Remembering is greater than an act of reflection however a accountability, John Rabe’s descendant mentioned.
BERLIN, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) — Remembering is greater than an act of reflection however a accountability, mentioned Christoph Reinhardt, the great-grandson of John Rabe, a German remembered for shielding tons of of hundreds of Chinese civilians through the Nanjing Massacre in 1937.
“If we lose touch with the past, we lose the ability to grow from it,” 62-year-old Reinhardt instructed Xinhua in a current interview, depicting historic reminiscence as a protect in opposition to future violence.
On Dec. 13, 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army captured Nanjing. Invaders then carried out mass killings, sexual violence and different atrocities, ensuing within the deaths of roughly 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed troopers over six weeks. The Nanjing Massacre stays one of the vital barbaric episodes of World War II.
Rabe, then a Siemens consultant in Nanjing, organized a world security zone with the assistance of different foreigners, saving about 250,000 Chinese folks between 1937 and 1938. Amid the bloodbath, he continued to maintain a diary, which later turned one of the vital complete historic data of the atrocities dedicated by the Japanese aggressors.
Reinhardt recalled a diary entry that also haunts him — Rabe pleaded with Japanese forces to bury a corpse left on a metallic bedframe in Nanjing’s Xinjiekou Square. Days handed because the physique rotted and was gnawed by animals, but burial was repeatedly denied.
“How can anyone become so numb as to feel nothing for the dead?” Reinhardt requested.
Yet the diaries file not solely horror, but additionally hope, Rabe’s great-grandson famous. “Faced with armed soldiers trained to kill, rape, loot and destroy, Rabe and his companions stood unarmed and protected the people of Nanjing.”
“In the midst of war, they preserved what little remained of human conscience,” mentioned Reinhardt.
For Reinhardt, the Rabe household’s ties to China transcend Nanjing. His mom, Rabe’s granddaughter, was born in Shenyang, capital of northeast China’s Liaoning Province, on May 11, 1931. Months later, a Japanese-planted bomb blew up the close by railway, sparking the Mukden Incident. “It shattered not only the track, but the lives of countless civilians, including my own family,” mentioned Reinhardt.
“My mother grew up with war and displacement,” he mentioned. Decades later, his mom wrote in her diary that she felt deeply grateful to have raised her youngsters in a time with out battle, a quiet privilege she herself by no means had.
On his a number of visits to China, Reinhardt mentioned every of them leaves him deeply moved by the profound respect the Chinese folks proceed to carry for Rabe.
As Rabe’s descendant, Reinhardt has lengthy felt certain to protect his great-grandfather’s legacy. In November 2017, he donated Rabe’s private belongings to the Chinese Embassy in Berlin. One month later, he noticed them once more on show on the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.
“These objects don’t belong in a private home. They belong to history, to a place where they can be remembered by all who know the historical context,” he mentioned.
“Preserving memory and passing it on is a responsibility our generation cannot shirk,” Reinhardt mentioned. “Only then will history not be forgotten. And only then can civilization move forward.”