A batch of medical supplies arrived in Berlin, the capital of Germany from Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, on April 17.

Nanjing donated medical materials to Heidelberg municipal government and Medical College of Heidelberg University. (Photo/Xinhua's mobile app Jiaohuidian)

This is a move made by a Nanjing company as an active response to Thomas Rabe, a 69-year-old doctor from the medical school of Heidelberg University, who sought help in early April from the Chinese Embassy in Germany for an anti-epidemic drug that Germany had stopped producing.

Thomas Rabe’s grandfather John Rabe, a Hamburg-born business representative of Siemens to China, was regarded as the "Oskar Schindler of China," as he set up a security zone in worn-torn Nanjing with a few remaining foreigners there and saved tens of thousands of lives between 1937 and 1938. When Rabe was called back to Germany in early 1938, he took with him a 10-volume diary that recorded the atrocities of the Japanese invaders.

Thomas Rabe poses in front of a sculpture of his grandfather John Rabe. (File photo: Xinhua) 

The friendship between the Chinese people and Germany businessman John Rabe more than 80 years ago has warmed many people's hearts.

A friend in need is a true friend. When the descendant of John Rabe and Germany friends of Chinese people are in urgent need of help, the Chinese people act quickly with medical aid and warm-hearted blessing.

After learning the information for help, the Chinese Embassy in Germany immediately contacted the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and quickly found relevant companies. A pharmaceutical company in Zhejiang decided to donate the batch of medicines to Thomas Rabe as soon as possible.

Nanjing pharmaceutical companies and Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall took action one after another. In a very short time, 620 bottles of designated drugs, 200 sets of protective clothing, 30,000 masks, etc. were ready for the transport.

Nanjing government also donated medical materials to the Heidelberg municipal government and Medical College of Heidelberg University.

(Compiled by Dong Yujie; original story from Xinhua's mobile app Jiaohuidian)