Chapter 22 21. The "safe zone" under the butcher's knife

"Chi-boom!" In the early morning of the 13th, Rabe was awakened by a loud noise in his sleep, and then the same sound continued to fill his ears. "Are there any casualties?" Rabe quickly put on his clothes, went down the stairs, and ran to the first floor and the courtyard to ask.The small living room and the courtyard were already full, definitely not the 200 people last night. "There should be 300 people!" The servant told him. "To count the exact figures, count them one by one." Rabe ordered the servant. On the street at this moment, bombs flying randomly from the sky poured down like hailstones, and many surrounding houses were already burning...Children cried, adults yelled, and civilians flocked desperately to Rabe's courtyard.

"You tell them to go further ahead, it's a safe zone. I can't live here much, they have to go to a safer place." Rabe worried that his courtyard gate would be collapsed by the flood of refugees . An elderly couple who had nowhere to escape dragged seven or eight people who seemed to be their children and grandchildren, kneeling in front of Rabe and begging to enter his yard. "Come in! Only your family is allowed to enter, and the others please go to the safe zone! It will take about ten minutes to arrive. Now that the Japanese army has not all entered the city, you should have a safer place. Go there quickly. Go!" Rabe leaned against the courtyard door, persuading hundreds of refugees who passed by his courtyard, although he knew that his persuasion was not very effective.

"The situation is unpredictable. I want to go to the headquarters of the committee for a meeting." Rabe ordered the servant again, "Don't open the door at any time. If there are Japanese soldiers coming, you just raise this flag, that's all." He said Pointing to the "Nazi" flag spread in the courtyard, as if it were a talisman and the only one. "The Japanese army is about to enter the city in an all-round way. The most serious thing right now is the appearance of a large number of wounded. We cannot wait any longer for the establishment of the Red Cross, so today we officially announced the establishment..." Mr. Magee, a missionary who graduated from Yale University, said in On the 13th, I announced the above news as the chairman of the Nanjing Branch of the International Red Cross.He further pointed out that the future of Nanjing City will be the most urgent period for refugee relief, and all possible emergencies will exist, and he expects the members of the council to play their roles.

Rabe was also elected to serve on the organization's council.Magee told Rabe that when he was transporting the Chinese wounded on the front line through the dressing center of the Capital Theater the day before, a bomb fired by the Japanese army happened to fall on the street, killing at least 11 people on the spot. "Later, when we passed near Jinling University, we saw that a house on Huaqiao Road was also hit by Japanese artillery shells. At least 20 people were killed, seven or eight of whom were thrown into the street by the blast of the bomb. A poor old couple cried to death. Their 33-year-old son had a hole in his face and lay there dead. On my way to the headquarters this morning, I saw more Chinese soldiers killed In the fortifications... the safe zone may not be safe. Many Chinese soldiers who were defeated held guns and didn't know what to do. Some of them hid in the safe zone, which made the Japanese army entering the city more troublesome when they saw it. Big," Magee reminded Rabe.

"This is what I'm most worried about." Rabe's face was particularly gloomy when he heard this, "Let's go, let's go to the safe zone." He called his assistant and drove to the place he was worried about. On the street, roaring bullets and bombs flew overhead from time to time.Cars with Red Cross and German flags dodged left and right to avoid shuttles on the streets.At the entrance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nationalist Government, wounded people lay scattered all over the ground, and they were all waiting for treatment from a military hospital inside.

When the car reached Shanghai, a group of Japanese soldiers stopped Rabe and his car with guns.Knowing Rabe's identity, a German-speaking Japanese soldier reluctantly let Rabe's car pass and told him that their officers would also enter the city immediately. "Avoid them immediately and take the trail!" Rabe pretended to greet the Japanese soldiers while whispering to his assistant to drive to the trail. "It's broken! Why are they still holding guns around?" Along the way, Rabe encountered Chinese soldiers from three detachments head-on.He hurriedly jumped out of the car and asked them to put down their weapons immediately. "Otherwise, if you meet Japanese soldiers, you will all be wiped out! Quickly disarm!" Rabe shouted.

"Why disarm? We don't! We're going to fight the little Japanese devils for a while!" The soldiers quit, although most of them took Rabe's words for a reason. "You must disarm, or the lives of all of you are not guaranteed!" Rabe said. "Isn't your safety zone safe? Let's go in!" The soldiers surrounded Rabe, looking at the foreigner with begging eyes. Rabe scanned these poor Chinese soldiers and said in a loud voice: "The safe zone does not provide shelter for the army, especially what you are doing now. I must ensure the safety of civilians."

I don’t know what kind of magic power came from these words, the soldiers immediately dropped their weapons one after another, and some took off their military uniforms as if by magic and threw them into the nearby ditch or garbage dump, and then clamored to ask Rabe to let them into the safe zone. "Then you go ahead, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Supreme Court!" Rabe had to say. "Why did you ask us to go there?" The soldiers didn't know that the two places Rabe pointed out had become refugee areas, so they became nervous when they heard the word "Supreme Court", and they didn't move forward with confidence until Rabe explained clearly Walk.

At the entrance of the railway department, Rabe encountered the same Chinese soldiers, there were more than 400 people.In the same way he persuaded them to lay down their arms first.However, one officer disagreed, thinking that the "bad ideas" of foreigners would damage the image of Chinese soldiers. He saw the officer riding on a horse, suddenly raised his carbine, fired violently in all directions, and finally said: "We will never surrender. !" Rabe felt helpless and could not stop such soldiers. "However, if you want to enter our safe zone, you must disarm, otherwise I will never allow you to enter!" After a few minutes of stalemate, most soldiers obeyed Rabe's suggestion, threw the guns in their hands on the ground, and then shot at escape to the safe zone.

"It turned out that I killed them!" Rabe never imagined that the result of his painstaking efforts to persuade Chinese soldiers and officers to disarm was that the Japanese soldiers would easily kill all these unarmed Chinese soldiers in the days to come. He was arrested and shot alive.This was the main scene of the Nanjing Massacre in the next few days, and it was very tragic. "We have no choice! If there is street fighting on the edge of the safe zone, the fleeing Chinese soldiers will undoubtedly withdraw into the safe zone, so that the safe zone is not a demilitarized area. Even if it is not destroyed by the Japanese, They will also be violently shot by the Japanese. Therefore, we always hope that these Chinese soldiers who are completely disarmed will not be in any danger other than being taken as prisoners of war by the Japanese." Rabe explained in his diary that day that he insisted on this The reason for doing it.

"Disarm me, too!" Rabe quietly ordered Mr. Hartz, who was traveling with him, to disarm the officer on the horse.The officer refused at first, but was eventually subdued by Hartz. "I hope Mr. can understand that we cannot sacrifice hundreds of your soldiers because of your own will." Rabe said to the unconvinced officer, "Actually, this is also protecting you!" "Fuck you! Can you protect me?" the officer responded angrily to Rabe. Rabe was indeed unable to answer and give the officer any assurances.Can the Japanese listen to Rabe? "But if you want to enter my safe zone, my word is an order." Rabe was not ambiguous. The officer was no longer stubborn, and quickly withdrew to the safe zone with his soldiers. Unprecedented influxes of refugees have appeared everywhere in the safe zone-not hundreds or thousands of concepts!It is tens of thousands! Such a huge crowd, with tens of thousands of defeated Chinese soldiers among them, made Rabe's brain troubled: not letting them in would be tantamount to killing them indirectly-the Japanese soldiers would never be polite.If these Chinese soldiers are allowed to enter, it is equivalent to giving the Japanese a reason to invade and destroy the safe zone. "You should have more people guarding the gate like Mr. Sperling!" Rabe said to the committee members, looking at Sperling, who was holding a musket and watching everyone entering and leaving the safe zone. "This is impossible, Mr. Rabe." Han Xianglin suggested to Rabe, "We should immediately post notices everywhere at the entrance of our safe zone, telling those who want to come in some rules." "That's right, let's do it right away." Rabe immediately ordered his secretary and assistants to act, and this was the first document he issued after the Japanese army entered Nanjing—"Important Notice to Refugees in Refugee Shelters" ": 1. Urgently appeal to everyone not to stay on the streets 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 refugee areas are reserved 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. This "Nanjing good man" - Rabe was always called by Nanjing people later, he hoped that the citizens who had no awareness of war precautions would not easily "stay" in the streets or places outside their homes when the Japanese army entered the city. Just in case. as expected.On this day, Sun Zhongfang, who lives in Pingshi Street, heard that the Japanese were about to enter the city, so she went to the street with a few female companions to watch the excitement, but suddenly heard someone shouting "the devil is coming!"!A few people looked up and saw that there were Japanese with guns standing on the towers on all sides. "Baba" "Baba..." The bullets roared immediately.Sun Zhongfang's fate was fatal, and she ran back home amidst all the crying. At the age of 22, under the persuasion of her mother, she picked up her son "Xiaogouzi" who was less than two years old, and moved to Anhui with her brother with the defeated army. During this period, she separated from her brother and "Xiaogouzi".In order to make a living, Sun Zhongfang married for the second time, and her husband was Huang Shiqing, a Kuomintang soldier.Sun's first husband was a policeman in Nanjing City, but he failed to escape the clutches of the Japanese. His mother was also raped by Japanese soldiers and died soon after.After the Anti-Japanese War, Sun Zhongfang and her husband returned to their hometown in Guangxi, where they lived for 50 years.After the death of her husband Huang Shiqing, Sun Zhongfang married He Chengcai, a farmer in the village. In 1990, her third husband died again. Sun Zhongfang, who is over 80 years old, did not have children with her two later husbands, so she misses her lost biological son "Xiaogouzi" very much. In the summer of 2000, the news that Sun Zhongfang returned to Nanjing to find relatives shocked Nanjing, Shanghai and other places. Comrades from the Shanghai Public Security Bureau found a person named "Sun Jiacai" when they checked the household registration files, and felt that the situation of "Xiaogouzi" was close.After contact and confirmation, Sun Jiacai was indeed Sun Zhongfang's lost son "little dog".At this time, "Xiaogouzi" was a 66-year-old retired worker.On July 19 of that year, the mother and son who had been separated for 63 years finally met and reunited. "Little dog, I finally found you!" Elder Sun Zhongfang caressed his wrinkled son with mixed feelings of sorrow and joy. However, those citizens who did not escape from Nanjing City were not as lucky as Sun Zhongfang and her son... In the long alley in Wangfuli, Qinhuai District, there are only 9 members of Zhou Xianglian's family at No. 3 left. Because Zhou's grandmother was reluctant to part with the old house, Zhou Xianglian's grandfather and father blocked the door after the Japanese entered the city. .Zhou Xianglian's father, who was young and strong, knew that he should protect the whole family. On the morning of the 13th, artillery fire was flying in the streets. When he went out to Wuqiao outside the south gate, he was shot in the head by the oncoming Japanese soldiers.After someone reported to Zhou's family, Zhou Xianglian's mother passed out on the spot.The grandfather said that he wanted to find his son's body back, but he never came back after going out.When another man entered Zhou's house, it was a few Japanese soldiers.Holding guns, when they saw Zhou Xianglian's mother whose face was covered in stove ashes, they couldn't help but hit her with the butt of the gun, then took off her clothes, and raped her in front of Zhou's family members. "Flower Girl!" The Japanese soldiers did not stop there, and gang-raped 17-year-old Zhou Xianglian and 13-year-old sister Zhou Xiangping for several hours... In the air-raid shelter of a residential building in Xinjiekou in the downtown area, a five or six-year-old boy did not know the danger of the Japanese entering the city, so he stood at the entrance of the cave by himself when the adults were not prepared.The Japanese soldiers walking on the street waved to the children, saying "chili wah la" incomprehensible words.The child was frightened, so he quickly shrank his head into the hole, but with a "bang" shot, blood splashed all over his little head.Suddenly the cries of the child's mother came from inside the cave. Several Japanese soldiers held machine guns, first threw grenades, and then machine gunned them.The air-raid shelter collapsed quickly, and none of the people inside came out. A group of Japanese soldiers walked to the gate of the Gulou Hospital and saw a group of Chinese men in military uniforms hiding in the alley, so they quickly surrounded and blocked both ends of the alley, followed by a burst of gunfire...the alley was covered with blood. Rabe could no longer stop the atrocities committed by these Japanese soldiers. Almost every 100 or 200 meters their vehicles traveled, they would encounter a bloody atrocity. The dead bodies of Chinese soldiers and civilians littered the streets. "I checked the bodies and found that most of them were shot in the back. It seems that these people were shot from behind while fleeing." He described in his diary that day. Along the way, Rabe saw countless residential buildings and public buildings burned, and the miserable cries of men and women could often be heard in the piles of fires.When he tried to rescue him, Japanese soldiers blocked him with bayonets and rifle butts. Rabe had to worry about the property he was familiar with left by the Germans—the Cheeselin pastry shop seemed to have been looted by the Japanese before he entered.The Hempel Hotel was also smashed to pieces. Someone reminded Rabe: The Japanese troops entering the city should be told to let them know the location of the safe zone and not allow them to invade casually. Rabe thinks that's right.So he took the lead in holding the German flag, with a Red Cross sleeve on his arm.Someone suggested to him that a flag of the sun should also be raised, and told him: "Japanese soldiers will not attack those who hold the flag of the sun." "I just need my own national flag!" Rabe refused, because he had already seen someone in the city hang the sun flag at the door of his house and was called a "traitor" by another group of people. At the gate of the city, a large number of Japanese soldiers marched into the city in a square formation.Rabe, wearing a suit and tie, was standing on the side of the road, holding a self-made map in his hand, and gesticulating to a Japanese officer, pointing to him and telling him the location of the safe zone. "Your German? Yours is great!" The Japanese soldier, covered in the smell of blood and sweat, gave Rabe a thumbs up, as if praising him and mocking him. Rabe didn't care about this. He believed that it was his responsibility to let the Japanese soldiers know his safe zone, so that more people could be prevented from being hurt. "I have ordered my men to plant many small white flags around our safety zone. When you see such small white flags, please do not enter." Rabe said earnestly to the Japanese soldiers who walked by him all the way. explained.Did anyone really listen to him?Rabe didn't know, but he thought it had to be done. Leaving the gate of the city, Rabe got into the car and drove towards the safe area in the city at high speed.On the way, they met a team of about 200 Chinese workers escorted by Japanese soldiers. "Sir, save them, the Japanese soldiers will definitely beat them to death!" said the fellow passenger to Rabe. Rabe immediately jumped out of the car, stepped forward to show his identity to the Japanese soldiers, and asked for the release of these workers. A Japanese soldier looked Rabe up and down, and then pushed his chubby belly with the butt of his gun: "Your, get out of the way!" Rabe protested against the rudeness of the Japanese soldiers. The Japanese soldier smiled contemptuously at him and went about his business.Looking at the pitiful faces of the Chinese workers, Rabe shrugged helplessly.He drew a "ten" on his chest, praying for their safety. "Da! Da da..." Rabe didn't go far when he heard a burst of gunshots and shouts.Although the line of sight was separated by a wall, Rabe believed that the Japanese soldiers must have attacked those Chinese workers. On December 13th, a birthday prayer should have been given to the founder of Siemens, Mr. Ernst Werner von Siemens. However, now, Rabe, a devout Christian, saw a group of people more vicious than wolves A more brutal beast. Beast!They are beasts!Rabe watched 400 to 500 Chinese soldiers who had laid down their weapons in the Ministry of Justice building, being tied up and forcibly taken away by the Japanese and shot dead. "This is a brutal massacre! Massacre! Massacre——!" When returning to the small courtyard of his home, Rabe’s eyes were about to sparkle: only 50 meters away from his courtyard, a Chinese soldier who had been killed and charred was tied and hung on a bamboo pole. The burnt smell and charred body made Rabe vomit. "The devil can't do such a thing!" Rabe growled and cursed in the room for almost half an hour. If Smythe hadn't reported to him a lot of problems facing the safe zone, it is estimated that the burger businessman would have a certain day. Will be angry all night because of the charred corpse in front of the house. "I don't want to say I don't know anything about art, but I have to admit that in life I spend very little time reading poetry and that sort of thing. I always thought it didn't reconcile with the profession of a decent Hamburg businessman. But with Time passed, and when the 'educational flaw' finally manifested itself embarrassingly, I began to pick out the 'women' book from time to time to make up for my lack of knowledge, but I couldn't help but look left and right, sure Not to be discovered. But whoever got wind of it--the ladies have found out, and they ignore our mistakes with quiet smiles, especially me. But anyway... some special Poetic stuff has been stuffed into my daily notebook without my knowing it, and therefore without protesting it, often with slips of paper sticking out. I love poetry very much..." The gunshots outside kept ringing, women and children were often crying in the courtyard, and colleagues sent bloody "reports" on the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers, all at this moment. The ears and eyes of a "Hamburg businessman" were full of noise. Strange, he was sitting at the desk, holding a piece of paper in his hand in a daze, reciting silently: This is a poem written by the wife entitled.Rabe read, with tears in his eyes. "Darling, I have read the poem on this note you sent over and over again, and it is placed in front of me every day. If life is in danger every moment, Then reading it will give you a particularly solemn feeling—thank you, my wife!" Rabe's heart was agitated today, and his wife's poem made him understand the meaning and value of life even more. However, in Nanjing, what is the fate of the Chinese under the butcher knife of the Japanese soldiers?Rabe felt the pain, as if the apex of his heart had been pricked by a needle... He wants to shout!Facing the cruelty of the Japanese soldiers, he wants to shout out to the whole world. Dr. Smythe rushed over and told Rabe that the Ministry of Railways and the police headquarters were overcrowded, and the safety zone could not accept the sudden retreat of Chinese soldiers from all directions. "The most troublesome problem is that they are still holding weapons. Or they didn't take off their military uniforms at all. The Japanese soldiers insisted that these Chinese soldiers would cause trouble for the Japanese troops entering the city, and they must be pulled away from the safe zone! But everyone knows that once they are pulled away, only one Fate: death!" Smythe asked what Rabe could do. "Go to Fukuda, he is the counselor of the Japanese ambassador and the only person who can talk to him," Rabe said. They found Fukuda at the Japanese embassy. "I believe our military will take a reasonable approach." Fukuda said. When he left the Japanese embassy, ​​Rabe was quite proud.But a few hours later, Rabe received the news that more than 1,300 Chinese soldiers stranded at the Ministry of Railways and the police headquarters were forcibly taken away by Japanese soldiers and all were shot soon. "Didn't Richard Lynch and Kroeger stay there to monitor the actions of the Japanese?" Rabe asked Smythe when he heard about it, because they were afraid that the Japanese would turn their backs on their promises, so they had a good eye and sent two reds. Members of the Cross stayed on the scene to stare. "Richard Lim said the Japanese soldiers drove them away immediately after we left," Smythe said. "Soldiers of a country with no credibility! They are utterly barbaric!" Rabe could not tolerate such actions.He instructed Smythe that all members of the International Committee should be made to record the atrocities they had seen and heard committed by the Japanese soldiers. "In this way, we can use facts that they cannot deny to force them to correct their mistakes and stop crimes!" "The Japanese believe that there are at least 20,000 Chinese soldiers in the city. Some of them are still resisting, some are hiding in the dark to attack the Japanese army, and some are mixed among the civilians. Such people pose a great threat to the Japanese army, so they Measures of killing soldiers on sight have been taken!" Smythe learned of the above situation from the administrator of the safe zone. After a moment of silence, Rabe said to Smythe: "In any case, we must express our opinions to the Japanese side. Even soldiers, as long as they lay down their weapons, their lives should be respected. International conventions have long had this Is it true that the Japanese can do whatever they want? Now that I am the mayor of Nanjing, I must come forward to protest, otherwise we will see the whole city turn into a mass slaughterhouse." Is not it? On the 14th in Xiaguan, Nanjing, tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers died on the banks of the Yangtze River. The blood stained the surging river, and the corpses piled up like mountains. It was terrible!The situation in the city was not much better. On Hankou Road, Smythe saw with his own eyes 50 Chinese men were tied up with ropes by the Japanese army and then taken to the bottom of a wall. Several Japanese soldiers with spears stabbed them like cutting watermelons They stabbed Chinese soldiers in the abdomen, and those who survived were shot again in the head... "No! I absolutely cannot tolerate such barbaric atrocities!" Rabe was extremely angry, leaning over his desk, and wrote to the counselor of the Japanese embassy: The International Committee of the Nanjing Safety Zone was deeply shocked by the fate of the Chinese soldiers who had laid down their arms.From the very beginning, the Committee has strived to keep the safe zone free of Chinese soldiers, and by the afternoon of Monday, December 13, the work in this regard had been successful.But in the afternoon of this day, hundreds of Chinese soldiers approached and entered the safe zone, and they (out of desperation) asked us for help.The committee told them unequivocally that there was no protection available.But at the same time we explained to them that if they lay down their arms and give up all resistance to the Japanese, we think they can expect to be treated leniently by the Japanese side.Because of the haste and confusion that night, and the fact that some soldiers had taken off their uniforms, the committee was unable to distinguish the disarmed soldiers from the Chinese civilians.Of course, the committee believes that these Chinese soldiers, once their identities are verified, should be regarded as prisoners of war according to the law, but at the same time, they hope that Chinese civilians will not be harmed by this! Rabe went on to write that the Japanese army should "give leniency to these ex-soldiers in accordance with the provisions of the law of war concerning prisoners of war and in accordance with humanitarian principles."And he believes that "prisoners of war are suitable as laborers, and they themselves will be happy to be able to return to civilian life as soon as possible." Naive!Harada, Chief of Staff of the Japanese Division, looked at the translated letter signed "Chairman Rabe of the International Committee", and asked Counselor Fukuda with a sneer: "These German and American committees want to hinder our army's actions in Nanjing." ?” "Most of them are missionaries, and their mission is to relieve refugees..." Fukuda said hesitantly to the chief of the occupying army of the barbaric first. "Then—find a place to meet them at noon?" Harada asked Counselor Fukuda. "Yes! I'm dating them." At noon on the 15th, at the location of the Bank of Communications, Rabe, Smythe, and Sperling, on behalf of the International Committee, met for the first time with senior Japanese military officials. "Our general said that he only expressed his position on the questions raised in your letter yesterday, not answered your questions. So don't ask new questions." Counselor Fukuda warned Rabe and the others in advance. "Arrogant occupying army!" Rabe cursed inwardly. "Our emperor of Japan protects all civilians, but now it is a war, and war must have unconventional measures. Therefore, I reiterate to you: 1. Our army must search for the remaining Chinese soldiers in the whole city; 2. 1. Set up our sentry posts at the entrance of your so-called safe zone; 3. You should assist us in mobilizing residents to return to their homes as soon as possible; 4. Regarding the disarmed Chinese soldiers, you should hand them all over to us. And I believe that our army is humanitarian; 5. The security personnel you employ can patrol the safe zone, but they must obey our orders, that is, provide convenience for the movement of our soldiers who are performing their tasks, and must not obstruct them in any way; 6. The 10,000 tans of rice you have in reserve can be used by the refugees, but we Japanese soldiers also need rice. That is to say, if we need it, you should hand over the rice as soon as possible; 7. You should help us realize the city Eighth, from now on, you must provide us with labor in time..." "He takes us as his captives, and doesn't recognize the organizers and leaders of our safe zone at all!" Rabe said softly to Smythe in English. "Dear German comrades, do you have doubts about my instructions?" Harada asked Rabe in English, which surprised Rabe. "Sir, you are the winner, and the winner can control all the results of victory. But my task is to protect the property of our Germans in Nanjing and the safety of civilians during wartime. My head of state knows about my mission. Therefore, I hope that Your Excellency the General can give you support and help." This time Rabe spoke German with a standard Hamburg accent.Counselor Fukuda interpreted for him. After hearing this, Harada nodded, and the expression on his face showed his respect for Rabe and Hitler. "Sir, can you accompany me to your safe area in the afternoon?" Rabe and Smythe exchanged glances, thinking that this is not necessarily a bad thing, they agreed. But in the afternoon, Rabe lost the opportunity to accompany General Harada of Japan, because a group of Japanese soldiers wanted to take away a group of Chinese soldiers who had put down their weapons in the safe zone.Rabe knew that all the Chinese soldiers who were taken away by the Japanese would always have tragic endings, so he immediately drove to the scene and repeatedly declared to the Japanese soldiers: "I am a member of the German National Socialist Workers Party, and all my actions here Both reported to our Führer Hitler, so I, as a Nazi and as a German, vouch for you that these Chinese soldiers - a group of prisoners who have laid down their arms, will never have any military affairs with you You should release them. If you insist on taking them away, then take them with me!" Rabe made a gesture that made the Japanese soldiers at a loss—he used his chubby body to block the Japanese soldiers. "You're dead!" Several Japanese soldiers angrily aimed their bayonets at the tip of Rabe's nose, trying to scare him.The Hamburg businessman didn't seem to care at all, and he still stood there awe-inspiringly, without changing his face. In the end, a Japanese officer came forward to relieve the siege, ordered his soldiers to put down their guns, and apologized to Rabe. The rest of the committee waited for Rabe at headquarters, saying they had something important to report to him.So Rabe had to hand over the scene to the Japanese officer who had expressed his "sorry".Rabe saw the Japanese officer leave the scene with his soldiers before leaving for headquarters. "It's not good, sir, the Japanese soldiers went back and captured more than 1,000 Chinese soldiers, and this time there are more armed soldiers, more than 100 fully armed guys!" Before entering the office of the committee headquarters, someone panted to Rabe reported. "Come on, let's go back right away!" Rabe said to Smythe and Mills while angrily scolding the Japanese for dishonesty.The three got back into the car and galloped to the safe zone.But no matter how much Rabe and the Japanese soldiers quarreled, the other party would not let them go. More than 1,300 people were forcibly taken away from their eyes.Rabe blushed, and several times tried to rush to the Japanese soldiers to block them, but was stopped by Dr. Smythe. "Why don't you Americans have any blood? Look at these Japanese beasts! They are not even as good as beasts!" Rabe was extremely angry. Smythe said helplessly: "Mr. Rabe, you still don't know something. Today their Japanese planes even sank our warship and killed two people!" "So bold?" Rabe couldn't believe it. "I have just received word that the Japanese have sunk our gunboat 'Panay', killing an Italian journalist and a captain. Our Ambassador, Mr. Paxton, has been wounded in many places, and Captain Hughes has lost a Legs..." Smythe said sadly. Rabe patted his friend on the shoulder and comforted: "God bless us." "Let's go, let's find Mr. Fukuda, he is the only Japanese friend we can make." La Bella went to Smythe and went to the Japanese embassy again. Counselor Fukuda promised to come forward and talk to the army. "If the Chinese are executed in this way, I will not be able to recruit labor for your army." Rabe gave this reason, hoping that the Japanese soldiers would think about the possible consequences.In fact, the Japanese soldiers didn't care about Rabe's ideas. Arresting Chinese soldiers in the safe zone was already the top priority of the Japanese army after entering the city.Although the Japanese army was very arrogant after conquering Nanjing, they were still afraid of the resistance and attacks of the Chinese army, especially did not dare to underestimate street fighting and guerrilla warfare. The spearhead of the "mopping up" was directed at the safe zone. Beginning on the 14th, the Japanese army continued to send "mopping-up" teams into the safe zone. Every Chinese man between the ages of 15 and 50 had to be checked one by one, including his hands, shoulders, hair, etc. Check whether there are any calluses on the hand holding the gun, whether there are marks on the shoulders carrying the gun, whether there is a trace of wearing a military cap on the head.If he found anything, he was immediately pulled out and shot.So some people say that people who wear hats will leave marks on their heads, so many men have their hair bald.Who would have thought that the next day the Japanese would only arrest men with bald heads, and those poor men who were not soldiers were also mercilessly captured and shot by the Japanese soldiers... There are many more heinous acts—— On the 15th, six street cleaners in the safety zone were ordered to clean the area around the Drum Tower, but Japanese soldiers broke in. Seeing a group of men, they immediately tied them up, escorted them to the base of a wall, and stabbed them to death one by one with bayonets. On the 16th, Wu Changde, who worked at the headquarters of Rabe's International Committee, was captured by the Japanese army on the grounds that he was a Chinese soldier.Wu used to be a police officer in Nanjing. He was taken to an open space opposite the Capital Theatre. The Japanese soldiers made him stand there for several hours, during which time more than 1,000 Chinese men were also arrested there.They were then taken to Hanxi Gate, where Japanese soldiers ordered them to squat on the ground. They were then forcibly divided into groups ranging from 70 to 80 people, escorted outside the city, and executed with machine guns.Wu Changde was assigned to the last group. It was already dark at this time, and he was not injured when the machine guns fired, and he immediately pretended to be dead.The Japanese soldiers then burned all the corpses with burning objects.A Japanese soldier walked up to Wu Changde and found that he was not dead, so he hit him on the back with a hoe and piled firewood beside him.After the firewood was lit and the Japanese soldiers left, Wu managed to escape. Ten days later, Wu Changde disguised himself as a beggar and returned to the headquarters of the International Committee. Only then did Rabe and the others learn about the atrocities committed by the Japanese army... "Record all the crimes committed by the Japanese army!" Rabe couldn't bear the grief and indignation. He asked Smythe to sort out the first material "Atrocities of Japanese Soldiers in the Nanjing Safety Zone", and decided to lodge a stern protest to the Japanese army through Counselor Fukuda: The atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in the safe zone yesterday aggravated the panic among the refugees. Many refugees did not even dare to leave the house where they were staying to go to the nearby porridge factory to receive their daily ration of rice. Therefore, we are now faced with the task of delivering rice to the shelter. , which greatly increased the difficulty of our work in providing food to the masses, and we could not even find enough foot strength to transport rice and coal to the porridge factory.As a result, thousands of refugees were left without food this morning.In order to allow Chinese civilians to get food, several foreign members of the international committee tried their best to avoid the Japanese patrol this morning and drove the truck to a safe area.Yesterday, the private cars of several members of our committee were dragged away by Japanese soldiers... As I wrote this, Rabe felt a sense of displeasure. In such a situation, it is impossible to carry out any normal activities!" To this end, he proposed "immediate precautionary measures" to the Japanese military: 1. All home search activities are under the command of the responsible officer, leading a formally organized squad. (Most of the troublemakers were wandering soldiers in groups of 3 to 7 without officers leading the team.) 2. 夜间，最好也在白天，在安全区的所有通道口安排日军岗哨（昨天我们已经向贵军的少佐先生提过这项建议），阻止四处游荡的日军士兵进入安全区。 3. 立即发放汽车通行证，贴在汽车挡风玻璃上，以免我们的卡车和私人汽车被日军士兵扣留（即使在城市保卫战的最艰苦的时期，中方司令部还是向我们提供了通行证，虽然此前已有车辆被扣，但在递交了申诉后，所有车辆都在24小时内物归原主。此外，当时中国军队的处境已经十分艰难，但仍然提供给我们3辆卡车为平民百姓运送粮米。与此相比，日本皇军具有更好的装备，而且已经控制了全城，城内的战斗也已经全部停止，因此我们坚信，在目前中国平民百姓需要得到日军的关心和保护的情况下，日军会表现出更高的姿态）。 想起前一天与原田将军见面时的情景，拉贝不由更加气愤，他还有话要说：“日军最高指挥官于昨天抵达南京，我们原以为市内的秩序和安宁会由此而得到恢复，因此昨天我们没有提出任何指控。但是昨天夜里的情况比前天还要糟糕，因此我们决定向日本皇军指出，这种状况不能再持续下去……” 真是忍无可忍！但不忍你又能怎样呢？拉贝觉得自己活到五十岁，还没有一件事能比与日本人打交道更无奈、更令人气愤的！ 他再次想到了妻子的诗句： 是啊，妻子说得多好！生命就是“必胜的信念”、“不尽的奋争”。面对强盗和野兽般的日本军队，你唯有坚持不尽的奋争，才会有必胜的信念。 拉贝讲究尊严，德国人一向讲究尊严，但在南京，在日本军队屠刀下的南京城内，德国人此刻已经没有了尊严。日本士兵可以想什么时候进来就什么时候进来，想抢什么东西就抢什么东西。屋子里的人已经不敢随便出门了，为了方便国际委员会和自己的汽车出入，拉贝有时叫佣人干脆把院子门打开，但又遇上了困难——守在门外的妇女和孩子们就会突然如放闸的潮水往院子里涌。拉贝无法劝阻他们，因为他们会集体跪在地上磕头求助。上帝也无法拒绝他们。拉贝只好“投降”。可是进院子后又能怎么安置他们呢？小小的院子里已经有600多人了！吃喝拉撒住都成问题。一个小小的卫生间挤上十几个女人和孩子，院子里的草坪上，躺满了人，有的甚至成了两层和三层——地上躺着的是一层，凳子上又躺一层，凳子上面还有一层门板上再坐满几个人……如此境况下，仍要不断遭受日本军人的骚扰。 “哐！哐哐哐！”有人在踢门。 “谁？”拉贝不得不放下手中的活，走下楼。 “是日本兵。他们想进来。”佣人胆怯地说。 “啪——”拉贝突然打开手电筒。一束亮光照射到院墙外几个探头探脑的日本兵脸上，他们见光而逃。 拉贝让佣人拉开院门，追赶出去。走过一段小巷，满地是血淋淋、臭乎乎的尸体。佣人们吓得往回就跑，拉贝虽然不怕死人，但气味实在难闻。回到院子，见女人和孩子们瞪着惊慌失措的眼睛一个个都在看着他。“他们希望我这个'洋鬼子'能帮助他们驱赶凶神恶煞，我真有那么大的本事吗？”拉贝常这样自言自语。 又有两件事令他无法平静：一是日本总领事冈崎胜雄认为拉贝的国际委员会的存在没有“法律根据”；二是受命于国际委员会的50名安全区警察也被日本士兵当作中国军人强行押走并枪毙了。拉贝觉得这是日本军队对他和他的国际委员会的严重挑衅行为，为此他不能坐以待毙。“任何企图削弱或无视我们国际委员会存在的行为，就是一个目的：更随心所欲地屠杀中国人。” “这是绝对不能让步的！”拉贝认为他与日本军方的斗争已经水火不相容了，必须严正地批驳日本人的阴谋。为此，17日，他又向日本使馆陈述自己的立场： We never considered seeking some kind of power to cooperate politically with the Japanese authorities.What we want to point out here is that on December 1, 1937, Mayor Ma of the Nanjing Municipal Government entrusted us with almost all management functions of the city during the special period, including management of police affairs, supervision of public institutions, fire protection, management and Power over housing, food supply, urban sanitation, etc. On the morning of Monday, December 13, 1937, when your army entered the city victoriously, the management of the city was in our hands, and we were the only institution still in operation.Of course, the full powers we have won cannot extend beyond the boundaries of the safe zone, and we have no right to sovereignty in the safe zone. The Japanese authorities in Shanghai have assured us that as long as there are no troops or military installations in the safe zone, your army will not intentionally attack the safe zone.Since we are the only city management agency, after your army entered the city, we immediately tried to get in touch with the vanguard. On the afternoon of December 13th, we met a captain of your army on Hanzhong Road, who was leading his troops into the reserve position.We gave him the necessary explanations, marked the boundaries of the safe zone on his map, and respectfully pointed out to him the locations of three Red Cross hospitals and informed him of the disarmed Chinese soldiers.The cooperation and calm he displayed at that time strengthened our belief that we had the full understanding of your army. That evening and the next morning we drafted the letter of December 14 and had it translated into Japanese.We, Mr. Rabe, Dr. Smythe, and Reverend Foster, have been busy looking for senior officers of your army in order to forward this letter to the Japanese authorities.On this point, Mr. Fukuda, Counselor of the Japanese Embassy can attest.We have contacted a total of 5 officers of your army, but they all pointed out that we have to wait until the Supreme Commander arrives the next day to contact him. 第二天，也就是12月15日，日本帝国大使馆福田德康先生和关口先生来访，关口向我们转交了“濑田”号舰长和舰队军官的致意帖。We delivered the letter of December 14 to Mr. Fukuda and assured Mr. Sekiguchi of our willingness to help restore power to the power plant.At noon on the same day, we had the honor to have a meeting with the special chief (chief of staff and secret service) at the Bank of Communications.He gave an oral formal reply to our letter of December 14. ……但是恰恰从这个时候起，只要没有欧洲人陪同，我们的卡车在街上就会被扣留。从星期二早晨起，我们领导下的红字会开始派车在安全区收殓尸体，但是他们的车不是被强行拖走，就是被企图扣留，昨天甚至有14名该会的工人被拖走。Our police officers were hindered in their policing, 50 police officers were arrested yesterday at the Ministry of Justice.据在场军官称，要带走他们枪决。另有45名我方的“志愿警察”昨天下午也同样被带走（这些“志愿警察”是委员会于12月13日下午组织起来的，因为从当时的情况来看，安全区内的“着装警察”尽管必须日夜执勤，但靠他们仍然不可能完成安全区内的警务工作。这些“志愿警察”既不着装，也不拥有任何武器，他们仅仅佩戴臂章，而且从性质上看不过就如同欧洲的童子军，他们临时承担一些小型服务工作，例如帮助维持民众秩序，做一些清扫工作，在急救时帮帮忙等等）。 On December 14, our 4 fire trucks were confiscated by your army for transportation. We strive to let the Japanese embassy and your army understand the fact that people have entrusted us with the management functions of the city for the benefit of the common people in Nanjing.Once the Japanese authorities establish a new city management agency, or other organizational structures, we will hand over our city management functions.But it is very unfortunate that your soldiers obstructed our work for the benefit of the common people and to maintain order in the safe zone.This has had the effect of undermining the systems we have established to maintain order and, from the morning of December 14, disrupting our essential official activities.Specifically, on December 13th, when your army entered the city, we concentrated almost all the civilians in the city in the safe zone. The safe zone suffered only slight damage from shelling. No looting was done in the safe zone.It can be said that we have peacefully taken over the entire security zone for you, and have made all the preparations for normal life to continue undisturbed until order is restored in other areas of the city.Once order is restored, normal traffic can resume across the city.But on December 14th, terrorist activities such as robbery, rape and massacre by soldiers of your army overwhelmed the sky and overwhelmingly, and the 27 Europeans who remained were as shocked as the Chinese residents. 在拉贝的这封抗议信中提到安全区的“志愿警察”被日军杀戮一事，在过去揭露日军南京大屠杀的各种文章中很少提及。事实上这是日军在南京犯下巨罪的一个重要方面。 在日军接近南京时，拉贝他们的安全区建立后，考虑到维护秩序需要，原南京市长马超俊应拉贝的请求，于12月1日，调派了450名警力，担任安全区警卫，这支队伍由南京警察厅第六警察局长伍建鹏兼任警卫长。但后来涌入安全区的难民人数激增，原有警力不够。日军占领南京后的第一天，国际委员会便从难民中组织了一支既无制服又无枪械，仅佩戴国际委员会自制的臂章，类似童子军的志愿警队，由拉贝向日本使馆和日军代表口头应诺：“难民区内留置警察，除警棒外，不准携带任何武器。”但在日军随之而来的追捕“中国军人”的大扫荡中，这些志愿警察几乎都被日军当作“中国军人”而拉走枪毙了。1945年11月，审判日本战犯时，警察陈永清就曾出庭作证：“日本中岛部队在南京难民区中的司法院查出军民及警察等2000余人，每行列用绳捆绑圈住，赶至汉中西门，用机枪扫射，已死者及伤者都被日军用汽油焚烧。”原中国军队87师副排长仲科也在作证时描述道：“……忽来敌百余名，押我等及院内所住之难民千人，出诸室外，排列成四路队形，向汉中西门去，途中又有未及更衣的警察400多人衔拉而行。敌兵时顾余等作狰狞笑。距城关一箭之地，敌兵以手示止踵，并以粗如臂、长数十丈之麻绳围绕警察约200余名，押往城外，十分钟后，闻机枪大作。接着，持绳之日军冉冉而来，分批圈杀。”据当年东京审判前的调查，日军杀害警察人数约2000余名，多为担任安全区警卫任务的警察专员和志愿警察。 我们把话题回到拉贝与日方交涉这一环节—— 针对城内接二连三的暴行，拉贝等多次口头或书面向日方提出抗议或建议，希望日军派出巡逻和警卫，以维持基本的秩序。日军一方面表面上答应要重视拉贝他们所反映的情况，另一方面其实一直在怂恿其官兵的无节制暴行。这一点最让拉贝不能忍受。他指出：“昨天晚上8时至9时之间，我们委员会的5名成员巡视了安全区。巡视过程中，不论在安全区内还是在安全区交界区域，没有看见一个日本巡逻哨。在贵军的威胁下，加上中国警察被拖走处决，我们自己的警察在街上已经消失得无影无踪。我们只在安全区的街道上看到了两三个一伙四处游荡的贵军士兵。我写这篇报告的时候，安全区的四面八方又传来消息，这些四处游荡、无法无天的贵军士兵正在奸淫掳掠肆意蹂躏。这表明，贵军没有考虑我们昨天（12月16日）函件第2点中提出的请求，即：在安全区入口处设置岗哨，阻止四处游荡的士兵进入安全区。” “过去3天的蹂躏和破坏如果得不到制止，救济工作的难度必将成倍增加。我们组织安全区的原则是，鼓励每个家庭尽可能通过个人途径在安全区商定食宿事宜，以减缓突发局面给我们的组织机构造成的负担。目前的局势如果得不到改善，那么要不了几天大部分居民就要挨饿。各家自己储备的食品和取暖物资已经告缺，中国人的钱、衣物和个人财产都被四处游荡的贵军士兵抢走了，人们怕上街，怕重新开店做生意，因此正常的生意和其他的活动只能小规模进行。我们的供应也陷于停顿，从12月14日早晨起，货车运输可以讲几乎陷于瘫痪。贵军进城前，我们的精力主要集中在向安全区运送储备粮。我们准备过一段时间再分发粮食，因为我们已经要求居民们带上能维持一个星期的食品储备。为了防止一些收容所出现粮荒，我们委员会的欧洲委员不得不在夜幕降临后用自己的私人汽车给收容所运送粮食。” 想到日本总领事傲慢且无视国际委员会存在的言行，拉贝心情难以平静。“如果不能尽快恢复正常的粮食供应，居民将受到饥饿的折磨。另外一个折磨中国居民的因素是贵军无休无止的骚扰。一些家庭向我们诉苦，他们的房子被砸开，遭抢劫，他们的女人一个晚上被强奸多达5次。于是他们第二天早晨逃离住所，找一个希望能得到安全的地方住下来，这难道奇怪吗？” 而日军有些借机杀人的做法，也必须加予坚决制止。拉贝举例：“昨天下午，贵军指挥部的3名军官前来我处交涉，请求在恢复电话通讯方面提供帮助，就在这同时，一批电话工人被赶出了他们在安全区的住所，他们都佩戴委员会的袖标，我们不知道他们逃匿到什么地方了。如果任这类恐怖活动继续发生，我们就不可能提供必要的工人，从而帮助对民生至关重要的机构恢复工作。” “如果市内贵军士兵的秩序不能立即得到恢复，那么我们就无法保证20万中国平民中无人饿死！”拉贝愤怒地写完最后一句话，在他看来，如果不对日方指出这样严重的后果，那么日本人是不会停止更大范围的屠杀的。 德国人做事的严谨和穷追不舍的作风也许永远值得我们借鉴和学习。拉贝认为自己的“严重声明”和“抗议”还不足以提醒日方改正暴行，由此他第二天又让另一位国际委员会成员给日本大使起草了一份更加详细、措辞更加严厉的信件：致南京日本大使馆： 由于贵军士兵持续不断的抢劫、暴力和强奸，整个城市笼罩在惊恐和悲惨的气氛中。1.7万多人，其中很多是妇女和儿童，逃到我们的建筑物里来寻求保护。目前越来越多的人正在涌进安全区，因为外面的情况比我们这里还要糟糕。下面我列举在过去的24小时中在我们的建筑物中发生的暴行，这些暴行还不算是最严重的。 1. 大学附中，干河沿： 一个受到惊吓的孩子被军用刺刀刺死，另一个被刺成重伤，即将死去。8名妇女被强奸。我们好几个试图帮助这些可怜的人并向他们提供食物的雇员，遭到了日本士兵的无端殴打。不论白天还是夜晚都有贵军的士兵爬过围墙。许多中国人已经3天睡不着觉了，他们的身心受到严重的损害，变得有些歇斯底里。如果有朝一日这种恐惧和绝望导致了对贵军士兵强奸妇女行径的抵抗，那将会发生毁灭性的大屠杀，对此贵当局要承担责任。 美国国旗被贵军士兵以污辱的方式撕扯下来。 2. 蚕厂，金银街： 两名妇女被强奸。 3. 农具仓库，胡家菜园11号： 两名妇女被强奸。 4. 系所在地，汉口路11号： 我们委员会的人员居住在此，两名妇女被强奸。 5. 系所在地，汉口路23号： 我们委员会的美国委员居住在此，一名妇女被强奸。 6. 农艺系，小桃园： 这座建筑物多次遭到日本人的恶意骚扰，因此所有的妇女都逃走了。今天早上我去那里察看时，6个日本士兵站在我的对面。尽管我用极为客气的方式向他们提问，询问他们是否遇到什么麻烦，其中的一个日本兵仍然始终用手指扣着扳机，多次用手枪对着我。 以上未经修饰的事实还没有提到那些白天被四处游荡的日本兵骚扰多达10次、夜间多达6次的可怜人们的困难。这些日本兵出来要么是为了找女人，要么是为了抢劫，这些情况表明了立即实施管制的必要性。 贵方的一些代表声称，昨天夜里在所有这些建筑物的大门口，以及其他一些安置了大批难民的地方，都布置了军警岗哨。但是我们却连一个岗哨都没有看见。由于日本士兵到处都在翻墙越院，因此仅靠几个岗哨是起不了什么作用的，除非在日本士兵内部普遍恢复纪律和秩序。 如果贵军士兵的行为不能重新得到控制，那么设立在原何应钦公馆的日本秋山旅团司令部对周围居住的人就会构成极大的威胁。如果贵方的将军们能关心一下这些事情，那么这个地方甚至能变成一个能提供特别保护的地区。 不仅仅是在这里，在整个城市，居民们的食品和现金财物都被日本士兵洗劫一空，这些人已经被逼到了绝望的境地。除此以外还有许多人，他们的衣物和被褥也被日本士兵劫走，这些人因寒冷而患上了疾病。 贵当局打算如何来解决这些问题呢？ 在城市的每一条街道上都有饱含着眼泪的市民悲痛欲绝，他们抱怨说，只要日本士兵一露面，就没有一个人，没有一栋房子会安全。这种做法想必不会是贵政府的意图吧？南京的居民希望日本人能给予较好的待遇！ 如果贵方有机会，我建议，和我一起去查访一些地区，就在贵方院墙之下发生的一个个恐怖事件给这些地区带来了深重的灾难。 就在写这封信的时候，我被7个来我们这里检查的日本士兵打断了，我必须和他们打交道。所谓检查，无非就是看看有没有女人能让他们晚上拖出去强奸。 我夜里就睡在这栋楼里，而且我还将继续在此过夜，希望能给这里无依无靠的妇女儿童多少带来一些好处，能给他们提供一些我所能提供的微薄的帮助。 我和我的朋友们（欧洲人和美国人）在进行我们人道主义工作的时候，多次遭到贵军士兵的威胁。如果在此过程中我们被酗酒或失去纪律约束的贵军士兵杀害或伤害，那么谁应当对此承担责任，是没有任何异议的。 我一再努力本着友好和谅解的精神来书写这封信，但是却无法掩盖字里行间所反映出来的自贵军5天前进城以来我们所经历的绝望和悲痛。 只有贵方迅速采取行动才能整治目前的局面！ 签名：金陵大学紧急委员会主席MS贝德士 信件发出后，拉贝觉得不能就此了结，要想让日方收敛其军队的野蛮行径，必须与其面对面地进行斗争。 18日下午5时，拉贝和斯迈思作为德国和美国代表，决定再次去找那个傲慢的冈崎。 “今天我们是作为德国和美国民间人士的代表来的。希望冈崎先生充分注意到，斯迈思是美国著名教授，而我作为德国的一名纳粹党员，且是德国最高荣誉的获得者、德国在华人士的代表，来向你反映情况和表达我们的意见……”拉贝今天一身笔挺的西装，并且在西装上别着明显的纳粹标志，见了冈崎后，毫不含糊地递交了长长的意见书和早已准备好的《日军在南京所犯暴行的报告》。 这让冈崎感到气氛有些很不自然。其实这名日本政府的代表根本不惧怕眼前的德国人和美国人，他有所顾忌的是“纳粹”和纳粹领袖希特勒。因此，这一天的会面，冈崎变了些口吻，甚至后来确实让拉贝感觉日本兵不再像前几天那样任意到安全区拉走男人去枪毙了。 正是以拉贝为代表的一群欧美教授、商人、医生和传教士们以他们自己脆弱的身体作为武器和盾牌，在强大的日本军队面前，无私无畏地坚持着人类最基本和最原始的正义及良心，并且一次次地跟日方交涉，申诉理由，甚至直面抗议，同时通过“秘密”渠道将南京城里日军的残暴行为公之于众，令日本政府恼怒又有些无奈。尤其是17日后松井石根大将率部进入城内后，为了顾及他“英雄部队”的脸面，似乎也拿出了一些“整治军纪”的行动，比如不再进入安全区随意抓住男人当作中国军人而成群成批地枪毙，而这也是拉贝他们在阻止日军大规模屠杀中国人方面所作的重要贡献。 这来之不易。这个时候，拉贝每每回到住处，就会下意识地回头看一眼近在咫尺的那具悬挂在竹架上的中国军人的焦尸，心头便会涌起无比的悲怆——他为苦难的中国军人、为无助的中国平民们悲怆、痛苦，甚至暗暗落泪。 泪水像这个冬天的雨水一样多……