Rabe was a Siemens employee stationed in China during WWII. He was also a member of the Nazi Party, and represented German interests in Nanjing, China.
He recalled that the Chinese people had always been kind to him, and he took an interest in Chinese culture and history. During the Rape of Nanjing, he was shocked by the cruelty of the Japanese, and decided to do everything in his power to protect the locals.
With the help of other like-minded westerners, Rabe set up the Nanjing Safety Zone, a sanctuary for Chinese civilians fleeing the Japanese. He did so knowing the Japanese would never dare harm a Nazi official.
Even so, he put his own life on the line repeatedly, because the Japanese only barely respected the Safety Zone. On one occasion, he saw a group of Japanese soldiers chasing down a mother and daughter running towards the Zone. The soldiers bayoneted the mother and bashed her head to a bloody pulp with the butts of their rifles, then proceeded to tear at the daughter’s clothes.
Rabe came to the rescue of the girl by shouting at the soldiers, ordering them to leave her alone, and pointing at the swastika on his arm.
On another occasion, three Japanese soldiers sneaked into the sanctuary, and tried to abduct several Chinese women at knife point. When Rabe saw what they were doing, he drew his pistol and ordered the men to leave. When the Japanese tried to exit through the main entrance, he ordered them to crawl out the same way they crawled in. So they climbed back over a wall.
It is estimated that Rabe’s actions saved over 200,000 Chinese lives.
After the war, Rabe (being a Nazi) was put on trial by the UK and the USSR. Though he was eventually found not guilty of any war crimes, he returned to Germany a disgraced man, and was laid off by Siemens. He spent the rest of his life in poverty, barely eking out a living doing manual labour, and unfortunately, died early from a stroke at 68.
Amazingly, this is not where John Rabe’s story ends.
Though he passed away before his time, he was survived by many family members, among them his grandson Thomas Rabe, a professor at the University Hospital of Heidelberg.
In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, Prof. Rabe wrote to the Chinese Embassy and asked for help, stating that his hometown of Heidelberg was in desperate need of medical supplies.
His call for help went viral on Chinese cyberspaces, with netizens overwhelmingly in favour of donating medical supplies, at a time when China was also fighting the pandemic.
By April 21, 2020, the Nanjing Municipal Government in China had delivered over 30000 masks and 200 protective suits to Heidelberg.
Even after almost a century, the Chinese nation had not forgotten the heroism and altruism of John Rabe. And just as he saved the lives of many Chinese children, the Chinese in turn would save the lives of his children, and the children of his countrymen.
If you can do some good, why hesitate.
—John Rabe, December 10, 1937
如果你能做點好事,何必猶豫?!s翰·拉貝,1937年12月10日
0
:
@ Gilang Putranto
This story right here. Pretty much the reason why I’m a firm believer of a certain “l(fā)ine” between the country and the serviceman.
I absolutely loath the Nazi Germany and I’m not even into “it was the SS not the Wehrmacht who did war crimes” theory. That’s without mentioning I don’t even consider those who put USSR in the same shoes as the Nazis to be a historian at all.
But you know, all of that doesn’t discredit real life hero like John Rabe. There are those who truly just wants to help other people and serves their nation. That’s just something we all need to recognize regardless of what’s our opinion on the country one serves.
@ Jeremy Joyner
I recall reading that when he returned to Germany, he tried everything within his power to try and get Hitler and others to hear about the plight of the Chinese but no help was offered.
Then on Sep. 27th, 1940, German and Japan signed the Triparte Act with Italy.
@ Jimmy
It's also important to note that he hadn't been in Germany since before WW1. This combined with how he thought Hitler and the Party would help the Chinese indicated that he may not have been too knowledgeable about what the Nazis truly were
@ Toolmaker
China never forgets anyone that assisted their people. There is a large memorial to John Rabe in Nanjing, visited by millions of Chinese every year.
@ Lonely Rolling Star
Upon the film's release it did not receive theatrical distribution in Japan and was the subject of vociferous refutations by Japanese ultranationalists who denied the events ever took place.
searches online for Western news pertaining to Japanese censorship of movies about Japanese war crimes
Shelter Under The Swastika: The John Rabe Story
But the film has not been seen in Japan
'Good Nazi of Nanjing' sparks debate
The film's producers hope that the involvement of Japanese star Teruyuki Kagawa will prevent the film from being silenced there.
And there’s this, but it’s paywalled: Look back in anger
Pretty soft language. Usually they just go for “censored” or “banned” when talking about China, but it’s Japan so time to softball and “be mindful” of Japanese etiquette and sensibilities.
And they wonder why we keep saying Western media is biased…
@ Optimus Princeps
Kinda special to see a post about the dude I talked about to some friends yesterday. Forgot his name which was a bit oof, but man he inspires.
@ V Chan
Posts like this reminds me humanity are capable of great things.
像這樣的帖子讓我想起人類是有能力做出偉大事情的。
0
@ Depp Deng
He’ll always be remembered and admired by Chinese people.
他將永遠被中國人民銘記和欽佩。
0
@ Evaggelos Panteloglou
“Though he was eventually found not guilty of any war crimes, he returned to Germany a disgraced man, and was laid off by Siemens.”
I would say, only semi-jokingly, that he returned in disgrace because he was found not guilty of any war crimes.
@ Wayne Hassel
Thank you for reminding us of this amazing, brave individual.
Just one comment though: The questioner asked, “Where there any good Nazis?” It seems to me that Rabe was in all likelihood not a dyed-in-the wool Nazi at all; rather he took advantage of the power which his swastika armband bestowed on him and proceeded to do things no true-blue Nazi would have done: He defended innocent Chinese civilians against the rampaging Japanese hordes. His uniform may have screamed Nazi, but his actions revealed him to be a humanitarian through and through.
So when we make him into a good Nazi, it might be more accurate to say that he dressed like one, but acted in a manner that flouted the thoroughly racist Nazi ideology.
Either way, he was a hero who deserves being honored by all people of good will.
@ Jimmy
He was a businessman, not a scientist. I don't know what experiments he could have done
他是一個商人,不是一個科學家。我不知道他能做什么實驗。
0
@ Anoop TM
My God! Having goose bumbs reading this one. These people are the beacons of humanity!
天哪!讀這個讓我起雞皮疙瘩。這些人是人類的燈塔!
0
@ Lonely Cantonese Sith Lord
The Germans did their fair share of damage and colonialism in China, but they were overall much less vicious than the other powers that invaded and colonised China at the time, especially England and Japan.
It wasn’t because they were nice, but because they were so late to the game. They were only able to take one province (Shandong) because all the other lands were taken.
——————
Jamila Mikhail
Indeed there were. One notable, but little-known example of a good Nazi (as strange as it sounds to say that) is Heinz Heydrich. That’s right, the younger brother of the evil Reinhard Heydrich. Reinhard was one of the main architects of the Holocaust while his little brother Heinz helped Jews escape the Holocaust.
Heinz was a journalist and editor a newspaper called Die Panzerfaust and in the beginning even a great admirer of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime but unlike Reinhard, Heinz was never a member of the SS elite circle. Heinz Heydrich’s story of being a Holocaust hero begins after Reinhard’s death in 1942, literally overnight he received a package of his brother’s personal files where he first learned of The Final Solution, the extermination of the Jews. Realizing fully for the first time what he’d signed up for when he joined the SS, Heinz was horrified. He burnt most of the papers in disgust.Soon afterwards, Heinz realized that he was in a truly unique position. Being the brother of a prominent SS general and being the editor of the party newspaper meant that he had a lot of influence and his actions would not be closely monitored.
He used this to help as many Jews as possible escape from Germany, although the exact number is unknown. As a writer and editor of the party newspaper, Heinz had access to a commercial printing-press. He used this to print fake travel documents which he signed and stamped himself and then gave to Jewish families in the area so that they could escape from occupied Europe to countries of safety.
Sadly, his own story ended tragically in November 1944 when an economic commission headed by a State Attorney investigated the editorial staff of the newspaper, Heinz thought he had been discovered and shot himself in order to protect his family from the Gestapo who were notorious for their brutality. But in fact, the investigating attorney knew nothing about the forgeries, and was only trying to find out the reason for shortages in paper supplies. It may never be known exactly how many people Heinz saved during the Holocaust but one can assume that it's a considerable amount since the paper shortage was big enough to warrant an investigation. Unfortunately not much was ever written about him and he never really got the recognition he deserved for his heroic actions in the face of the atrocities committed by his brother.