“我一生中最美好的青年时代都在这个国家愉快度过，我的儿孙都出生在这里，我的事业在这里得到了成功，我始终得到了中国人的厚待。”                  

                                   ——约翰拉贝

“It is in this country where I spent my best time of youth, where my children and grandchildren were born, and where my career was accomplished. I have been enjoying the hospitality of the people of China all along.                     

                                   ——John Rabe

1937年7月7日，震惊中外的“七七”卢沟桥事变发生了。

8月13日淞沪抗战打响；

8月15日始，日军屡屡派飞机轰炸南京；

11月12日，东方的巴黎——

上海城在凄风苦雨中沦陷了。

首都告急！一场恶战将在古城南京展开。

The July 7 Incident in 1937, a battle between the Chinese and Japanese invading troops at Lugouqiao, broke out and shocked the whole world.

The Battle of Shanghai began on August 13.

From August 15 on, the Japanese airplanes went on bombing the city of Nanjing incessantly.

On November 12, Shanghai, the Paris in the East, was captured by the Japanese after fierce combat.

The capital was in danger! A fierce battle in the ancient city of Nanjing was inevitable.

建立南京安全区

Establishment of the Nanjing Safety Zone

1937年11月22日下午5时，为了尽量减少战争给平民造成的伤害，按照在上海南市设立难民区收容难民的先例，国际委员会平仓巷3号召开会议，讨论建立南京安全区。

At 5 p.m. on November 22, 1937, to reduce the harm of war to the Chinese civilians, following a precedent of a refugee zone set up in Nanshi District of Shanghai, the International Committee held a meeting for establishing Nanjing Safety Zone at 3 Pingcang Lane.

委员会公推拉贝为主席，金陵大学教授史迈斯为秘书。11月28日，委员会正式任命费奇先生为总干事，杭立武博士为中方共事总干事。

The committee elected John Rabe as Chairman, Professor Smythe from the University of Nanking as Secretary. On November 28, Mr. Fitch is officially named the director and Dr. Han Liwu the Chinese co-director.

12月25日，拉贝给德国元首希特勒写信，企图求得他对南京安全区支持。

On November 25, as Chairman of the International Committee, Rabe wrote a letter to Adolf Hitler, attempting to win him over to support the Nanjing Safety Zone.

拉贝等人又设法将南京安全区的成立转告上海的日本军方，并设法把安全区地图转交日军，请日方进攻南京后不要骚扰安全区。后来，在进入南京城的日本兵身上就发现有画着南京安全区的地图。

Rabe and other committee members afterwards managed to inform the Japanese military authorities in Shanghai of the Nanjing Safety Zone with a map of its location, and requested them not to assault the Zone. The map was later found to be carried by the Japanese soldiers who entered Nanjing.

东面：以中山路为界，从新街口至山西路交叉路口；East Side: bordered along Zhongshan Road, from Xinjiekou to Shanxi Road

北面：从山西路交叉路口至西康路；North Side: from Shanxi Road to Xikang Road

西面：从西康路直至上海路与汉中路交叉路口；West Side: from Xikang Road to the intersection of Shanghai Road and Hanzhong Road

南面：从汉中路与上海路交叉路口起，至新街口起点止。

South Side: beginning from the intersection of Hanzhong Road and Shanghai Road ending in the starting point of Xinjiekou

12月1日，南京市市长马超俊向该委员会移交了南京安全区的实际管理权，他交给委员会3万袋大米，1万袋面粉和一些食盐的存条，并允诺拨款10万元法币现金和450名警察。约翰·拉贝成为南京的“执行市长”。

On December 1, Ma Chaojun, Mayor of Nanjing, transferred in effect the administration of the Nanjing Safety Zone to the Committee. He handed over to the Committee 30,000 sacks of rice, 10,000 sacks of flour, and some deposit slips for salt, and promised to allocate 100,000 yuan in Fiat Currency (the currency under the Nationalist Government) and 450 policemen. John Rabe became “Executive Mayor of Nanjing”.

国际安全区当时承担了以下六大任务：一、安全区的安全保障，二、难民安置，三、食品供应，四、建立卫生设施，五、医院抢救，六、警察管理等。

The International Safety Zone then was in charge of the following aspects: Safeguarding the Security in the Safety Zone; Refugee Placement; Food Supply; Establishment of Sanitary Facilities; Hospital Emergency; Police Management.

安全保障

Safeguarding the Security

为了保证安全区内的安全，拉贝等人决定在安全区内所有出入口设置路障，标志警戒线，同时派佩戴安全区标记、手握手枪的警察站岗，对进入安全区人员进行入区检查，负责对安全区边界的守卫。

To ensure the security of the Safety Zone, Rabe and others decided to set up roadblocks and security lines at all the entrances and exits of the Safety Zone. Policemen wearing safety zone armbands stood sentry at each post with pistols in hands, examining everyone who wanted to enter the zone and guarding the border of the Safety.

拉贝和他的朋友们，创造了一个奇迹，面积占全城总面积八分之一的安全区，成为南京市唯一一块得以幸免火灾的绿岛。南京安全区内没有发生日军纵火事件，金陵大学、金陵女子文理学院、鼓楼医院等优秀建筑以及宁海路，颐和路一带几百幢私人小洋楼得以保存下来，完全得益于国际安全委员会强有力的保护，作为历史遗产，其价值是无法用金钱衡量的。

Rabe and his friends created a miracle under such circumstances. Covering one eighth of the entire city, the Safety Zone was the only oasis that escaped from fires or arson attacks by the Japanese troops. Thanks solely to the effective protection from the International Safety Committee, buildings and streets inside the Safety Zone remained intact in wanton bombings by the Japanese military, including the University of Nanking, Nanking Women’s College of Arts and Sciences, Gulou Hospital and hundreds of private western-styled houses along Ninghai Road and Yihe Road. As historical heritage, their value cannot be measured monetarily.

南京沦陷后，安全区内聚集了近30万难民，少数放下武器的中国士兵也进入安全区避难，一些国民党军队的高级军官也得到了安全区国际委员会的特别照顾，各个收容所均人满为患。

After the fall of Nanjing, nearly 300,000 refugees gathered in the Safety Zone. A few disarmed Chinese soldiers also entered the Safety Zone to seek refuge. Some high-ranking officials of the Kuomintang Army received special care from the International Committee for the Safety Zone. All the refugee camps were overcrowded to its utmost capacity.

为了使难民区更好地发挥救助难民的作用，南京安全区国际委员会制定了“难民区规则”，同时印发了“告南京市民书”，呼吁南京市民进入安全区避难。

To optimize the function of the refugee camps, the International Committee for Nanjing Safety Zone stipulated Regulations in the Refugee Zone, and distributed flyers of Message to the People of Nanjing, calling on people to take refuge in the Safety Zone.

食品供应

Food Supply

为了让赤贫的难民能够生存下去，国际委员会还在安全区开设三处粥厂，每日施粥两次，时间长达2个月，部分居民从安全区返回原住地后，国际委员会又扩大救济工作，在安全区设立临时难民营，并收容郊区农民，保证每天的粮食供给，帮助进行消毒、防疫工作。

To ensure the survival of the poverty-stricken refugees, the International Committee opened three porridge stalls providing free porridge twice a day for two months. When part of the refugees returned to their former living places, the International Committee extended their relief work, setting up temporary refugee camps within the Safety Zone, taking in peasants from the suburbs, ensuring daily food supply and also helping them in dis infections and epidemic prevention.

建立卫生设施

Taking Sanitary Measures

为了防止瘟疫的流行，国际委员会从上海购买豆类、鱼肝油等物品以及防治白喉等疾病的药品，运进南京，同时修建专用厕所，及时将垃圾和粪便进行清理，避免了瘟疫的发生。

In order to prevent the outbreak of plagues, the International Committee bought from Shanghai and shipped into Nanjing a lot of goods such as beans, cod-liver oil and medicines against diphtheria and other diseases. Meanwhile, special toilets were built, and garbage and excrements were also timely cleared. These measures were highly effective in preventing epidemics.

医院组织救护

Organizing Hospital Rescue

国际委员会利用由马林出任院长的基督医院——鼓楼医院收治大量病人，同时救治被日军杀伤的南京市民。

Gulou Hospital, a Christian hospital headed by Malin, a Canadian missionary, was used by the International Committee to take in and treat a great number of patients and Nanjing civilians who were wounded by the Japanese army.

中国是拉贝的第二故乡，正如拉贝所说：“我一生中最美好的青年时代都在这个国家愉快度过，我的儿孙都出生在这里，我的事业在这里得到了成功，我始终得到了中国人的厚待。” 因此,即使德国驻华大使馆曾多次通知拉贝尽快离开南京，在经历了一番精神和心灵的搏斗之后，拉贝终于下定决心，不管发生什么情况，都留在南京。

China was Rabe’s second hometown. As he himself said, “It is in this country where I spent my best time of youth, where my children and grandchildren were born, and where my career was accomplished. I have been enjoying the hospitality of the people of China all along.” Even though the German embassy had advised Rabe to leave Nanjing for many times, he made the decision to stay behind regardless of the changing circumstances after a mental and spiritual struggle over the matter.