1886 was born on September 27th in West Cole, Illinois, USA. The family is not rich, and has developed a hard-working, diligent and brave character since childhood. She graduated from the University of Illinois with the second place and decided to go to China. When I first arrived in Anhui, China, I saw that many women were illiterate, so I decided to promote women's education in China and founded Hefei Saint-Onago Middle School. 19 19 Minnie applied for Jinling Women's University, took charge of school affairs, prepared a new campus, and encouraged students to leave the ivory tower and join the society to serve the poor neighbors, such as giving classes to women next door and visiting the poor around the campus twice a week, which carried forward the school motto of Jinling Women's University-the spirit of caring for students. Minnie also used her vacation to study in Europe and America, and promoted Danish and Dutch adult education to China, making great contributions to women's education in China.
From 1937 August 12 to April 1940, she kept a diary almost every day and mailed it to her American friends regularly every month so that they could better understand the current events in China. At that time, my friends in America thought that Walter Lin's diary was very valuable, so they sent it to C lassm ate in Cincinnati, Ohio for publication. In the mid-1980s, when people were sorting out missionary files, they found the manuscript of "The Diary of Walter Lin". In the early 1990s, Ms. smalley from the theological seminary library of Yale University, especially in collection room, sorted out the manuscripts of Walter Lin's diaries and made them into microfilms for historical archivists to study and use.
As the Jinling Women's College of Arts and Sciences in vautrin was a refugee camp for female refugees at that time, it became an important target of Japanese sexual violence during the Nanjing Massacre. As the head of the refugee camp, vautrin's personal experience file-diary is the most convincing evidence to expose the sexual atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders, such as the day after the Japanese massacre (1937 12 65438+). Japanese soldiers keep patronizing their homes. Girls from 12 to women aged 60 were raped. Husbands were forced to leave the bedroom, and pregnant wives were stabbed with bayonets. For example, in a diary on Thursday, 1937 12 16: "I don't know how many innocent and hardworking farmers and workers were killed today. We let all women over 40 take their husbands and sons home, leaving only their daughters and daughters-in-law. Tonight we will take care of more than 4000 women and children. I don't know how much longer we can hold on under this pressure. This is an unspeakable horror. "
1937, 165438+ 10, Shanghai completely fell, and the Japanese army pounced on Nanjing in three ways. Everywhere you go, rape, plunder, burn and kill. On February 5, 65438, the Japanese army entered major towns in Nanjing without fierce fighting. After the "August 13th Incident" in Shanghai, the National Government made it clear for the sake of safety: "Universities close to the war zone should find another way to start school." Nanjing Jinling Women's College of Arts and Sciences is located in the center of Nanjing. After discussion, President Wu Yifang and her colleagues decided to divide the school staff into two parts: one part moved to the west, and the other part stayed at the school headquarters to protect the school property and help the refugees. The staff staying in the school form a resident maintenance Committee, with Ms. Hua Qun, an American professor, as the director. At that time, the vast majority of foreigners in Nanjing had fled, leaving one or twenty foreigners to stand up and organize the "Nanjing Safe Zone International Committee". With the support of the China Municipal Government, an international security zone of about 4 square kilometers has been set up with Jinling University and Jinling Women's College of Arts and Sciences as the center and Gulou and Xinjiekou as the center. In order to manage and take care of the needs of the military and civilians in the security zone, we later requested the Shanghai International Red Cross and the China Red Cross to recognize the establishment of the Nanjing Committee of the International Red Cross. Huaqun is a member of the Committee, and the Golden Women's Hospital has been designated by the International Committee as a refuge for women and children in the safe area. Ms Hua Qun undertook the arduous task of preventing Japanese troops from raping women in China. Ms. Hua is in danger and dare not delay. Vautrin herself said that her diary was "written in time-some of it was written during the air raid; Some of them were written at night after a long and busy day's work "(1September 26, 937), but this did not affect its important value, but made future generations admire her personality charm.
12 13 in the morning, after the first Japanese troops entered the city from Zhonghua Gate, they raped, plundered and set fire to it everywhere. At this time, women and children flocked to the refugee shelter in the Golden Women's Hospital. Some young women dressed as old women, some disguised as men, some old women, children and men were frightened. Ms. Hua guarded the gate to persuade men and old women to go home in order to protect more young women and children. The refugees cried and begged for a foothold on the lawn. It was not easy to protect the lives of tens of thousands of women and children under the special circumstances at that time! Ms. Hua faced a group of Japanese invaders who were more ferocious than wild animals. They are unreasonable. The brand of American missionary schools and the notice of international security zones are not binding on them. At least 10 to 20 Japanese troops went to the Golden Women's Hospital to arrest people, rape women and rob money every day 10 days before the Japanese army entered the city. They not only forced their way through school gates and side doors, but also climbed over the fence to enter the campus, and even climbed over the low fence of the school at night. In the unlit building, they groped upstairs and downstairs, and raped her if they touched any one.
While organizing school staff to patrol the campus, Ms. Hua Qun invited foreign men serving in the "international security zone" to take turns to keep vigil. She worked day and night, either guarding the concierge or being called to stop Japanese soldiers who came to school to rape and plunder, and to take back China women from them. She can't eat a fixed meal and sleep all day. Many Japanese soldiers were so angry that they threatened her with bloody bayonets; The others slapped her savagely. Ms. Hua endured humiliation and consciously shouldered the heavy responsibility of protecting more than 10,000 women and children in China. She said that Golden Women's Hospital is my home, and I will never leave her.
In the refugee camp, many refugees lost their loved ones, and the pain of where you will go hangs over the refugee camp. Teacher Hua comforted and encouraged them, giving them confidence in victory and courage in life. She said, "China is not dead, China will not die, and Japan will certainly fail." At the same time, she searched for lost relatives for refugees. Every morning, she will send employees to register with the refugees, write down the names of the separated people, and then hand them over to the International Committee of Safe Zones or the Japanese Embassy, urging them to try to find them. 1937165438+1In late October, the Japanese army that captured Shanghai advanced in three ways and bypassed Nanjing. On February+65438 1 day, the US Embassy summoned all the few American citizens still stranded in Nanjing for the last time, warning them: "If you don't evacuate, we will not be able to guarantee your life safety in the future." Vautrin once again said firmly: "I can't abandon China at this time!" Then, she signed her name on the "Never Leave Ning" certificate presented by the embassy-this is the fourth time that she solemnly refused the request of the American embassy to leave Nanjing.
1937 12 13, has always lived in a peaceful environment. vautrin, who works in a school, witnessed the heinous atrocities of the Japanese army for the first time and was shocked and angry. 65438+February 16 She wrote in her diary: "A car carrying 8- 10 women passed by us tonight. When the car passed by, they shouted "help, help". The gunshots from time to time on the street and under the mountain made me realize that some people suffered a tragic shooting fate and probably were not soldiers. "
Although the American flag and the announcement of the Japanese embassy are hung at the entrance of the Golden Women's University campus, it has no effect on the violent and crazy Japanese officers and men. Every day, a large number of Japanese troops either forcibly enter the school from the school gate or climb over the fence. Vautrin stood at the gate for a while, stopped the Japanese who tried to force their way into the school, and then rushed to other parts of the school to drive away the Japanese who sneaked into the wall. As she wrote in her diary 12, 16, "I spent most of the day guarding the front door like a guard, or was called to deal with other problems-I went to other parts of the school to deal with a group of Japanese soldiers who entered the campus." Many nights she sleeps in her clothes, so that she can get up at any time to deal with emergencies. She also organized patrols to guard the campus day and night to protect the safety of refugees. As an important witness of the Nanjing Massacre, vautrin wrote in his diary: "We people think that war is a national crime and a sin against the creative spirit in the depths of the universe, but we can dedicate our strength to those innocent victims, those whose families were burned or robbed, or those who were injured by cannons and planes in the war to help them recover." Once, she saw a little boy from China wearing this armband to deliver food to his sister who lives in Golden Girl University. She walked up to the boy and said, "You don't need to wear the sun flag. You are from China, and your country is not dead! You have to remember when you wore this thing, and never forget it! " After that, she helped the boy take off his armband. She wrote in her diary: "From a military point of view, the occupation of Nanjing may be considered as a victory of the Japanese army, but from a moral point of view, it is a failure and shame of the Japanese nation."
1938, the national government awarded her the highest honor of rewarding foreigners-blue, white and red lapels-jade medal. In those tense and horrible days, Vautrin worked hard for dozens of days and nights. Excessive fatigue and long-term mental stress have seriously hurt her health. During this period, she often wrote in her diary: "I am too tired to write" and "I am too tired to remember." After rescuing many China refugees and China women, she suffered from severe mental depression. On May 4, 1940, after many persuasion, she left Nanjing and returned to the United States for medical treatment. She wrote in her diary: "For many years, I have deeply loved Golden Girl University and helped her as much as possible." She said so, and she did the same. But now she will have to leave everything she loves indefinitely. 1941may 14, the first anniversary of her departure from China, she chose this meaningful day and ended her life at the age of 55. On his deathbed, he still said, "I have two lives, and I am still willing to serve the people of China." Her tombstone is engraved with four big characters: "Jinling Eternal Life".