山河故人远道来丨拉贝:孤岛擎灯,筑起“生命方舟”

2025-07-24 11:50:40 来源:  作者: 武玮佳

  【编者按】2025年是中国人民抗日战争暨世界反法西斯战争胜利80周年。在这场关乎民族存续的战争中,来自五洲四海的国际友人,不畏艰险远渡重洋,以医疗救助、战地报道、技术支援等多种形式投身这场民族解放事业。大道不孤,白求恩大夫的手术刀、斯诺的新闻笔、拉贝的安全区等都是跨越国界的生命印记。《山河故人远道来》国际传播系列报道,以中英双语视频结合AI动画技术再现历史细节,致敬跨越国界的信念之光。

  【Editor's Note】

  2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. In this war that concerned the survival of the nation, international friends from all over the world braved dangers and crossed the seas to join the cause of national liberation in various forms such as medical aid, war reporting, and technical support. The path of righteousness is not lonely. Dr. Bethune's scalpel, Snow's journalistic pen, and Rabe's safety zone are all life marks that transcend national borders. The international communication series "From Afar Came the Unforgotten" uses bilingual Chinese-English videos combined with AI animation technology to reproduce historical details and pay tribute to the light of belief that transcends national borders.

  1937年寒冬的南京城,枪炮声撕裂了天空。德国商人约翰·拉贝站在小粉桥1号院中,奋力撑起一面象征身份的帆布,以警告日军飞机:不许侵犯。在他身后,500平方米的院子里住满了难民。

  以身为盾,危城之中辟“方舟”

  “我像看门狗一样,巡视着整个院子。”时任西门子公司代表的拉贝,本可撤离却毅然留守。他与其他在华国际人士共同建立了3.86平方公里的安全区,区内设立25个收容所,为约25万中国平民提供庇护。他在日记中剖白:“在这种情况下,我可以而且应该逃走吗?我认为我不能这么做!谁要是两只手各抓住一个身子颤抖着的中国孩子,空袭时在防空洞里蹲上几个小时,他就会与我抱有同感。”

  铁证如磐,血泪纪实铸史证

  南京沦陷后,日军展开了惨绝人寰的大屠杀。拉贝不顾个人安危,每日穿行于废墟之间,记录日军暴行。

  日军攻占南京后的第二天,拉贝驱车经过街道,车子每经一二百米就会碰上尸首,那些都是平民的尸首。拉贝在日记本上密密麻麻记录着:

  12月16日:我开车到下关去勘查电厂,中山北路上都是尸首……城门前面,尸首堆得像小山一样……到处都在杀人,有些就在国防部面前的军营里进行。机枪声响个不停。

  12月22日:在清理安全区时,我们发现有许多平民被射杀于水塘中,其中一个池塘里就有30具尸体,大多数双手被绑,有些人的颈上还绑着石块。

  桩桩件件,字字泣血,2000余页的日记成为最详实的暴行实录,亦是日本法西斯一个无法磨灭的铁杆罪证。

  夏淑琴家的惨案被拉贝郑重记载:“约翰·马吉发现了2名小女孩,一名4岁、一名8岁,她们的家人全部惨遭杀害,她俩就守在母亲的尸体边,在一间屋子里待了整整14天,直到被邻居救出。”约翰·马吉含泪拍下的影像,后来成为侵华日军南京大屠杀铁证。

  丰碑永铸,跨越世纪的守望

  1938年被迫回国后,拉贝因演讲揭露南京暴行遭盖世太保迫害,晚年贫病交加。消息传回南京,市民自发募捐2000美元,时任南京市市长的沈怡托人送去食品包裹。拉贝在感谢信中泣诉:“我们大人都靠干面包与汤度日,最近连面包都难以得到了,您一定想得到,获得食物包裹对我的意义何等重大!”。

  1950年,拉贝逝世,墓碑仅刻下“一个好人,一个不屈的人,约翰·拉贝”。2013年,在南京市政府的帮助下,拉贝纪念墓园修建完成。如今,拉贝墓地被南京带来的竹子、梅花、菊花围绕,墓碑上是南京的雨花石。

  2020年,约翰·拉贝之孙托马斯·拉贝请求中方为他所在的医院提供抗疫药物援助。很快,南京人捐赠的物资就送到了德国。包装箱上印着紫金草与和平鸽,旁边还盖有一枚拉贝先生曾用过的印章,上有“福祉长隆”四个大字。这是南京人跨越80多年的又一声谢谢。

  光阴流转,拉贝那曾为25万中国人撑起的生命穹顶,早已化作文明对抗野蛮的永恒坐标。当梧桐新叶拂过百年砖墙,和平的钟声正叩响世界:义举跨国界,大爱即丰碑。

  In the cold winter of 1937, the city of Nanjing was shattered by the sounds of gunfire and explosions. Standing in the courtyard at No. 1 Xiaofenqiao Lane, German businessman John Rabe held up a canvas flag that symbolized his status to warn Japanese planes: "Do not intrude." Behind him, the 500-square-meter yard was packed with refugees.

  A Human Shield, Forging an Ark in the Besieged City

  "I patrolled the entire yard like a watchdog," wrote Rabe, who was the representative of Siemens at the time. Though he could have evacuated, he chose to stay. Together with other international figures in China, he established a 3.86-square-kilometer safety zone, which included 25 shelters and provided refuge for about 250,000 Chinese civilians. In his diary, he reflected, "Could I and should I run away? I don't think I can! Anyone who has held a trembling Chinese child in each arm and crouched in an air-raid shelter for hours would feel the same way."

  Ironclad Evidence, a Record Cast in Blood and Tears

  After the fall of Nanjing, the Japanese army unleashed an unspeakable massacre. Risking his own safety, Rabe traversed the ruins daily to document the atrocities.

  The day after Japanese troops captured Nanjing, Rabe drove through the streets; every hundred or two hundred meters his car passed civilian corpses. Rabe filled his diary with dense entries:

  16 December: "I drove to Hsiakwan to inspect the power plant. Chungshan North Road was lined with bodies … In front of the city gate they were heaped like a small hill … Executions were taking place everywhere, some even inside the barracks directly opposite the Ministry of National Defense. Machine-gun fire never stopped."

  22 December: "While clearing the Safety Zone we found many civilians shot and dumped in ponds; one pond alone held thirty bodies, most with their hands tied and some with stones still lashed around their necks."

  Each entry, every word, is a testament to the suffering, with over 2000 pages of his diary serving as the most detailed record of the horrors and an indelible, ironclad proof of the crimes of Japanese fascism.

  The massacre at Xia Shuqin's home was solemnly recorded by Rabe:" John Magee found two little girls—one four years old, the other eight. Their entire family had been brutally murdered, and the children had remained beside their mother's corpse inside the same room for fourteen days until rescued by a neighbor." The footage John Magee shot through tears later became irrefutable evidence of the Nanking Massacre committed by the invading Japanese forces.

  An Eternal Monument, A VigilAcross Centuries

  After being compelled to return to Germany in 1938, Rabe was persecuted by the Gestapo for his lectures exposing the atrocities in Nanjing, and he spent his last years in illness and poverty. When news reached Nanjing, the citizens spontaneously raised two thousand U.S. dollars, and Mayor Shen Yi arranged for food parcels to be delivered to him. In his letter of gratitude, Rabe wrote through tears:" We adults are living on dry bread and soup; lately even bread has become almost unobtainable. You can imagine what this parcel of food means to me!"

  John Rabe died in 1950. His gravestone bears only the inscription:" A good man, an unyielding man—John Rabe." In 2013, with assistance from the Nanjing municipal government, the John Rabe Memorial Garden was completed. Today, Rabe's resting place is encircled by bamboo, plum blossoms, and chrysanthemums brought from Nanjing, and his headstone is inlaid with rain-flower pebbles from the city.

  In 2020, when Thomas Rabe, John Rabe's grandson, requested China to provide anti-epidemic medical aid for the hospital where he worked, the donations from Nanjing arrived in Germany swiftly. The packaging boxes were printed with the violet grass and doves of peace, and stamped with the seal of "blessings and prosperity" that Rabe had once used. This was another "thank you" from the people of Nanjing, spanning over 80 years.

  Time passes, and the life-saving dome that Rabe once held up for 250,000 Chinese people endures as civilization's eternal landmark against barbarism. As new plane leaves brush century-old brick walls, the bells of peace are ringing out to the world:compassion transcends borders, mercy becomes monument.

  (部分素材来源:央视新闻、央广网、中国新闻社等)

  无限工作室出品

  策划:魏鹏 辛然

  文案:沙斯媛

  翻译、配音:武玮佳

  剪辑:郭笃帅

初审编辑:付兴帅

责任编辑:高娜

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