Are the characters in Rabe's diary real?

Brief Introduction to the Manuscript of Rabe Diary

From 1937 to 12, the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese invaders was one of the most tragic crimes committed by Japanese fascists in China, and it was an extremely painful page in the modern history of China. Although many people in power in Japan at that time and later tried to deny the existence of such a tragedy and try to hide the truth, facts are facts, and people who experienced this tragedy (including Japanese soldiers at that time) provided materials to expose the truth of the tragedy. Rabe's diary is a true record made by a German friend who witnessed the Nanjing Massacre. This long-buried and valuable historical material was first published on the occasion of commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Lugouqiao Incident in which China started its all-round anti-Japanese war, which is of great significance.

The author of this book John rabe (John? h？ d？ Rabe) 1882 was born in Hamburg, Germany. He went to China from 65438 to 0908 and soon worked as a Siemens employee in Beijing, Tianjin and Nanjing. Rabe and his family have lived in China for nearly 30 years, and his children and granddaughters were born in China. They have established close friendship with the people of China. He is a devout Christian, and he has deep sympathy for the people of China in the 1920s and 1930s. 1937 On the eve of the Japanese attack on Nanjing, he and more than a dozen foreign missionaries, professors, doctors and businessmen initiated the establishment of the Nanjing Safe Zone and served as the chairman of the International Committee of the Safe Zone. He and some international friends ran around in the extremely dangerous and difficult war environment at that time, protested desperately and tried their best to stop the Japanese invaders from violently attacking the people of China. The Nanjing Safe Zone they established provided temporary shelter for about 250,000 civilians in China. In his own residence and small garden (in today's Gulou Campus of Nanjing University), more than 600 China refugees were also protected. In his diary and other words, he also described the atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders in Nanjing. 1938 After he returned to Germany in April, he held reports one after another and submitted written reports to the German authorities, continuing to expose the crimes committed by the Japanese army in Nanjing. After being questioned and warned by the German police Gestapo, he still carefully and secretly sorted out his diary and related materials, leaving these historical records to future generations.

Rabe's Diary is the most abundant and well-preserved historical material found in recent years to study the Nanjing Massacre. This diary records Rabe's personal experience, which is very specific, detailed and true, and no one can deny its credibility. While writing a diary, Rabe also carefully preserved more than 80 photos taken on the spot and explained them in detail. These words made an objective and fair evaluation of the actual situation and political rights and wrongs of the warring parties between China and Japan. Rabe's motherland was an ally of Japan in World War II, and he himself was the head (agent) of the Nanjing Group of the German Nazi Party. This makes his account have a special role that others can't replace. Of course, because Rabe's activities at that time were mainly in the safe area of Nanjing, only what he and the people around him saw and heard, it is impossible for this diary to make a complete and systematic judgment and estimation of the whole process of the Japanese Nanjing Massacre. This can't be demanding. Nevertheless, Rabe's diary still has high historical value. It is a bloody accusation against the terrible massacre of the Japanese invaders and a powerful witness to the serious crimes committed by Japanese militarists.

Fascism is the product of the vicious development of the inherent contradictions in the capitalist system at the beginning of the 20th century. World War II was launched by fascist countries such as Germany, Italy and Japan. All kinds of rare barbaric acts in the war were made by the fascist forces in these countries. Auschwitz concentration camp and Nanjing massacre are notable examples. This dehumanizing fascism is opposed by the governments and people of most countries in the world, including many countries with bourgeois democratic traditions. Even in Germany, Italy and Japan, there are a large number of people who are dissatisfied and opposed to fascism. In this way, the most extensive world anti-fascist United front was formed, and with the help of this powerful United front, the victory of defeating Germany, Italy and Japan fascists was finally achieved. As a German businessman and even a Nazi party member, Rabe participated in China's struggle against Japanese fascist atrocities with his sense of justice and humanitarian spirit, and gave extremely valuable assistance to the people of China. The people of China will never forget this amiable and respectable international friend. The publication of Rabe's Diary and the spread of its struggle deeds once again show the world the historical truth that justice will triumph over evil and civilization will triumph over barbarism. Readers will get many useful inspirations from this historical material.

[Edit this paragraph] Author's background

John rabe, English name John Rabe, had a Chinese name "Elape" during World War II. In the thank-you letter written to him by the people of Nanjing, he used the latter title (original: "Mr. Elape: Help the world and the people, be chivalrous and Buddha-hearted, * * * God bless, be in the valley of the coffin"). 1938 1 month, donations from refugees in our hospital. ”)。

Historical themes have always been box office poison. As long as you think of movies related to history and war, you will inevitably feel bored like a conditioned reflex, but Nanjing! Nanjing! "And" Rabe Diary "caused a great sensation. Both films involve a German, john rabe, whose story of saving 250,000 people in China during the Nanjing Massacre once again shocked the people of China. In the era of commercial blockbusters, the emergence of war and historical films is inspiring, and Zhang Yimou will also make flowers of war. The Nanjing Massacre was an indelible pain for the people of China, and saving the international friends of the people of China became a new focus of China films in that miserable era.

In Nanjing, Nanjing, Rabe is a white-haired old man, but in fact, how can he be an old man when he returns to China at the age of 56? In history, Rabe did not abandon the refugees like he did in Nanjing. Instead, he left China more than a month after the so-called "bloody six weeks" Nanjing Massacre, and it was not until the end of February 1938 that the ambassadors of various countries returned to Nanjing (after the German government repeatedly asked him to go back, he refused and even tore up the recall). Under the supervision of ambassadors from various countries, it is impossible for the Japanese army to blatantly commit massacres. Many atrocities committed by fascists were carried out in secret, and foreign media were not given the opportunity to expose them. This is a reason to avoid putting political pressure on other countries (most scandals in Jewish concentration camps were exposed only after the end of World War II, and some documentaries filmed during World War II counted the death toll of the Nanjing Massacre as less than 20,000, because there was a serious lack of data at that time), which is why after Rabe was expelled from Nanjing, the Japanese army took Rabe's credit as its own.

Rabe doesn't hate Jews. He had Jewish friends and even helped a Jewish family escape to England.

Nazi identity

John Rabe, 1882 was born in Hamburg, Germany, and joined the German Social Workers' Party, the predecessor of the Nazi Party, in the 1920s. He was a veteran of the Nazis and was once highly respected. He came to China in 1908. 19 19 was even deported by the German government several times, because after the outbreak of World War I, China declared war on Germany, and his status as a business representative of Siemens was extremely embarrassing, and he was forced to return to China to rest. In the second year after being repatriated, Rabe returned to China as a senior consultant of a foreign-funded company in China until the China headquarters of Siemens Foreign Firm officially opened in Shanghai. During this period, he was closely monitored, and it was suspected that his repeated visits to China had other hidden purposes. It was not until the National Government took root in Nanjing and recognized Siemens' rights and interests in China that he bid farewell to the "blacklist" and stopped being a "special person".

Rabe has a very special relationship with most intelligence agencies and dignitaries. In addition to military personnel, he often contacted the dignitaries of the German military advisory group in Nanjing and sorge, the first spy in the Far East who was embedded in the Japanese army as a Nazi. The Japanese called him a Nazi spy in the history books.

It is these complicated identities and experiences that make Rabe's diary and a large number of protected Nanjing Massacre materials inexplicably questioned, and many written materials have not received higher attention. The reason is that the Japanese argued in the international court that "a Nazi's words are not convincing and should not be believed ...".

Living Bodhisattva

/kloc-in the winter of 0/937, the National Government retreated, and Nanjing fell. For a time, a large number of Japanese troops flooded into Nanjing and began to burn, kill and plunder crazily. In an instant, Nanjing was littered with corpses.

Rabe rushed back to Nanjing from Qinhuangdao before the fall of Nanjing. Many people think it's too late to run, so why go to this muddy water again. But Rabe thought that he had lived in China for decades, and the fate of this country could not be separated from himself. There is no reason to be a coward with foreign status at this time, so he insists on staying. When Japanese planes bombed every target in Nanjing all day, a large number of civilians lost their shelter. Rabe accidentally discovered that the Nazi party flag that Siemens had been hanging could play a protective role. He immediately opened the door of the company, let thousands of people pour into the streets, and saved his life under the Nazi flag.

Under the deterrence of Rabe's German Nazi party party member and his multiple political identities, he forced the Japanese army, which had originally imposed a traffic blockade on the safe area, to open the floodgates, and food and medicine were delivered smoothly, saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Moreover, he took the lead in donating his savings and pooled money with others to buy high-priced rations from the army to ensure that more people would not starve to death or freeze to death. In these short months, Rabe slept less than 4 hours a day, diabetes broke out every day, and almost all insulin was used up. He said that if God wants to end his life, he must first save more than 200,000 innocent people who are still struggling in this refugee camp.

Rabe's list of asylum seekers has signatures and fingerprints. Rabe took in more than 600 China refugees at his home in Nanjing and raised them at his own expense. His behavior is selfless and great. He is affectionately known as the "living Buddha".

During the bloody and horrible days from the end of 1937 to the beginning of 1938, Rabe tried his best day and night to save China refugees until he fainted. Some of his deeds are not recorded in his diary. For example, he risked his life and ran around the streets of Nanjing with his assistant, took a lot of photos of the Japanese massacre with his camera and collected a lot of blood evidence of the massacre. 1937, 1937 On February 26th, he handed these important materials to sorge, the intelligence analyst of the German Embassy in Japan, hoping to hand them over to senior officials of the German government and the Japanese ruling and opposition parties through his connections. Although his goal was not achieved, both the German government and the Japanese government disagreed. As an agent of the former Soviet Union, sorge made several copies of these materials and gave them to the wartime German Supreme Commander and the Soviet Socialist Government for preservation.

Sad old age

1938 February, Rabe's diabetes has begun to deteriorate. Moreover, because of Rabe's constant pressure on the Japanese army and constant accusations and complaints about Japanese atrocities, Japanese military officials were angered and forced to expel him from Nanjing. After receiving the notice from Japan, the German government decided to recall Rabe and accept qualitative information. Rabe finally entrusted the refugee camp to a dozen foreigners, including Marlowe and Waitring, and made proper arrangements before returning to China.

Shortly after returning to China, Rabe was investigated by the party department and blocked all contact with the outside world. However, Rabe did not accept the warning, and gave speeches in Hamburg, Munich, Hanover and other cities in Germany many times, reporting on the cruel and inhuman war behavior of the Japanese army many times. After being expelled by the military police, he persisted in fighting, was arrested by the Gestapo, and his personal freedom was restricted. After confirming that there were not too many charges, he was placed under house arrest and monitored by agents. Later, after the influence of Rabe's arrest gradually expanded, the Nazis blacklisted him and he could be secretly executed at any time. Rabe did not give in, but stubbornly fought again and again, constantly shouting to return to China and Nanking.

After the Nazi government was overthrown, Rabe was not freed, but was arrested as a Nazi veteran and put back into prison. With the help of China's guarantee and a lot of evidence, Rabe was temporarily released, but he was still listed as a key observation object. Unexpectedly, however, after being detained and examined by the British, the former Soviet Union threw him into prison again. Before leaving the prison for the last time, Rabe's diabetes had reached a critical level, which would end his life at any time. It was for this reason that he was released. However, after the news of his imprisonment reached Nanjing, there was a donation boom in Nanjing. People donated thousands of dollars to help him get out of prison and restore his semi-free state.

Rabe's later years were very bleak. He died on 1950, the fifth year after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. At that time, no one knew about it, and there was no memorial service of any kind. His tombstone only says "A good man, an unyielding man, john rabe". What he did, wrote and achieved was almost the greatest part in human history, but he never considered himself a hero.

China's secretary to Rabe.

Mr Rabe has a China secretary named Han Xianglin, who wrote "Nanjing! Nanjing! Han Xianglin is the prototype of Tang Tianxiang in the novel, and there are many similarities in her identity and deeds.

However, it should be clarified that:

1: In history, Han Xianglin not only failed to be a traitor to protect his family, but also helped Rabe save many people. He was appointed as a food commissioner by Rabe and is one of the most important staff in China. At the end of 1937, the Japanese army planned the Nanjing Massacre, and Han Xianglin was responsible for negotiating the food issue with the Japanese side, which played an important role in the normal operation of the whole safe area.

Han Xianglin did get the pass, but it was not for her own use, but for Wang Hanwan, a Kuomintang pilot. In Nanking, "Tang Tianxiang" betrayed a China soldier and got a pass, but at the last minute, she chose to stay and let a Kuomintang officer (that is, Wang Hanwan in history) leave with Rabe. Historically, Han Xianglin didn't do this because he never left Nanking.

Han Xianglin was not killed by the Japanese. After leaving Nanjing, Mr Rabe continued to help Nanjing refugees until he died in the 1980s.

Han Xianglin is one of Mr Rabe's best friends in China. After World War II, he also testified in court and accused the Japanese of atrocities. His life was dictated by Han Xianglin: Japanese people hate international aid organizations.

Nanjing Nanjing's description of Han Xianglin (Tang Tianxiang) is suspected of distorting the facts.

[Edit this paragraph] The publication of Rabe's diary manuscript

The discovery of diary manuscripts

1996, the Diary of Rabe was rediscovered under the search of Chinese Americans Ms. Zhang Chunru and Dr. Shao Ziping. 12, 13, at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Conference held in new york, USA, Rabe's grandson, Ms. Reinhardt, made more than 2,000 copies of her diary public for the first time, which immediately caused a sensation and became one of the most important and detailed historical materials of the Nanjing Massacre. The diary records more than 600 cases in this city, many of which can be corroborated with other materials, such as the survivor Li Xiuying.

1August, 997, exactly 60 years later, the Chinese version of Rabe Diary was published in Nanjing, with the preface of the famous historian Hu Sheng. At the end of the year, former ambassador to China Owen? Thanks to Mr Wickert's efforts, German Publishing House (DVA) published Rabe's Diary in German. (German, English and Japanese versions are excerpts from the original diary, with slightly different chapters. The Chinese version publishes the full text of the diary. )