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This demilitarized zone for Chinese civilians was set up on November 22, 1937, on the eve of the Japanese
breakthrough in the Battle of Shanghai . Following the example of Jesuit Father Robert Jacquinot de Besange
in Shanghai, the foreigners in Nanking created the Safety Zone, managed by the International Committee for
the Nanking Safety Zone led by German businessman and Nazi party member, John Rabe. The zone and the
activities of the International Committee were responsible for saving the lives of many thousands of Chinese
civilians during the Nanking Massacre.
The City of Nanking affi rmed the existence of the Safety zone, sent cash and food, and staffed security
personnel in the zone. On December 1, 1937, Nanking Mayor Ma Chaochun ordered all Chinese citizens
remaining in Nanking to move into the Safety Zone. Ma fl ed the city on December 7. When Nanking fell on
Dec 13, 1937, the Safety Zone housed over 250,000 refugees. During the massacre the committee members
found ways to provide these refugees with the basic needs of food, shelter, and medical care.
The Japanese army did not recognize its existence, but they promised that as long as it remained
demilitarized the Japanese army would not invade the area. The Japanese army did not subject the Safety
Zone to concentrated air bombardment or shelling. Only a few shells landed in the Zone throughout the siege,
wounding about 40 refugees.
Perspective view of Jinling Women’s University (Jinling Women’s University) for Girls, Nanjing.
Source: Far Eastern Review (1920), 237
The members of the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone managed to persuade the
Chinese government to move all their troops out of the area. According to Miner Searle Bates, one of the
American missionaries, “The Chinese authorities agreed to the idea of the Zone, though the military were
naturally reluctant to move out of the area before the very last minute.” Bates described the Japanese position
on the Safety Zone in this way, “The Japanese authorities never formally recognized the Zone, but did say that
they would not attack an area which was not occupied by Chinese troops. On this narrow margin of agreement,
the Chinese promise to evacuate the area and the Japanese statement that they would not intentionally attack
an unoccupied place, the Safety Zone was fi nally put through.”
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