BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | 'Good Nazi of Nanjing' sparks debate I've never heard of this man - John Rabe - have you ? AKA 'The Good Nazi', AKA 'The Good Man of Nanking', AKA 'The Living Buddha of Nanking'. Country: Germany, China. Cause: The rescue of more than 250,000 Chinese from slaughter during the 'Rape of Nanking'. Background: The final collapse of the Chinese Imperial Government at the start of the 20th Century brings a 30-year period of instability to China during which the Guomindang (Nationalist Party), headed by Chiang Kai-shek, battle the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), headed by Mao Tse-Tung, for ultimate control. Across the East China Sea, Japan becomes progressively more nationalistic and militaristic, seeing in China an opportunity to expand on territory occupied in Manchuria (now Dongbei Pingyuan, north of Korea) and Shandong Province (across the Yellow Sea from Korea) after the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) and during the First World War. Mini biography: Born on 23 November 1882 in Hamburg, Germany. His father is a sea captain. Rabe pursues a career in business, serving as an apprentice with a merchant in Hamburg then working in Africa. John Rabe hero file
No, haven't heard of him, Annie. I have The Rape of Nanking of course but have yet to read it. Didn't we have the author, Iris Chang, join as a member a while ago?
The Rape of Nanking I've heard of .... but it seems a bit of a dichotomy to say Nazi party and saviour in the same breath - don't you think ?!! ( though I suppose Shindler was too !! ) I wasn't here when Iris Chang was here !!
Yes, it does seem odd. It perhaps makes too much out of the fact that he was a Nazi party member. Yes, he joined the party but it doesn't appear he lived in Germany from 1910 so he missed the fervour and manic rise to power of the party. I reckon as a proud German, he was happy to see his country rebuilding so hopped on the bandwagon as it were. His views towards non-Germans/whites are clearly not those of the Nazi party and his letters to Hitler requesting intervention to save the Chinese, while well-intentioned, are certainly, with hindsight at least, naive. A remarkable man. I think it was Iris Chang. I'll have to search the thread. EDIT: LOL, it wasn't Iris Chang but someone who perhaps understood her writings more than others. Fromt his thread, it would also appear I had heard of John Rabe before...sigh! http://ww2chat.com/forums/introductions/1756-hi-all-pleased-make-your-acquaintance.html
I followed the Amazon link of Rabe's diaries Kyt posted in the link I refer to above. Two interesting reviews of the books...particularly the second one...sadly. The Good German of Nanking: The Diaries of John Rabe: John Rabe: Amazon.co.uk: Books
We both should have realised K would know all about him ..... and I should have done a search !!!!!!!! :der:
I researched the Rape of Nanking in my last Military History class and ended up reading John Rabe's diary. It was quite interesting to hear how they handled dealing with the Japanese invaders.
So were you able to form an opinion about him Ferhilt ? How did he really "come across" in his writings ?
Honestly he seemed like a pretty decent humanitarian doing the best he could with what he was able to do. Though he worked with the Japanese it was more out of a desire to stop the violence that was happening to the Chinese. He used all his resources to save as many people as he could, working with all the nationalities represented in the foreigners section of the city (Allies and others). It seemed like he tried to make the best out of a bad situation. If anyone's interested I posted my paper on my site to read. Its not great research but it gives some overview and the reference details may help someone. Nanking: A Pattern of Conquest Which Incriminates
I'm starting to get interested now ........ ... I can't access your online library - but I'll get it some other way !! thanks for sharing your paper Steve .... ( hope you got a good grade !! :biggrin1: ) Annie
There was a woman named Minnie Vautrin there - who was also a member of the International Safety Zone Committee who also kept a journal during the Rape of Nanking And heres an article about John Rabe's house being opened as a museum ! Residence of John Rabe, author of "Rabe's Diary" opened
I think being a member of the Nazi Party was a prerequisite for the diplomatic corps in Germany. As I said in the other thread it has been a number of years since I read the Rape, and Diaries. From memory, I did find his attempts at both trying to get the Japanese military command to stop, and to raise interest with his own government, to be a mark of an honorable man. I think one irony that struck me was that the Germans were horrified at what the Japanese were doing in China and yet treated the Jews in exactly the same way, and that the Japanese found the German actions against the Jews to be horrific and took some in as refugees.
How very very sad ..... Minnie Vautrin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Minnie Vautrin / Terror in Minnie Vautrin's Nanjing: Diaries and Correspondence, 1937-38
