them was taken away. (Dr. Bates) (159) On December 26th, on this day, groups of three or four soldiers broke into the Bible Teacher Training School 7 times, taking clothes, food and money from those who had a little left after numerous previous lootings .They raped six women and a 12-year-old girl.During the night, a relatively large group of soldiers consisting of 12 to 14 men broke in four times, and they raped 20 women. (Pastor Mills) (160) At 11:00 p.m. on December 27, Mr. Mills was called from the university to No. 7 Hankou Road (the house belonged to the university), where he encountered a Japanese soldier whose pistol had the safety on.Mills commissioned a servant to go to the university to call a gendarmerie officer who was there to register, but the soldier refused and told Mills to leave the house.When Mills looked back, he saw the soldier, accompanied by several Chinese wearing Japanese armbands, taking away a girl who lived in the house.At the university, Mr. Mills called in an officer from the gendarmerie.At his request, the officer immediately went on the road to the house on Hankow Road. Halfway, at the corner of Hankow Road, he met a car carrying gendarmes, and the officer commandeered the car.Because someone wrote down the armband logo worn by the Chinese who accompanied the Japanese soldier, he knew the unit to which the soldier belonged.The detachment stayed at the Nanyang Hotel, which was found by the Japanese Gendarmerie officer.There it was explained to him that the manager wanted a "little girl" (little servant), but in the meantime someone found a better girl than the soldier had brought.The girl (20 years old) brought by the soldier was too old, so the soldier sent it back.Mr Mills protested the way the maids were being recruited.When Mills returned, the girl hadn't returned.So he went to the Nanyang Hotel again, but the answer he got was: they don't want to have anything to do with this matter, they are busy with other things.However, when Mills went back a second time, the girl returned in the meantime. (mills) At 09:00 on December 28, in connection with the above-mentioned incident, it can be reported with satisfaction that both the gendarmerie and the divisional headquarters made every effort to mediate the incident.The Japanese military authorities expressed regret to both the Chinese and Mr. Mills over the incident.Accordingly, the incident is considered to have been satisfactorily resolved. (mills) (161) A Chinese serving the Germans was bayoneted to death by Japanese soldiers yesterday in a house near Jiangnan Company.The Chinese had to pay with his life for not wanting the Japanese to rape multiple elderly women in the house. (Rigs) (162) Yesterday, one of the three Chinese passing by the Capital Hotel was killed by Japanese soldiers with bayonets and bullets in front of the hotel. They accused him of being a Chinese soldier. (163) On the morning of December 30, 4 Chinese were shot by Japanese soldiers as they passed through the clothing gallery. One of them died on the spot, and the other was so seriously injured that the doctor suspected that he would not recover.He is currently at the University Hospital. (Dr. Wilson) (164) At 12:15 on December 30, two Japanese soldiers drove a yellow car into the building of the China-British Cultural Association at No. 69 Beiping Road, and took away Mi Chaochang's 12-year-old daughter. (Smythe) Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee No. 5 Ninghai Road, Nanjing December 30, 1937 To Mr. Fukui or Mr. Tanaka Embassy of the Japanese Empire Nanjing Mr. Fukui of your office yesterday asked Mr. Rabe to send us a map showing the coal storage we have reported to you.We hereby enclose the pictures you wish to obtain.In addition to the 4 caches on the original list, we can add 3 other caches discovered by Mr. Riggs during this period, they are: 5. No. 107, Sitiao Lane, about 1,000 tons; 6. Huali Company at the entrance of Dayang Village, Shouxing Bridge, about 300 tons; 7. Tianhe Company, No. 38 Hongwu Road, 50 tons. In response to your question in this connection, we now inform you that we are willing to use coal from the following deposits to meet our needs. Storage place No. 4 in our original list is Mu Xing Assembly Hall No. 1, where there are 550 tons of coal, of which we need at least 300 tons for our porridge factory. No. 6 storage place, Huali Company at the entrance of Dayang Village, Shouxing Bridge, we also want to use the 300 tons of coal there for our porridge factory. We recommend leaving the other 5 coal stores to those coal merchants, since civilians have to buy coal reserves from them. thanks for your help. Best regards Signed: Lewis SC Smythe secretary In the hut of my shelter (the so-called Siemens refugee shelter), amidst the sludge and garbage, two babies were born in the past two nights: a baby boy and a baby girl.I'm ashamed that I can't provide another place for a mother to perch.There were no doctors, no midwives, no nurses to help these women; no dressings, no swaddles, just a few dirty rags, and that was all parents left for their newborns.I gifted these two couples $10 each for a baby girl named "Dora" and a boy named "Johnny", so much fun! Zhang's wife was ill again, and I gave her some of my "property" in order to at least ease her suffering. I bought two beautiful small Christmas trees and put them in porcelain plates as New Year gifts to Mr. Fukui of the Japanese Embassy and Major General Sasaki, commander of the Nanjing Weicheng Force.The little trees are so beautiful that it is really hard for me to separate from them.But now it is the Japanese who should be sent first, far from us.In addition, I made a New Year's card of my own invention, with the safety zone badge and my signature on the front, and the signatures of all 22 Europeans and Americans in Nanjing on the back.Mr. Fukui, Sasaki and each of us got such a souvenir card.These cards are extremely popular and people still want them, but with neither the time nor the energy to make more cards, we have other things to do! Jinling University, Nanjing December 30, 1937 to the Imperial Japanese Embassy in Nanjing At 2 o'clock this afternoon, officers and soldiers of the Japanese Gendarmerie found about 6 rifles, 3 or 4 pistols and a machine gun buried next to the Silkworm Factory in the Jinling University area, specifically in the ground behind the toilet. part.As reported to us by those involved, these weapons were discarded or buried by Chinese soldiers to avoid trouble during their flight. The gendarmerie subsequently arrested the following four people: Chen Mei (or Wang Xinglong) (transliteration) Yang Kaitai (transliteration) Wang Er (transliteration) Jin Mingzhu (transliteration) Chen Mei (or Wang Xinglong), a smart man, volunteered to sign up with us to help refugees. We have never heard of any bad deeds from him, and now we know that he joined the security team in the past. Yang Kaitai is a worker in the silkworm factory of Jinling University, we can vouch for him.Wang Er is the gatekeeper of the silkworm factory of Jinling University, we can also vouch for him. Jin Mingzhu is the son of a refugee from the silkworm factory of Jinling University, and other parties can vouch for him. That's all we can report on the matter. We believe that these weapons were simply discarded by fleeing Chinese soldiers and buried or thrown in ponds by terrified civilians.If you let your army search the ponds of Nanking, you may find many similar weapons. Best regards Signed: Charles Riggs Member of Jinling University and Nanjing Safety Zone Housing Committee Signed: Ms Bates Chairman of Jinling University Relief Committee Two male refugees from my Siemens refugee shelter were abducted by Japanese soldiers while wandering outside today and forced to carry loot.When I returned at noon, the wife of one of the refugees knelt down and begged me to bring the two men back, or they would be killed.So I drove this ragged woman along Zhongshan Road until I found those people.I faced about 20 heavily armed soldiers who were unwilling to hand over the Chinese, and the situation made me a little uncomfortable.But in the end I won.How happy I am when I have completed this expedition.I gave these two stupid guys a hard time at the shelter.If people who don't listen are stupid enough to run out and get caught, I can't go after every single one of my 630 refugees.Then what were they doing hiding here?I issued a warning that I would not do a second rescue operation like this, as it would be too dangerous in the long run.Japanese soldiers have 3 days off for the new year.I don't believe in peace despite promises to keep loitering soldiers out of the safe zone and we've had terrible experiences.Tomorrow, January 1, 1938, the Self-Government will be ceremoniously inaugurated, or constituted.Here is an invitation letter and agenda: To the Director of the Refugee Shelter in XX District We hereby inform you as follows: The committee has decided to hold a public meeting at Drum Tower at 1:00 p.m. on the New Year's Day of the 27th year of the Republic of China to solemnly celebrate the formation of the Nanjing Autonomous Committee. We hereby request each refugee shelter in each district to make a list of people who will participate in this conference (refugee shelters with less than 1,000 people send 5 representatives, and refugee shelters with more than 1,000 people send 10 representatives). Please inform us of the number of representatives from your refugee shelter and report to us on New Years morning to determine the number of flags you need. Nanjing Autonomous Committee Nanjing, December 31 Nanjing Autonomous Committee Opening Ceremony agenda Venue: Drum Tower When: January 1, 1938 New Year's Day at 1 p.m. 司仪：赵委员 1.奏乐 2.由孙先生（副会长）致开幕词 3.由王先生（顾问）升五色旗奏乐 4.向国旗行三鞠躬礼 5.陶先生（会长）宣读《宣言》 6.来宾祝词 7.三呼南京自治委员会万岁 8.礼毕 9.奏乐散会 （孙、王和陶3位先生是隶属于我们的红卍字会的成员，我们对这些任命感到有些吃惊，但没有理会。）