There can hardly be a foreigner in Nanjing unaware of the story of John Rabe. Yesterday, his grandson, Thomas, received medical aid in Germany to assist the European country’s fight against Covid-19. The supplies were a donation made by the Nanjing Government.
It may have been more than 80 years, but now, Nanjing has once again returned the favour shown by Rabe in his establishing of the International Safety Zone that saved the lives of countless thousands during the Nanjing Massacre of 1937.
At 2 pm, Central European Time (CET), on 21 April, 30,000 masks, 620 bottles of anti-epidemic medicines and 200 sets of protective clothing, donated by Nanjing, arrived in Heidelberg, Germany.
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Some 8 hours earlier, two employees of the Chinese Embassy in Berlin started their nonstop drive with the supplies to Heidelberg, some 600-plus kilometres from Berlin. The aid had cleared customs in Germany the previous day, reports State news agency, Xinhua.
The two also took with them a letter from the Chinese Ambassador to Germany, Wu Ken. The Ambassador had in part written, “I believe that with the joint efforts of China and Germany, the novel coronavirus will eventually be defeated and the two peoples will continue to write good stories of friendship, through ups and downs”.
Bowled over with excitement, Thomas responded, “I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to the Chinese government and people, to the Nanjing Municipal People’s Government and to the Chinese Embassy!”
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Yesterday is far from the first time that Nanjing has remembered John’s heroism. After World War II, he was stripped of his work permit, leaving him unable to support his family. When the people of Nanjing heard that his children were surviving on wild seeds, they raised today’s equivalent of US$ 21,000, whereupon the then mayor of Nanjing himself purchased food for the family in Switzerland, before delivering it to the Rabes in person in 1948.
Following yesterday’s donation, Thomas also said, “My children also cherish the friendship with China, and believe that this love for China will be handed down from generation to generation in the family. At this special time of the epidemic, the gift from China makes me realise once again that the Chinese people will never forget to help their friends”.
In 1950, Thomas’ grandfather passed away of a stroke. In 1997, his tombstone was moved from Berlin to Nanjing, where it remains to this day in a place of honour at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial.
