At 17:33 on April 17, a batch of anti-epidemic materials flew from Nanjing to Berlin, Germany, and will be transferred to Heidelberg! On the list of donated materials, the recipient’s column is filled with “Thomas Rabe”, “Heidelberg University School of Medicine” and so on. The poster of the Entai Pagoda of Nanjing Dabao and the Old Bridge of Heidelberg is also posted on the box of the donated goods, and it reads: “Putting the epidemic side by side, Nanjing is with you.”
In early April, Chinese Ambassador to Germany Wu Ken, through the CCTV news connection, recounted that Thomas Rabe, a doctor at the Heidelberg University School of Medicine, urgently asked China for help in combating “epidemic” drugs. Thomas Rabe ’s grandfather, John Rabe, during the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese invaders, established the Nanjing International Security Zone with other international friends and saved 200,000 Chinese lives. Therefore, he was called “Chinese Schindler” . Years later, Thomas Rabe, a “honorary citizen of Nanjing,” donated the original Nanjing volume of the “Rabe Diary” written by his grandfather, and continued to write about the friendship between the city and its ancestors.
Nowadays, the descendants of John Rabe turned to China for help. Nanjing City immediately took action and helped each other! In the emergency operations such as the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese Invaders, the caring enterprises quickly purchased 620 bottles of designated medicines, 200 sets of protective clothing, and 30,000 masks. In addition to donating to Mr. Rabe and his family, Nanjing also donated medical supplies to the Heidelberg City Government and the Heidelberg University School of Medicine to help them overcome difficulties.
Nanjing Municipal Government’s Foreign Affairs Office actively communicated and contacted Jiangsu to Germany to assist charter flights when the flights between the two places were very tight, and opened up the logistics transportation channel. Keeping watch and helping each other to overcome difficulties together, a period of more than 80 years of transnational friendship has a warm continuation.