Download - Canada ALPHA

Selected Rescuer Profi les
A Letter to the Citizens in Nanking by the International Safety Zone Committee,
appealing to the refugees to come to the Zone.
John Rabe
John Rabe, a German business man and the leader of the Nazi Party in
Nanking, a diabetic, who had resided in China since 1908 and in Nanking since
1931, working for the Siemens China Company.
He became Chair of the International Safety Zone Committee. During
the massacre, he housed 650 refugees in his private residence and sent protest
letters to the Japanese Embassy. To most of the Chinese in Nanking, Rabe
was a hero and became known as “the living Buddha of Nanking.” Iris Chang
referred to Rabe as the “Oskar Schindler of China.”
When Rabe returned to Germany, he wrote to Adolf Hitler, telling him
about what he had witnessed in Nanking, hoping Hitler would prevent further
atrocities by the Japanese Military. Two days later, the Gestapo (Nazi State Po-
nj1937.org
lice) arrested him. Rabe was later released but warned never to talk publicly or
publish anything about the events that took place in Nanking. Rabe lived in poverty for the last three years
of his life, and was supported by the food and money sent to him every month by the residents of Nanking
in appreciation of his heroic acts.
184