John Rabe (5 Stars)

True Stories #31

Name: John Rabe

Lived: 23 November 1882 – 5 January 1950

Film dates: November to December 1937

Film made in 2009

John Rabe was one of the greatest heroes of the 20th Century, but his name is hardly known outside of China. In his home country he never found recognition for what he'd done. When he returned home to Germany in 1938 he was considered a traitor, because he spoke out against Germany's ally Japan. After the Second World War the allied forces considered him to be a Nazi, so he wasn't able to work and lived in poverty.

John Rabe was the head of Siemens in Nanking. The film says nothing about his life prior to November 1937, so I'll have to fill it in. He was sent to China in 1910, so he missed the horrors of the First World War. As a patriotic German he supported Adolf Hitler when he came into power. He was naive. He thought Hitler was a good man. As a German living so far from home in a pre-Internet age I would probably have thought the same.

He didn't just love Germany, he loved his new country. He cared for his Chinese workers. It wasn't just about them doing their work. He taught them other things, such as the Nazi salute. He wanted to make good Germans out of them.

Then Japan invaded China. The conquest didn't happen overnight. It takes months to overpower a large country. When the attacks on Nanking began, John Rabe saw it as his responsibility to protect the Chinese. First he protected his workers, and then he allowed people from the city to take refuge within the Siemens compound.

When the Japanese attacked, John Rabe called his workers to hide beneath a German flag. As soon as they saw the swastika, the Japanese aircraft turned away. It may seem strange to us looking back, but the Chinese saw the swastika as the symbol of hope.

The atrocities of the Japanese occupying forces were horrific, but what's worst is that they considered their actions noble. The Japanese army didn't keep prisoners, they killed any Chinese soldiers that they captured. Japanese officers who were descended from samurai showed off the enemies they'd decapitated, and the photos were published in Japanese newspapers. The Germans also carried out atrocities, but at least they didn't boast about them.

Valerie Dupres was the headmistress of the International Girls College in Nanking.

Robert Wilson was an American doctor struggling to save lives, a difficult task when he had to perform operations with anaesthetics.

With the help of Valerie Dupres, Dr. Wilson and a few others, John Rabe created a safety zone that was (mostly) off limits to Japanese soldiers. It offered protection to 200,000 Chinese civilians.

Over the last 70 years it's become customary to talk about war crimes. It's expected that wars are carried out in a civil matter. The Geneva Convention is older, predating both world wars, but not every country adhered to it. Japan definitely didn't. At the risk of sounding cynical, it's my belief that wars can't be fought fairly. The main priority of a war is to win, not to minimise the casualties of the other side. That's something Vladimir Putin understands. He doesn't care about collateral damage, as long as Russia wins. When Russian forces are marching across Europe slaughtering men, women and children, it will be a mistake to retaliate fairly. The only thing a despot like Putin understands is force. If we don't fight back hard, he'll never stop.

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