‘God’ of Refugees

The Battle of Songhu (Songhu refers to Shanghai), which broke out on August 13, 1937 and ended with the fall of Shanghai three months later, was the largest and bloodiest battle during the 14-year Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945). About one-third of the 1 million Chinese and Japanese combat forces died or were wounded in the Battle of Songhu, most of them Chinese soldiers. The battle won time for China to move economic and political resources to inland areas and forced the Japanese army to face more difficult battles along the mountainous Yangtze River instead of in the more vulnerable North China plains. China’s Nationalist government also hoped that Western powers, which had concessions in Shanghai, would support China after witnessing the Chinese people’s resolve and ability to stand up to the aggression. However, these hopes were shattered. A conference at the League of Nations, the predecessor to the United Nations, in Brussels in November 1937 offered no help to China. 

But empathy and support came from some ordinary foreigners who lived in Shanghai at the time. As the battle continued, hundreds of thousands of civilians were left homeless and desperate for safe haven. There were no international protocols on the protection of civilians in warzones at the time. Refugees swarmed into Shanghai’s foreign concessions, mainly the International Concession, which was a merger of British and US concessions, as well as the French Concession. But soon these areas could not accommodate all the refugees. 　

Thus Robert Jacquinot de Besange, a French Jesuit missionary who had preached and taught in Shanghai since 1913, decided to establish a safety zone. 　

Jacquinot was already well known for his efforts to protect civilians, especially women and children, during China’s civil wars in the 1920s and the 1931 military conflict between Chinese and Japanese forces. He also served as vice-chairman of the Shanghai International Red Cross in 1937. 　

Shanghai government immediately approved his proposal to establish a safety zone. After negotiations with Japanese authorities and gaining support from foreign concessions, the zone was set up just a few days before the fall of Shanghai and was sustained until June 1940. Jacquinot initiated, administered and raised funds for the zone which was located in Nanshi District, the site of Shanghai’s old city centered around the City God Temple, or Cheng Huang Temple. The funding included US$700,000 arranged by US president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Jacquinot also organized a safe zone in Wuhan, Hubei Province, in 1938 when the city was attacked by the Japanese army. His efforts saved hundreds of thousands of lives. The Chinese Nationalist government sent him a letter to thank him and awarded him a medal. 　

After he returned to Europe in 1940, he continued his humanitarian mission by applying his Shanghai experience to Paris and Berlin, where he helped with refugee issues at the end of World War II. He died in Berlin of leukemia in September 1946, at the age of 68. 　

The successful Shanghai model inspired other similar actions and the international community. German businessman John Rabe set up a safety zone in Nanjing in late November 1937 before the Nanjing Massacre in December. On August 12, 1949, the Geneva Convention (IV) Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War was adopted at the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva convened by the Swiss Federal Council on the basis of drafts approved by the 17th international Red Cross Conference held in Stockholm in 1948. Its Article 15 states that neutral zones should be set up in war areas to shelter “without distinction,” “wounded and sick combatants or non-combatants” and “civilian persons who take no part in hostilities” or “perform no work of a military character” while in the zone. The commentary of the convention in 1958, an additional document, says that Article 15 “is the result of a certain amount of practical experience,” with Jacquinot’s zone in Shanghai one of the examples. 　

However, “while the names of [John] Rabe, [Norman]  Bethune and [Oskar] Schindler are widely known in the world, even Shanghai natives have hardly heard of Rao Jiaju,” said Xu Bo, chairman of Les Amis de Wu Jianmin (Friends of Wu Jianmin), an association promoting Sino-French friendship in memory of former Chinese ambassador to France Wu Jianmin, at the release of the book Jacquinot: The Forgotten Hero in August 2025 in Shanghai, according to news portal The Paper. Xu and Su Zhiliang, co-author of the book, called on the descendants of some of the 300,000 refugees of the Nanshi Safety Zone to share their stories with the public. 

Su Zhiliang, a history professor at Shanghai Normal University, spent 20 years uncovering Jacquinot’s life story. In an interview with China News Service (CNS), he shared his thoughts on how Jacquinot influenced the world, and why it is even more necessary to recount the story of this forgotten hero. 

Su Zhiliang: I read about Jacquinot around 20 years ago. This French priest came to Shanghai as a missionary in 1913. Amid fierce fighting between Chinese and Japanese forces, he persuaded both sides to set up the Nanshi Safety Zone in Shanghai’s former Nanshi District between Fangbang Road and Minguo Road. On the first day it was established, he designated the City God Temple, Yu Garden and Xiaoshijie Amusement Park as well as schools and churches as shelters, which immediately accommodated over 20,000 refugees. With the later influx of refugees, the zone at its peak housed around 130 camps and over 200,000 refugees. This neutral sanctuary continued to exist until June 1940, protecting around 300,000 Chinese refugees. This Frenchman thus became known as a friend of China, and was even hailed by refugees as the “Foreign City God.” 　

What captivates me most about Jacquinot is his compassionate dedication – a great love that transcends nationality, race and religion. With his wisdom, tenacity and skill, he made the refugee zone possible. 　

While the experience of German businessman John Rabe has been widely known in recent years for his international humanitarian actions during the Nanjing Massacre, Jacquinot, the Frenchman who saved countless Chinese lives before him, remains much less known, and could thus be called a “forgotten hero.” We hope to reveal this part of history. 　

In 2013, I commissioned my graduate student Wang Hai’ou to conduct research and search for historical materials. Along with Chen Bin and other students, she was able to contact 10 refugees. Our new book, Jacquinot: The Forgotten Hero, was published in August 2025. Through digging into archives home and abroad, eyewitness accounts, historical documents and rare photographs, it is a comprehensive account of daily life within the refugee safety zone and Jacquinot’s legendary life. 　

CNS: What new findings does the book reveal? 　

SZ: Inspired by Jacquinot's establishment of the Nanshi Safety Zone, Rabe planned to set up a similar international safety zone in Nanjing and requested assistance from this Frenchman. We also found that Jacquinot, as the head of multiple charitable organizations and chaplain to the Shanghai Volunteer Corps, was highly renowned at the time. Yet decades later, most people learned about Jacquinot from the diaries of John Rabe, which mentioned him a couple of times. 

The biggest challenge in presenting Jacquinot’s life anew was gathering materials and revealing historical details. Over more than 20 years of research, we gathered extensive archives, newspapers and magazines, photographs and footage from home and abroad, accumulating a wealth of primary materials. 　

When we set out to write this new work, we combined eyewitness accounts with historical records. We strived to display Jacquinot’s humanitarianism and selfless dedication during the war, as well as his profound concern for Chinese refugees. For instance, Jacquinot said he always had candy in his pocket. When he saw children crying, he would offer them two candies, and comfort them by saying “don’t cry” in Shanghainese. There are files showing that during the bitter winters, Jacquinot asked International  Refugee Committee staff to pack hot meals in thick paper bags, wrap them in cotton wadding [used for quilts] and then packed them into wooden barrels so the refugees could eat warm food. 　

According to accounts by war survivors who lived in the refugee zone, Jacquinot would go to the zone every morning. People in the zone could still sleep amid the rumble of gunfire outside the zone. Food, medicine and sometimes bread was handed out regularly. There were hospitals, schools, nursing homes, factories and personnel maintaining order – almost a small society. 　

Our new book also reveals how Jacquinot continued his refugee relief work after returning to France, as well as his humanitarian efforts to aid the German people after WWII. 　

CNS: How can these efforts to recount and spread Jacquinot’s story influence exchanges between China and France? 　

SZ: I see it as a beautiful chapter in the history of the China-French friendship, which is almost forgotten. Shanghai once organized a delegation to visit Jacquinot’s hometown, the small city of Saintes in western France, to trace his personal life. Regrettably, residents of Saintes, located hundreds of kilometers from Paris, didn’t even know about Jacquinot and his great deeds. 　

Nevertheless, the delegation found the apartment where Jacquinot was born, as well as the one he lived in after returning from China. They also found some archival materials with detailed information about Jacquinot and Shanghai’s Nanshi Safety Zone, including two photographs of the refugee zone taken by Jacquinot himself. 　

The delegation also found Jacquinot’s birth documents preserved in the city’s municipal archives, including his birth certificate and family members’ information. It turned out that Jacquinot’s family had no descendants. That’s why this name was gradually forgotten and faded into obscurity. 　

In fact, Jacquinot had his own unique considerations when he selected the safety zone’s location. He chose an area in Nanshi which was close to the French Concession. For contingencies, Jacquinot could conveniently contact the French Concession [authorities] for assistance. 　

In August, I initiated a campaign with Xu Bo, chairman of the Friends of Wu Jianmin association, seeking descendants of the 300,000 refugees who sought shelter in the Nanshi Safety Zone. We hope to invite some representatives to join us at a seminar dedicated to Jacquinot scheduled for November 2025 in France. We hope Jacquinot’s story can be told not only in Shanghai, but also in France and across the world, and that the descendants of the refugees he protected could become ambassadors of friendship between China and France. 　

CNS: How could Jacquinot’s story help us better understand WWII history? 　

SZ: As a model of successful refugee protection during WWII, Jacquinot’s extraordinary journey reveals to people today a moving facet of history, as well as the international significance of China’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. 　

The story of the Nanshi Safety Zone in Shanghai is a vivid example of China and the world jointly resisting aggressors and promoting global civilization. Today, a monument commemorating the Nanshi Safety Zone stands beside the gate of the City God Temple, and a statue of Jacquinot is on display at the Memorial Hall for Shanghai Songhu War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. 　

On September 3, 2024, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres visited Shanghai, where he paid tribute to Jacquinot and the Jacquinot Safe Zone [at the City God Temple]. I look forward to the early establishment of a memorial hall for the Nanshi Safety Zone in Shanghai, and production of a movie to tell this story. 　

CNS: What is the practical significance of remembering and retelling Jacquinot’s story? 　

SZ: The Nanshi Safety Zone in Shanghai during WWII was regarded as an outstanding wartime refugee sanctuary. It garnered significant attention from the International Red Cross, which continuously sent people to Shanghai to learn about the zone’s ideas and operational mechanisms. This “Shanghai Model” was later adopted in Nanjing, Hankou [Wuhan], Guangzhou, and even in France and Germany. 　

It also inspired the international humanitarian law – the 1949 Geneva Convention (IV) on Civilians, which is a comprehensive code for international humanitarian law on protecting victims of war or armed conflict. Today, these laws are widely accepted by the international community, with 196 countries having ratified the Convention. The concept of safety zones is now universally adopted, and the United Nations Security Council recommends and authorizes their establishment to safeguard civilians during wartime.