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Postscript
Japan continues to downplay or deny the crimes against humanity committed by its military during the Second
Sino-Japanese War and the Second World War. A new secondary school history textbooks released by Japan’s Ministry
of Education at the start of 2005 describes the massacre at Nanjing as an “incident” with relatively few causalities. The
invasion of China is called an “advancement.” References to the mass rape and sexual enslavement of women and
girls are not included. The release of the revised textbook sparked demonstrations in China. Demonstrators mobbed
Japanese government buildings and businesses within China, calling on Japan to admit to and apologize for its war
crimes.
Can a Nazi be a hero? The whole world seems to believe that Nazi Party member Oskar Schindler was a hero
because of his work to save the lives of 1,200 Jews. John Rabe played the key role in saving the lives of more than
250,000 Chinese. On this comparison alone, Rabe ranks as a major hero of the 20th Century.
He was, however, by all accounts a far more dour fi gure than the charismatic Schindler, and far more sincere in
his commitment to Nazi ideals. Speaking at one of the lectures he delivered in 1938, Rabe was reported to have said,
“Although I feel tremendous sympathy for the suffering of China, I am still, above all, pro-German and I believe not
only in the correctness of our political system but, as an organizer of the party, I am behind the system 100 percent.”
Yet after the war Rabe was said to have maintained that he never heard news of Nazi outrages while he was in
China and only remained a member of the party to secure the subsidy he received from the German Government to
fi nance a German School in Nanjing.
Rabe’s colleagues appeared to have been impressed by his character but puzzled by his political beliefs. Robert O.
Wilson, a missionary and doctor who worked in China in the 1930s, wrote of Rabe: “He is well up in Nazi circles and
after coming into such close contact as we have for the past few weeks and discover(ing) what a splendid man he is and
what a tremendous heart he has, it is hard to reconcile his personality with his adulation of Der Fuhrer.”
Source: John Rabe Homepage by Thomas Rabe
http://www.john-rabe.de/english/cv/cv.htm
John Rabe and International Safety Zone Memorial Hall in Nanjing, China
On November 1, 2006, Louisa Lim, National Public Radio, reported on the opening of the John Rabe and International
Safety Zone Memorial Hall in Nanjing, China. The house where John Rabe sheltered 600 Chinese civilians has been
turned into a museum and international research center for peace and reconciliation. The museum commemorates the
actions of a German businessman who saved lives during the 1937 Japanese invasion of the city, known as the “Rape
of Nanking.”
Source: NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6415407
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