Posted on 12/17/2005 5:37:00 PM PST by blam
Chinese memorial to 'the good Nazi' opens war wounds
By Peter Goff in Beijing
(Filed: 18/12/2005)
A plan by China to honour "the good Nazi", a German who helped to save hundreds of thousands of civilians from Japanese troops, has reopened a dispute with Tokyo over its lack of atonement for the Second World War.
The Chinese authorities are drawing up plans for a museum dedicated to the memory of John Rabe, who defied the "Rape of Nanking" - a six-week massacre during which an estimated 300,000 Chinese were slaughtered by Japanese soldiers.
Honouring Mr Rabe gives China the chance to draw international attention to Japan's wartime atrocities at a point when relations between the two Asian giants are fraught.
A card-carrying Nazi, Rabe was a China-based Siemens employee in 1937 when the Japanese stormed Nanking, or Nanjing as it is now known. His superiors ordered him to return home, but instead he sent his family back and established a "safety zone" in the city where he offered shelter to terrified Chinese. Using his Nazi credentials, he and a small group of other foreigners kept the Japanese at bay, at considerable risk to themselves, and saved an estimated 250,000 lives.
Rabe wrote a 1,200-page diary that documented the killings and rapes in the city, information that was later used as evidence of war crimes.
The Japanese soldiers "went about raping the women and girls and killing everything and everyone that offered any resistance, attempted to run away from them, or simply happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," he wrote. "There were girls under the age of eight and women over the age of 70 who were raped and then, in the most brutal way possible, knocked down and beaten up. We found corpses of women on beer glasses and others who had been lanced by bamboo shoots."
Chinese historians estimate that 80,000 girls and women were raped at the time.
"One was powerless against these monsters who were armed to the teeth and who shot down anyone who tried to defend themselves," Rabe wrote. "They only had respect for us foreigners - but nearly every one of us was close to being killed dozens of times. We asked ourselves mutually, 'How much longer can we maintain this bluff?' "
Beijing believes that Japan has never properly atoned for its atrocities. Chinese anger is further fuelled by repeated visits by the Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, to the Yasukuni shrine, which honours Japan's war dead including some "Class A" war criminals held responsible for the massacre in Nanjing.
Last week, China's premier, Wen Jiabao, cancelled a summit with Mr Koizumi because "Japan won't own up correctly to its history". The shrine visits "seriously hurt the feelings of the Chinese people", he said.
When the pair did finally meet at a signing ceremony of a regional meeting on Wednesday, Mr Wen snubbed the Japanese leader by ignoring his request to borrow his pen.
Several awkward seconds elapsed in front of television cameras before the request was loudly repeated and the Chinese premier pasted on a smile and handed over the implement.
There were mass protests in March outside the Japanese embassy and consulates in China after Japan published a history textbook that glossed over the wartime atrocities. Tensions between the neighbours are exacerbated by other thorny issues, including a territorial dispute over resource-rich islands in the East China Sea and Japan's desire to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. China also fears what it sees as a growing nationalistic militarism in Japan.
"Part of the reason to honour John Rabe now is a response to Japan's bad attitude," Jiang Liangqin, a historian at Nanjing University, said. "For example, they honour the war criminals and have never properly said sorry. Some Japanese even deny the massacre took place. We know that Japanese often look down on Chinese and don't believe what we say. Well here is a European who told exactly what happened. We want to bring the world's attention to that."
While the killings were going on, Rabe wrote to Hitler several times begging him to intervene but never got a response. He said later that being based in China meant he was unaware of his leader's heinous plans in Europe.
After the massacre Rabe lectured in wartime Germany about what he had seen and submitted footage of the atrocities to Hitler, but the Fuhrer did not want to hear about Japan's actions. Rabe was detained by the Gestapo for a short period, denounced by the Nazis and barred from giving lectures.
In post-war Germany he was again denounced - this time be being a Nazi Party member - and was arrested first by the Russians and then by the British, but was ultimately exonerated following an investigation. He and his family lived in abject poverty, surviving on occasional care packages posted to him by the grateful people of Nanjing. He died of a stroke in 1950 at the age of 68.
"The people of China will never forget the good German John Rabe, and the other foreigners who helped him," said Ma Guoliang, an 89-year-old woman whose parents were killed by the Japanese. "He saved so many people and yet at any time he could easily have been killed himself. He could have left, but he stayed with us. We called him the living Buddha of Nanking."
The point I've been trying to make, perhaps badly, was that China "punched way below it's weight" with regards to the war of 1937-1945. The army that invaded Korea in 1950 was not only willing, but eager, to offer battle. The change in offensive spirit cannot simply be chalked up to mere 'revolutionary fervor'. The Nationalists and Communists during the Second World War avoided battle, husbanding resources for a war against each other, despite the fact that Japan threatened China with extinction.
As for the Russians 'getting lucky', that's a fallacy. The Nazis did, of course, ignore the rasputitsa (as the Russians call the seasonal floods), but in the end, what saved Russia was the fact that germany simply ran out of soldiers. Germany could not continue to advance into the Soviet Union and still maintain enough cohesion and concentration of force to hold onto thier gains. Allied aid, especially American, kept the Russiams on their feet until they were ready to take the fight to scattered nazi armies at the end of an extremely long supply line.
The Japanese found themselves in a similar position. They simply could never muster enough troops to both occupy China in any meaningful way and so the war there became little more than the parading of armed men. The Chinese, if suitably motivated, could have pushed the Japanese out of China at any given moment, I believe, Chinese numbers and Allied supply making up for Japanese "technical superiority" (remember, this was basically the same Japanese army that had lost to the Russians in 1939, who were not all that technically advanced except in armor. Russian numbers and concentration overcame Japanese skill and technology).
You say the allies would not have won without the Chinese, but I say it's more like they won DESPITE the Chinese.
At the end of the day, the Russians, French, Poles, etc, fought, and usually well, unlike the Chinese.
I'd agree that both Chiang and Mao underestimated the Japanese, but i'd disagree that both didn't fight well. You also OVERESTIMATED the support China got from its allies.
The fact is, if there is no Russian front, and if there is no China containing the Japanese, the Germans would have only had to deal with one side, and the Japanese would concentrate its energy on naval battles against the US, etc. instead of having to spent resources trying to control China (which it couldn't). I'd say that 20 million estimated casualties from China means it did resist and resisted pretty hard. (that's 20 million including civilian casualties) In fact, if the bulk of its army isn't tied up in China but rather in Japan, I don't think 2 atom bombs will cause them to surrender and US will have to face a huge casualty bill in order to win (if it would win against Japan, had Japan not gotten itself in China).
But of course, strategically, the Japanese can't control the world without Asia, and the key to Asia dominancy is control of China.
Are you going to compare Taishi with RAPE OF NANJING?? Is that the best you can offer?
(I can counter with say, some of the civil rights murders by government officials in the south and the death toll would have been the same).
At least, that appears to be his position.
"Stupid communists.
The ironic thing is that over the next fifty years if japan had maintained control over China and we had not liberated China millions less Chinese people would have died via murder and famine and torture and China would be a lot wealthier and modern today.
I thin we should let Japan at em again."
I dont think China will leave Japan go that easy, The second a jap starts a war, Japan will be nothing more than a bunch of huge mushroom clouds. Honestly, Anti-Jap sentiment in China, Nuclear Stockpile in a Chinese Armory. Do the the math. Thats right Jap Sautee avec de la fumee Anyone?
Forget reparations -- at least apologize -- the Japanese haven't done that. The Germans on the other hand have apologized over and over again and I think we can let them off now. They also teach their kinder that the war was evil, that the Germans did bad things and that it should not be repeated. The Japanese govt. doesn't do any of that, while they SHOULD.
IIRC, Rabe joined the party in order to be part of the local school board ( for the Chinese employees of Siemans). He later said that because he got no news from Europe except for German papers, he had the impression that Hitler was a good man. Rabe's is a heroic and tragic story.
China will NOT attack the US militarily, not for another 40 years at least -- it's right now workign hard to enrich itself and bring it's people out of poverty. My guess is that when that DOES happen, the Chinese will be too happy to really want to fight anyone. The real problem as far as war goes will beIslam and onlyIslam
You'd be surprised at how many grunts in the army think that Japan has nukes. Sad but true.
"You've got one of those things?"
dragon 8
Works good. I write reports for a living and am on the verge of carpal tunnel, so its a lifesaver. Not sure others would use it yet---but another version or 2 and I think keyboards will be going away in large #s.
I thought Pu-Yi was discredited and disgraced because he was little more than a puppet/rubber-stamp "leader" for the phony "Manchukuo" Japanese-controlled state.
They didn't. Basically after 1911 when Dr. Sun Yatsen started the revolution, the emperor's powers were stripped. Unfortunately while Dr. Sun believes in democracy (he grew up in Hawaii), the rest of the players did not.
One thing is for certain - the people supported Mao because of what they see as corrupt generals from Chiang's army. Of course, the peasants bought into the socialism propaganda offered by Mao as well. THe people may not support the communists as much today, but in 1945-1949, they did. You simply can't hold on the country if you don't have popular support.
Yes which is more of the ChiCom ludicrousness on this issue when they bring it up like clockwork.
Mao said the Japanese need never apologize and that they need to actually thank the japanese.
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