1937165438+1October 22nd, with the approaching of the war, some westerners in Nanjing formally established the International Committee for Nanjing Safe Zone, with German Rabe elected as the chairman and Maggie as the member, and began to prepare for the relief work for refugees. Maggie has been busy helping injured Nanjing citizens and injured refugees fleeing from Shanghai since Japanese planes bombed Nanjing.
1937 12 13. When the Japanese army occupied Nanjing, the Nanjing branch of the International Red Cross, with Maggie as its chairman, was established immediately to help refugees and soldiers. The Red Cross's assistance to the wounded was also unreasonably obstructed by the Japanese army. Maggie always follows the ambulance, because once there are no foreigners present, the car will be taken away by the Japanese. During the Japanese occupation of Nanjing, the atrocities of robbing and killing people everywhere, especially the rape of women in the city, occurred every day. Because the Daoshengtang where Maggie lived was the property of the United States, and the Japanese army dared not act rashly, it became a refuge for women in China, filled with women from China who came to take refuge and rescued him from the clutches of the Japanese army. During the more than two months of the Nanjing Massacre, Maggie wrote more than 400 "protest letters" and "reports" to the Japanese Embassy and the Supreme Command of the Japanese occupation forces, strongly demanding that the atrocities be stopped. At the same time, Maggie also wrote many letters to his wife in America, all of which were records of his atrocities against the Japanese army.
During his stay in Nanjing, Maggie often took advantage of his position and risked his life to secretly photograph the atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders in Nanjing with a 16mm camera. At that time, the Japanese army strictly controlled the actions of foreigners and absolutely prohibited photography and video recording. Pastor Maggie wrote in the introduction of the film: "We must be careful not to let the Japanese see it when taking pictures." In these shots he shot, Japanese tanks and artillery were frantically shelling Nanjing, machine guns were shooting at crowds of citizens, the city was full of ruins, there were China women raped by Japanese troops, the bodies charred by gasoline were terrible, and the streets and ponds were full of civilians brutally slaughtered by Japanese troops. 1937 65438+February 2 1, Maggie photographed many citizens killed by Japanese troops in Nanjing Gulou Hospital, and some of them became witnesses against the Nanjing Massacre. He filmed a patient who was being treated, Li Xiuying, who was six months pregnant. She was stabbed 37 times for resisting rape by Japanese soldiers. Li Xiuying, who survived, went to Japan for many times after the war to attend a peaceful rally and accused the Japanese of atrocities.
Maggie not only filmed the atrocities of the Japanese army with a video camera, but also recorded the scenes of rescuing refugees in Gunter and Schindler. 1938 February 16, Maggie and Sindbel, a Danish just met, drove to Jiangnan Cement Plant and qixia temple. In Jiangnan Cement Factory, Maggie met more than 65,438+00,000 refugees. Maggie took out her camera and took pictures of refugee camps and patients waiting in line for treatment in Jiangnan cement plant, as well as farmers sending the wounded to first aid. At that time, Maggie also went to Qixia Ancient Temple, which is only five miles away from the cement plant. Maggie has been carrying this camera during her two-day trip to Qixia. On the way back and forth, he saw sad scenes and photographed these sad scenes: along the main road from Taipingmen to Longtan, between 10 and 12, 80% of farmers' houses were burned; Urban elderly women who fled to the countryside were killed; The tied China soldiers were executed by the Japanese army and thrown into the pond; The body of a soldier from Sichuan was lying on the road ... he took all this into the camera. With fluent Chinese and a compassionate heart, Maggie learned many evils of Japanese soldiers and many sufferings of refugees in qixia temple and Jiangnan Cement Factory, and filmed what she saw and heard.
Maggie shot four films in a row, with a total time of 105 minutes. These real shots are hard evidence of the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese army, the only dynamic picture of the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese invaders, and the hard evidence of exposing the atrocities of the Japanese army.
194 1 Maggie returned to the United States after the Japanese-American war and continued to serve as a priest. 1953, Maggie died in Pittsburgh, USA. Maggie left this will before she died: "If I live again, I will still serve the people of China. China is my home. " 1991August, John Magee's son, David Magee, found a copy of the film shot by Pastor Magee and his16mm camera from his father's relics stored in his basement. On June 2nd, 2002, 10, david mckee donated the camera to the Memorial Hall for Victims of the Nanjing Massacre, which became a precious historical relic of the museum. The Daoshengtang Church, where Maggie once preached, is now the library of Nanjing No.12 Middle School. In the same year, in June 5438+10, Xiaguan District Government named it John Magee Library.
5438+065438+20071At the beginning of October, Xia Shuqin, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, counterclaimed the Japanese right-wing writer's reputation infringement case, and the Japanese side lost the case. An important evidence in the trial is Maggie's documentary, seeking justice for Xia Shuqin.