Last updated: 12/07/2019

Inspired by the safety zone established by the French Jesuit missionary Robert Jacquinot de Besange in Shanghai, John Rabe successfully negotiated a similar zone in Nanjing. It stretched over four square kilometres and contained several refugee camps, including the Siemens camp whose 500 square metres provided shelter to more than 600 Chinese.

Fifteen members of the Western foreign community in Nanjing initially formed the International Committee for the Nanjing Safety Zone but seven of them left the city before the Japanese occupation began. They were replaced by two new members: Christian Kröger and George Fitch.