In December 1937, as the invading Japanese troops entered Nanjing, German businessman John Heinrich Detlef Rabe made his choice: to stay. Rabe, is best known for his efforts to stop Japanese war crimes and protect Chinese civilians during the Nanjing Massacre. He worked with other international friends in China to establish the “Nanjing Safety Zone” at great personal risk, providing shelter for and rescuing over 200,000 Chinese civilians.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has shared the touching story of Rabe on several occasions. “We in China cherish the memory of Mr. Rabe as a man who demonstrated great compassion for life and love of peace” he noted.

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After the war, Rabe was arrested first by the Soviet NKVD, then by the British Army. Both let him go after intense interrogation. He worked sporadically for Siemens, earning little. He was later denounced by an acquaintance for his Nazi Party membership, losing the work permit he had been given by the British occupational authorities. Rabe proceeded to undergo lengthy denazification efforts (his first attempt was rejected and he had to appeal) in the hope of regaining permission to work. He depleted his savings to pay for his legal defence.

Unable to work and with his savings spent, Rabe and his family survived in a one-room apartment by selling his Chinese art collection but it was insufficient to prevent their malnutrition. He was formally declared “de-Nazified” by the occupational authorities on 3 June 1946 but continued to live in poverty. His family subsisted on wild seeds, his children eating soup and dry bread until running out of that as well. In 1948, Nanjing citizens learned of the Rabe family’s dire circumstances and quickly raised a sum of money equivalent to US$2,000 ($26,000 in 2024). The city’s mayor traveled to Germany via Switzerland, where he bought a large amount of food for the Rabe family. From mid-1948 until the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China, the people of Nanjing also sent the family a food package each month, for which Rabe wrote many letters expressing deep gratitude.