Overview
The Nanking Safety Zone was established in late 1937 as Japanese forces advanced towards the Chinese capital during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Created by a small group of foreign residents who remained in the city, the zone was intended to provide civilian refugees with protection from the fighting and the violence that accompanied the Japanese occupation.
The zone covered part of central Nanking and contained hospitals, schools, foreign properties and other buildings that were converted into refugee centres. Its administration was undertaken by the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone, whose members included Western businessmen, missionaries, doctors and educators. German businessman John Rabe served as chairman and became one of the best-known figures associated with the organisation.
When Japanese troops captured Nanking in December 1937, hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians sought shelter within the Safety Zone. Committee members attempted to maintain order, distribute food, provide medical assistance and prevent Japanese soldiers from entering refugee compounds. Foreign residents repeatedly protested to Japanese military authorities about killings, assaults, looting and other abuses occurring inside and around the protected area.
Although the Safety Zone could not completely prevent atrocities, its existence provided a measure of protection for large numbers of civilians during the Nanking Massacre. Individual committee members sometimes personally confronted Japanese soldiers, while doctors and nurses treated victims despite extremely difficult conditions.
The foreign residents also kept diaries, reports, photographs, correspondence and other records describing conditions within Nanking. These accounts later became important historical evidence concerning the massacre and the experiences of its civilian population.
The Safety Zone therefore represents an extraordinary humanitarian effort amid one of the most infamous episodes of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Despite possessing little authority and no military force, its organisers remained in Nanking and attempted to protect civilians at considerable personal risk throughout the occupation.
John Rabe was a German businessman who helped protect Chinese civilians during the 1937 Nanking Massacre. As chairman of the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone, he helped shelter refugees from Japanese atrocities. Rabe documented the violence in detailed diaries, which later became important historical evidence of the massacre.