Based on: 侵華日軍南京大屠殺遇難同胞紀念館, 寒夜裡的溫暖之光:中國同胞在危難時分的南京守望相助
Erwin Wickert (ed.), John Rabe. Der gute Deutsche von Nanking. Stuttgart 1997

Last updated: 26/05/2023

Han was born in 1906 in Linzi in the province of Shandong, where also the German colony of Qingdao was located. Han had already worked for Siemens as Rabe’s assistant in Nanjing for a longer period of time before the Japanese invasion in 1937.

Rabe praises Han not only because of his ability to speak German, but also for his conscientious and reliable work. During the weeks following the fall of Nanjing, Han conducted several statistical surveys of the refugees in and around Rabe’s house, where he and his family also lived in late December.

When Rabe had to leave Nanjing in late February 1938, Han was able to get a fake passport in order to smuggle Huang Kuanghan, the brother of Colonel Huang Renlin, with Rabe out of Nanjing.