John Rabe — China
German Nazi Party member and Siemens executive John Rabe establishes the Nanjing International Safety Zone — personally shielding 200,000 Chinese civilians from Japanese massacre.
John Rabe (1882-1950) was chairman of the International Committee for the Nanjing Safety Zone. His Nazi Party membership ironically gave him protection to challenge Japanese officers. He personally intervened to stop executions and sheltered hundreds in his own garden. After returning to Germany he attempted to alert Hitler to the atrocities, was interrogated by the Gestapo, and died in poverty. His diaries were only published in 1996.