Chapter 25 February 38 Diary 5

What a pity I lack musical talent.Pastor McCallum composed a "Nanjing Refugee Chorus" to express his respect for me, and wrote the lyrics for it: "We want beans for our break fast, beans for our lunch..." (We want broad beans Make breakfast, ask for fava beans for lunch...) Little did I know there was so much humor in this mysterious old priest who was almost stabbed to death by the Japanese. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, at the grand reception at the headquarters, people from all walks of life took pictures of us.I was handed an official thank you letter in both English and Chinese, a copy of which was sent to Siemens Matheson (China) and the German embassy Dr. Rosen at the same time.I have been overly praised in many speeches, to which I made the following reply:

(translated from English) dear friends: I am very grateful to you for inviting me to address you one last time before I leave here for Europe. As all of you already know by this time, the International Committee for the Nanjing Safety Zone has now changed its name to the "Nanjing International Relief Committee".The French might say: "The king is dead, long live the king." We will henceforth continue to work under a new name that better suits the nature of our work.That is to say, after the safe zone had to be withdrawn by order of the Japanese, we were no more than a pure relief committee from now on.Please pay attention to the word "pure", which means that there is not much to say, but there is also little to nothing!

Today we can say publicly that the now-defunct Safe Zone, despite all its hardships, has been successful, even a great deal.I am grateful to be here to speak about this because all of you who have gathered around me have faithfully stood at your posts, prepared day and night to defend what we call "humanitarian rights" cause!I will never forget what I have done to you.I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all of you -- my Chinese friends and foreign friends, to each of you. I'll definitely take the opportunity to tell my friends in Germany what's going on here and how you work here!I will never forget how Miss Minnie Watling led 400 female refugees across the city; sending these people (her refugees) into our safe shelters, of course these are just countless examples one of the.

I will always recall the hard, down-to-earth work that Miss Hinds and Miss Ball did in our only hospital, the Drum Tower Hospital. You must know that it was Mr. Mills who came up with the idea of ​​the Safe Zone Commission.I can assure you that 3 Pingcang Lane is where the brains of our organization are located.The committee was formed by the talents of our American friends Mr. Mills, Dr. Bates, Dr. Smythe, Mr. Fitch, Mr. Thorne, Mr. Magee, Mr. Foster, and Mr. Riggs; and Thanks to their tireless work, the Committee has been able to successfully carry out its mission in a situation that puts us all at great risk.

Due to the reduction of personnel in the Drum Tower Hospital, there are only two foreign doctors, Mr. Trimer and Mr. Wilson, as well as the director of the hospital, Mr. McCallum, and the few women mentioned above. Best score ever seen.In fact we all feared that we had to temporarily close the Gulou Hospital because it had only a small number of people (Chinese and American) who were completely overworked and exhausted. If you will allow me to say a few words about my German friends, I would like to say here that Mr. Christian Kroeger is an ideal treasurer.If we needed a dollar or two, he would be hard to find; but if it was a matter of saving a poor civilian from the Japanese soldiers, Christian Kroeger would be there.

And then there is our Inspector General, Mr. Edward Sperling. What else can I tell you about him that is worthy of his praise that you don't know?He had been captured by the Japanese in the past, and fate gave him the opportunity to exact revenge.How did he take advantage of this opportunity?None of us foreigners can compare to him for rescuing so many Chinese, and none of us can compare to him for driving so many Japanese soldiers from Chinese houses.He was able to do this, I must admit, in part thanks to his knowledge of the Japanese language, which he knew best of all but two words: "Go, go!"

The next ones that should be mentioned are Mr. Hartz and Mr. Klar.Mr. Hartz is the ideal driver, he is so proficient at driving that he can drive even a car without wheels.Mr. Carat can use Japanese to explain to the Japanese what he or we really think about the Japanese. If we foreigners have achieved certain achievements, we owe a lot to—this we will never forget—our Chinese friends who have helped us faithfully and kindly.The actual work in the various departments of our committee is done by the Chinese, and we must frankly admit that they do it at greater risk than we do.There is no doubt that we foreigners have been mistreated by Japanese soldiers from time to time, but despite this, relatively speaking, we still have a certain sense of security, and we will not encounter the worst situation, and you—my Chinese friends Ladies and gentlemen, working for our committee often involves risking our lives.

Our Chinese friends, there are too many of you. I cannot name all of you here. Please forgive me for only mentioning the leaders of various departments, namely: Mr. Tang Zhongmo, head of the department, head of the Chinese Secretariat; Mr. Han Xianglin, Food Commissioner; Dr. Xu Chuanyin, Housing Committee Member; Pastor Shen Yushu, Health Commissioner. I would like to express my sincerest thanks to you, gentlemen, and all of your staff.I hope that the good spirit of cooperation and the friendship that has bound us to this day will last forever for all of you.Please continue to serve the Nanjing International Relief Committee and bring its work to a good and fruitful conclusion.I have no doubt that your work will be recorded in the annals of Nanjing's history.

I would also like to thank Mr. Dr. Rosen of the German Embassy, ​​Mr. Scharfenberg and Mr. Hürter for their support of our work, and to - last but not least - the American Embassy and the British The diplomatic officers of the embassy, ​​Mr. Allison, Mr. Prideaux-Bron and his successor, Mr. Jeffrey, express my deep gratitude for their great assistance to our committee. It is with great regret that I have to leave Nanjing.I wish I could have stayed and continued to work with you, but my foreign firm called me back to Europe.However, I hope to come back and see you all here in the future. On the occasion of this farewell, I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors, and I would like to say to all of you from the bottom of my heart——

goodbye! My speech above was warmly welcomed not only by the Americans but also by the Chinese, who begged me to send them the transcript so that they could be translated into Chinese.The Chinese asked me to sign it. They brought a large blank paper and asked me to fill it up no matter what method I used. I was in a dilemma because of "lack of poetic words".I had to deal with the old poems of my youth, "Man is noble" and so on, and where did I get all the necessary "inspiration" so quickly?I picked up the pen several times, trying to put Bismarck's good aphorism "No one is a hero before his servants" on paper, but I finally gave up this aphorism because my Chinese might not understand it.

At 7:00 pm, I had a happy farewell dinner with my American friends in Pingcang Lane.Then at 8:00 pm, the German embassy, ​​the American embassy and the Japanese embassy held a reception. Fukui, Tanaka and Katsuya were present from the Japanese side.The British representative, Geoffrey, could not come because his Japanese guards would not let him go out after 8pm.Mr. Geoffrey had long protested against this, but he was too polite to take vigorous measures against this vexation.The German embassy came with Dr. Rosen, Scharfenberg, and Schurter, and the American embassy with Mr. Allison, Mr. Espy, and Mr. McFadyen.For the sake of the Japanese, my speech must be carefully worded.The full text is as follows: Thanks to the hospitality of my American friends, it is my pleasure to welcome here representatives from the embassies of three countries, and it is my duty to express my gratitude to them. The American embassy and the German embassy have their representatives here Mr. Allison, Mr. Espy, Mr. McFadyen, Mr. Dr. Rosen, Mr. Scharfenberg and Mr. Hürter, ambassadors of both countries The embassy has been extremely supportive of our committee's efforts to establish a safe zone in Nanjing from the very beginning, since last November.I would like to express my deep gratitude for the help they have given us in our work, which by this time has been fully successful. At the same time, I would like to thank you—Mr. Fukui, for your help and support.Whenever I was compelled to bother you with multiple requests from our committee, you listened to my grievances, complaints patiently, and although it was exhausting at times, you were always there when possible. Give help.I heard that you have been transferred to Mumbai by your government to assume a new position. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and express my sincere wishes. I wish you good results in your new position. The Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee has now changed its name to "Nanjing International Relief Committee", which is more in line with its current nature of work.I sincerely hope that members of the embassy here will pass on the friendship and help they have given to the Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee so far to the Nanjing International Relief Committee. I assure you that the Nanking International Relief Committee has no intention of interfering in any way with the work or affairs of the Japanese authorities or the Self-Government Committee.We are a purely civic organization, as is common in many other countries, without any purpose or goal other than trying to help the suffering poor residents of our city. It is with great regret that I have to leave Nanjing.There's a lot more work here that I'd be more than happy to be a part of.As I leave this city, I sincerely wish you all success in your future work.Please continue to do what you can to help the unfortunate and impoverished residents of Nanjing through difficult times.I am confident that your efforts will be successful if you work together as coordinated and smoothly as before. Mr. Luo Fuxiang's real name is Wang Hanwan (transliteration), he is a captain.He is the brother of Colonel Wang, an Air Force officer and the "Officers' Moral Training Association".With the help of Han (Xiang Lin), he got a pass to Shanghai.I shall smuggle him aboard the gunboat "Bee" as my servant, and bring him out of danger at last.He has been hiding in my house since the fall of Nanking.Captain Wang, who had shot down many Japanese planes, was sick when Nanjing was captured by the Japanese.He tried to escape, but was never able to cross the Yangtze again.He lost his friend while swimming across a tributary, and finally climbed the wall himself to safety. I spent the whole morning busy "packing".My folks brought in a lot more wood, I guess it was all stolen, some of the boards were taken straight from a construction site, and they still had cement on them.I got a permit from the Japanese embassy to ship my wooden box to Shanghai on the steamer "Wantong".Mr. Geoffrey also obtained the permit for me to ship the items from Swire Pacific, and the only thing left is to send the items on board. I had to ask Mr. Han (Xianglin) and my American friend to do it for me, because I myself will leave Nanjing before the "Wantong" steamer arrives here. Lunch with Mr. Mills, Dr. Bates, Miss Watling, Magee, Foster, Huerter, and Scharfenberg at Dr. Rosen's at 1 p.m. At 8:00 pm, have dinner alone with Dr. Rosen.Rosen had some worries about his own fate, so he confided it to me.At 10 p.m. the news came on the radio: Germany had recognized Manchukuo.According to the radio, our ambassador Dr. Trautman, who is staying in Hankou, is in an embarrassing situation before the Chinese government.We fear he may resign, although the report says nothing about it.It's hard for me to see the domestic situation clearly from here.But is it right or wrong?It is my country after all! 5 Ninghai Road, Nanjing 21 February 1938 To Mr. John H.D. Rabe Chairman of the International Committee for Nanjing Safety Zone 5 Ninghai Road, Nanjing Dear Mr. Rabe: We are honored to inform you of the following resolutions.The resolution was made on February 15 this year at the sixth joint meeting of the heads of 9 districts in the Nanjing Safety Zone and directors of 25 refugee shelters.The meeting unanimously decided: to thank Mr. John HD Rabe, Chairman of the Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee, for his invaluable work in organizing and managing the safety zone, as well as the rescue and relief work related to it.I express my highest appreciation to Mr. Rabe for his efforts for the benefit of Nanjing residents.We will forever remember his name with gratitude. The above resolution should also be communicated to Siemens Matheson (China) and the German embassy to let them know the gratitude of Nanjing residents to Mr. Rabe's work during this difficult period. For the above meeting, the signatories are also entrusted to submit a request to Siemens Matheson (China), and if possible, retain your residence in Nanjing and the post of chairman of the International Committee. Although the Safe Zone itself no longer exists, the plight of the inhabitants remains great and their relief is more needed than ever.For this reason, all district governors and directors of shelters ask you, if possible, to continue working here.It is with deep regret that we all say goodbye to a friend who has been through adversity like you. Therefore, we very much hope that Siemens Matheson (China) will consider our request, allow you to continue your work for the benefit of Nanjing, and ask you to decide to continue to stay with us with its consent.If it is not as we wish, I still hope that you will come back to us soon and replace the old friendship with a new bond.It has become so precious to us over the past few months. Much grateful and faithful to your Signature: Representatives of the heads of the various districts in the Nanjing Safety Zone and the directors of the refugee shelters JM Dong Shen Yushu Xu Chuanyin Francis FJ Chen No. 5, Ninghai Road, Nanjing, February 21, 1938, to Mr. Dr. Rosen, German Embassy Nanjing Dear Dr. Rosen: Enclosed is a copy of the letter addressed to Mr. John HD Rabe, and please forward it to Mr. Ambassador.The letter is self-explanatory.The residents of Nanjing are very grateful for the work done by Mr. Rabe and request Mr. Ambassador to inform the German government. with the highest regards Signature: JM Dong Francis FJ Chen Shen Yushu Xu Chuanyin No. 5, Ninghai Road, Nanjing, on February 21, 1938, to Siemens Co., Ltd. (China) Manager Department Shanghai I have the honor to forward to your Ministry a copy of the letter addressed to Mr. John HD Rabe, which is self-explanatory. Nanjing residents are very grateful for Mr. Rabe's work, and we earnestly request your Ministry to agree to extend Mr. Rabe's stay with us so that he can continue his work here.The work done by Mr. Rabe during the critical period has brought honor not only to your company but also to his country. with the highest regards Signature: JM Dong Francis FJ Chen Shen Yushu Xu Chuanyin Statement on Mr. John Rabe We, the members of the Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee (now the Nanjing International Relief Committee), would like to express our best wishes to Mr. John H.D. Heartfelt thanks.During the hard work, Mr. Rabe's leadership was brave and kind, and will remain in the memory of all Nanjing residents for a long time. Most of the people suffered bloody sacrifices during this period.The excellent qualities of the chairman of the committee are manifested in: on the one hand, he has an indomitable work style in major operations; on the other hand, he shows personal sympathy and concern for each of our refugees in difficulty. His selfless work was greatly appreciated and appreciated by the Chinese, and he set a shining example to the foreign diaspora by his devotion to the common good of the inhabitants, to the fulfillment of his duties as a businessman, and to the interests of his own country. Siemens Matheson (China) has made a great contribution to the residents of Nanjing because its representative served as the chairman of this committee.Mr. Rabe's achievements have added new honors to all German expatriates in China and German foreign companies. Nanjing, February 21, 1938 The undersigned send their heartfelt regards and admiration to Mr. Rabe! WP Mills John Magee Edward Sperling MS Bates Lewis SC Smythe Charles H. Riggs CS Trimmer We, the unofficial foreign nationals remaining in Nanjing, agree with the above statement of the International Committee and express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Rabe for his work. Minnie Watling Kara Podshivorov A. Ziar Ernest Foster R. Hempel Hubert L. Thorne Grace Ball Reverend James H. McCallum R. Rupert Hartz Eva Hinds Robert O. Wilson Transcript (Original in German, not translation) Nanjing, February 22, 1938 Dear Mr Rabe: I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks for everything you have done in Nanjing over the past few months.It was often the case that bridging the gap that existed between merchants and missionaries was difficult.But the bridge that bridges this gap is God's love. If you offer love to those around you, then God's love will also be manifested.You, Mr. Rabe, have amply demonstrated this love through your selfless devotion to the poorest of all classes in difficult times.I also want to thank you for the precious friendship you have given me, a newcomer to Nanjing.I hope that you and Mrs. Rabe have a safe journey back to Germany, get a good recovery in your hometown, and then meet you happily in Nanjing.Heed God's call! your faithful Signed: Ernest H. Foster University Hospital Nanjing, China February 21, 1938 To Mr. John Rabe Chairman of the International Committee Nanjing Dear Mr Rabe: I am very sorry to learn that you will be leaving Nanjing soon, because we will be short of a good friend, and I will not have the opportunity to see your kind face again.However, despite the distance between us, your work and good deeds here will forever be recorded in Nanjing's annals of history.Perhaps I can say this, as long as we recall Nanjing from 1937 to 1938, your face will appear in front of each of us.I am also convinced that although you will leave us, your work is not over and you will certainly continue in another way. I regret not being able to say goodbye to you in person.Mr. McCallum will kindly pass on to you my farewell greetings. Goodbye!I wish you a safe journey home. you are very faithful Signature: Lawson HS Hu At 8 a.m., all of America came to say goodbye to me. Sperling, Han (Xianglin) and some Chinese from the power plant sent Captain Wang and me to Xiaguan.Mr. Geoffrey and Williams from the British Embassy arrived at 9 o'clock. With their help, I boarded the small launch of the British "Bee" gunboat without any difficulty.The motorboat was piloted by a young lieutenant officer, Pearson. The Bee was moored about 2 miles upstream.On the gunboat I was warmly received by the commander, captain Armstrong, and his first mate, Mr. Brian Nichols.The fourth guest in the officers' quarters was Lieutenant Colonel Surgeon.I was glad there was a doctor on board because I didn't feel well, I had a cold. Shortly before departure, Dr. Bates sent me a brief for the press.I also had to consider how much detail to publish.In any event, I will take care not to cause difficulties for the Committee. Nanjing, February 22, 1938 to Mr. Allison, American Embassy Nanjing Dear Mr. Allison: At 9:30 this morning, a truck with the number 7375 and the mark of the Matsui Expeditionary Army drove to the High School Attached to the University.The Japanese soldiers sitting in the car asked for labor. Since they did not meet their demands in time, they were obviously very dissatisfied with this, so they beat and kicked the director of the refugee shelter.Refugees were also brutally beaten as they ransacked refugee shelters.Three people were grabbed and pushed around by them, and some were severely beaten. One of them was a woman who protested against the arrest of his doctor. Later, more than 30 people were forcibly taken away, including an important staff member of our food department. We expect that the Japanese authorities will immediately find out about this incident and will instruct their subordinates to recruit labor in a proper manner in the future. you are very faithful Signature: Bates Nanjing, February 22, 1938 to Mr. Allison, American Embassy Nanjing Dear Mr. Allison: After a serious investigation into the incident that happened in the high school attached to the university this morning, it was also found that the glass of a door and the windows of two rooms were broken by bayonets.Several individuals volunteered to testify to the above, emboldened by outrage at the brutality, all the more so when the whole thing took place in full public view and in broad daylight. Although the physical loss was not large, the fact itself proves that the behavior of the Japanese soldiers was not at all respectful of the American flag (the American flag was hung on the building), nor could it be said that they observed discipline and obeyed their gendarmerie. you are very faithful Signature: Bates The latest atrocities by Japanese soldiers reported by Mr MS Bates: February 19: Near Central University.A Japanese soldier killed a relative of a staff member of Jinling University. February 21-22: During the night of February 21-22, a soldier raped a woman in a building materials store in the Chanting Building.When he woke up and found that the woman had escaped, he shot and killed a Chinese who was standing nearby. February 22: Two people were taken away by Japanese soldiers from Mr. Riggs' factory and agricultural school. Signed: Ms Bates The following is a press release on the situation in Nanjing for the Shanghai poster industry that was handed to me by Mr. MS Bates shortly before my departure: It is impossible for you to hear my story about the atrocities, because a Japanese friend of mine in Nanking told me that if I did this, I would be making enemies of the entire Japanese army.What he said was not only for me personally, but unfortunately, it was also for my partners who are still doing relief work in Nanjing. In any case, I can tell you that the order in Nanjing is better than before. Two fifths of the refugees have returned to their homes outside the safe zone, and the city has gradually returned to normal life.But in fact, it is mainly the old people and children who go back to the houses in the past. On February 18, the Nanjing Safety Zone International Committee decided to continue working under the name "Nanjing International Relief Committee", which is more in line with the nature of its current work. Whether it is those who have returned to their homes or those who are still living in the safe zone, everyone is facing a common difficulty, that is, the problem of food. Dr. Brady is back in Nanjing, and we are all very happy.On the day he arrived in Nanjing, he began to vaccinate against smallpox and carried out medical work in the shelter for 30,000 refugees.As he told us, John Earl Baker pointed out that we must pay special attention to the residents to have enough food, otherwise we will encounter problems of illness later. China's grain reserves will increase for several months. The food problem worries us a lot.A few friends of ours in Shanghai managed to get a permit to ship 100 tons of broad beans to Nanjing, which we urgently needed as an additional food for porridge cooked in porridge factories. What's more serious is that we can't build some porridge factories in the refugee shelters.So we have no choice but to distribute uncooked rice to the refugees, who have to cook for themselves.But they cannot buy vegetables as non-staple food.So, many of the 50,000 refugees who depend on our free food rations have been living on rice as their only food within two months, from mid-December onwards. Therefore, broad beans are a good additional food.Unfortunately, however, I have to point out that broad beans have not yet been shipped to Nanjing.This was partly due to the fact that we did not have time to renegotiate the landing with the Japanese military authorities in Nanking, who had not yet approved the shipping and landing permits issued by Vice Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa.However, it is said that broad beans will arrive in Nanjing this Saturday, and will be distributed free of charge to the poor people in the city by Nanjing's self-governing committee.We have a commitment from the Japanese military that in this case there will be no restrictions on the distribution of broad beans inside or outside the safe zone.If this compelling collaborative effort bears satisfactory results, we hope to find a new way to continue shipping food to Nanjing. In this case, we have decided to relinquish our right as an American missionary and civil relief organization to deliver or receive food for the poor of a country.We do this because we believe it is more important for current residents to have access to broad beans than for us to insist on strict adherence to the principles.Nevertheless, we hope to abide by these principles in the future. The committee will be responsible for distributing the broad beans to the intended recipients on behalf of those who donated money to purchase the shipment for charitable purposes.If this principle is not followed, we will urge donors to forego continuing to ship goods here in the future. Our friends and donors would also be delighted to know what steps this committee took to secure the recovery of the 10,933 sacks of rice and 10,000 sacks of flour confiscated from our grain reserves when the Japanese occupied Nanking.We have tried everything we can to negotiate the matter with the Japanese, but so far to no avail.We even showed a new attitude towards the Japanese, notifying them on February 6 that we would be more than happy to cooperate with the Self-Government Committee if they handed over their grain reserves to the Self-Government Committee for distribution.This time too, it was futile. (See our letters of January 26, January 27, 1938, file numbers 43, 44.) The experience of relief work in China shows that solving the food problem, especially the food problem, is usually more important in April to May than in winter, and the situation is also the same when domestic turmoil affects harvesting crops or in the following summer. in this way.Since we are running out of food, in order to deal with this possible situation, we need to buy new food reserves anyway.The 10,933 sacks of rice and 10,000 sacks of flour we legally possess are certainly enough to cope with the situation. In our past negotiations with the Japanese authorities on this matter, they had stated that they wanted all grain reserves to be distributed by the Self-Government Committee.Within two months of their occupation of Nanking, they distributed only 2,000 bags of rice free of charge through the self-governing committee.In addition, they sold 8,000 sacks of rice and 10,000 sacks of flour to the Self-Government Committee, which resold them to the residents (with the exception of several sporadic reliefs and occasional distributions, but in small quantities and not through self-government Distributed by the Committee. On this matter, we would like to point out here that 250,000 people need 1,600 bags of rice per day to eat), but now the Japanese deliveries to the Self-Government Committee have been reduced to 400 bags of rice; For the first 3 days, they provided neither rice nor flour anymore.In this way, the amount provided for free distribution is much, much less than the confiscation of our food reserves. If the Japanese army really cares about the health of the Chinese population as they claim, it should accordingly exert influence on foreign relief organizations to raise donations for the purchase of rice, noodles and other food items, amounting to the equivalent of 144,330 yuan worth of food (Calculated according to the current market price in Nanjing), only in this way can the compensation for the batch of food that originally belonged to the International Committee legally but was later confiscated by the Japanese army be compensated, and only in this way can foreign relief and rescue organizations be impressed. 23 February (on board the British gunboat HMS Bee) The "Bee" set sail at 9 am and passed Zhenjiang in the afternoon.Because according to the order of the Japanese, it is not allowed to sail on the Yangtze River at night, so we anchored at the port at night. I was very well accommodated on board, the cabins, food and service were first class.The Chinese service personnel on the boat seemed to be racking their brains to guess about Mr. Wang (now named Luo Fuxiang).They see that he is not a servant, but we will never tell. The officers on the "Bee" thought he was my comprador.My health has improved a bit. 24 February (on board the British gunboat HMS Bee) Around 11 o'clock, we sailed past Jiangyin Fortress.We can see that many of the Chinese cannons are apparently still in good condition.Apart from a few craters, there was not much damage, which according to various newspaper reports was much worse.You can see Chinese people working in the fields on both sides of the Yangtze River.We sailed past the wreckage of three warships: a Japanese gunboat, a Chinese gunboat, and a Chinese cruiser, the Haiying.We passed through Tongzhou at 3:00 pm.We moored overnight near the buoy (about 30 miles upstream from Wushukou). Got a little excited last night.A radio message came from Nanjing, saying that according to the ban of the Japanese army, broad beans on the "Wantong" ship were not allowed to be transported into Nanjing.There are fears that the Bee may have to return immediately.In this case, I will go ashore at Tongzhou on the way back.Fortunately, it is not necessary to request a return flight, so we can continue to drive to Shanghai this morning, and the planned arrival time in Shanghai is 2:00 pm.I had Fitch and Siemens (China) informed of my arrival by radio through the American Consulate General and the German Consulate General respectively.It is said that Fitch is going to leave for the United States in the afternoon of the next day, and I really want to see him before he leaves and give him his Nanjing mail. We arrived in Shanghai at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon.Passing the Gneisenau, which was in port for departure, I heard my name being called, but I could not determine from which of the many cabin windows the call came.Today I heard that it was Margot Schmidt, who was seeing off Mrs. Probst and the Hope family on board the Gneisenau.Mr. Fitch was also on board.I could therefore no longer hand him his Nanjing mail, for when I landed at 3:15 the Gneisenau had sailed away and could not be reached.I saw my wife waiting for me as I passed the customs wharf, but she did not recognize me from a distance, although I tried to be conspicuous. Now, sitting comfortably and warmly (like a worm between tree and bark) in Shanghai, I feel a lot like "the braggart after the victorious troops entered Berlin".Everyone believed me to be a hero, which was embarrassing.Because I don't see anything heroic in me or in me.There is a beautiful poem that comes to my mind over and over again whenever someone sings the hymn.The poem is about a boy from Hamburg who saves the life of a drowning companion.In the evening, the father of the rescued man went to visit him (he was already lying on the bed) and thanked him for saving his son's life. He said, "Saved life?? Oh, nothing!" He turned over again unhappy go to bed. The German newspaper in Shanghai published an article on Saturday (February 26, 1938): Tribute to Mr John Rabe As Japanese forces advanced with breakneck speed on the Chinese capital, Nanking, in late November, the idea arose in private circles of foreigners for a safe zone in which foreign nationals and Chinese civilians could escape in anticipation of fighting. Find a place of shelter. Thus the International Committee was born.It unites citizens of different countries (among them 3 Germans, but also Americans, British, etc.).Mr. John Rabe, the representative of Siemens Matheson (China) Nanjing Office, was appointed as the chairman of the committee under the confidence of all his members. When fighting broke out, the safe zone had already been organized.The members of the committee could have taken refuge on a ship moored on the Yangzi River, which was not difficult.However, Mr. Rabe and his commissioners gave up the opportunity to get themselves to safety, determined to carry out the mission undertaken to the end.Thanks to their unafraid self-sacrifice actions, in those difficult days after the retreat of the Chinese troops and the occupation of Nanking by the Japanese, hundreds of thousands of people were spared from hunger and cold, and protected them, as far as they could, from horrific encounters. The members of the International Committee can make this purely humanitarian contribution only if they give their all, regardless of personal safety. The chairman of the safety committee has the most stressful job, and the job's success is largely due to him.During the difficult days in Nanjing, Mr. John Rabe proved himself to be a perfect person. His dedication brought honor to the word "Germany" and his motherland. The Nanking Safety Zone Committee is well known among us, and we are very pleased to learn that Mr. Rabe arrived in Shanghai yesterday afternoon, still in good health and spirits.His wife has been waiting anxiously for him in Shanghai for a long time, and we can understand her mood.He is sure to be warmly welcomed by all his compatriots in Shanghai! On March 1, 1938, the official publication of the Chinese branch of the National Socialist Workers Party of Germany ("East Asia Observer") gave me a dedication in Shanghai. The content is as follows: 尤其是党员约翰·拉贝在南京的全身心投入工作值得给予最高的赞赏，他的战友、党员克里斯蒂安·克勒格尔和德国侨民爱德华·施佩林同样是如此。这3个男子汉甘愿冒着生命危险，自愿地献身于无法及时逃走的南京贫苦的和极端贫穷的居民。 不仅是在极端困难时得到过这3个男子汉帮助的中国人会感激他们，我们在中国的全体德国人也会由衷地钦佩他们。 签名：拉曼 中国分部部长 德国大使馆编号：5720/2550/38汉口，1938年3月22日致约翰·拉贝先生西门子洋行（中国）转交上海 Dear Mr. Rabe: 鉴于您在1937年11月～1938年2月义务担任南京安全区国际委员会主席及后来的南京国际救济委员会主席期间，冒着生命危险，以人道主义的精神所做出的富有成就的和勇于牺牲的工作，我向您表示我的赞赏。 此外，我也真诚地感谢您在这期间勇敢地为保护德国在南京的财产所做的个人努力。 您的行为给我们的祖国带来了荣誉。 请允许我通知您，为表彰您在南京的工作，我已请求外交部向德国红十字会建议授予您一枚奖章。 Long live Hitler! 签名：特劳特曼 德国大使 迪尔曼街20号柏林西门子城1938年5月20日致大使奥斯卡·特劳特曼博士现地址：汉口 尊敬的特劳特曼先生： 衷心感谢您3月22日的亲切来信。由于我正和我的夫人回乡休假，您的信直到今天才收到。 我同样谨向您对我在南京的工作的赞赏表示衷心感谢，它使我感到十分高兴。特别是您建议的奖章（红十字功勋勋章）已在我到达这里时，很快由大区党部领导人、国务秘书伯勒先生亲自授予我。 这里所有对中国友好的朋友们都希望您——尊敬的特劳特曼先生能坚持在您特别艰难的岗位上。您可以相信，这里的许许多多朋友正以极大的关切和祝愿注视着您辛劳的工作。祝您取得最终的成功。 我在这里作了多次关于我在南京经历的报告，其实到现在为止只是在很小的范围内，例如西门子的经理们、远东协会和外交政策局。关于那边的情况，这些人士的确抱有怀疑的态度，我希望我的报告能一直传到决策人物那里，以便为消除这种怀疑尽我一点微薄之力。 请代向您的夫人问好。我和我夫人向您致以衷心的问候。 您永远忠实的 Signed: John Rabe 在中国生活30年后又回到了家 1938年3月16日，我和妻子乘坐“孔特·比安卡·马诺”号回家。抵达香港时，已先期到达那里的江机长带着他19岁的妻子以及她的已在那里定居的全家人到码头上来接我们。他以令人感动的方式接待了我们3天。德国侨民在香港的德国俱乐部为我举行了招待会，我在会上报告了我的部分经历。以法尔肯豪森夫人为首的几乎全体德国人都到船上来和我告别。 我们乘坐豪华的意大利轮船经过马尼拉和孟买，于1938年4月12日抵达热那亚。 4月13日我们在慕尼黑获悉，我们7年没有见面的奥托此时已作为士兵进驻奥地利了。 我们于4月15日到达柏林。国务秘书、大区党部领导人伯勒授予了我一枚红十字功勋勋章。在斯图加特我被授予国外德侨功勋银质奖章。中国政府授予我蓝白红绶带玉石勋章。5月2日我在柏林的西门子舒克尔特厂办公大楼电影院大厅作了报告，5月6日在外交政策局，5月12日在远东协会，5月19日在西门子城，5月25日在蒂尔皮茨河畔的国防部也分别作了报告。国防部的人其实只是对拍摄的影片感兴趣。 我内心期盼大区党部领导人伯勒能带我去见元首，但这个希望没有实现，我便不假思索地在6月8日将我的报告（见卷6/2《敌机飞临南京》）寄给了元首。然后发生了意料不到的事：几天以后我被盖世太保逮捕了。我连同我的6本日记被两名官员用汽车带走。到了警察总局（阿尔布雷希特街），我在那里被审讯了几个小时。后来，他们责成我要保持缄默以后，又恭敬地把我释放了。从此以后，不再允许我作报告，不准我出书，尤其是不许再放映约翰·马吉在南京拍摄的有关日本士兵暴行的影片。他们取走了我的日记和影片。1938年10月我收回了日记，影片却被警方扣留了。与此同时，帝国经济部（我曾给该部寄去过我给元首的报告副本）通知我，说我的报告已被最高层阅过，但我们的外交政策不会改变。我对此的答复是：“我没有期待过这点。我曾经答应过中国政府将我在南京看到的和经历的向元首报告。这样我就完成了我的使命。”