George Rosen (14 September 1895,

Shirvan Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

– 22 July 1961 in

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...

) was a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

, German

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

, best known for his assistance in helping to organize the

Nanking Safety Zone The Nanking Safety Zone (; '', Nankin Anzenku'', or , ''Nankin Anzenchitai'') was a demilitarized zone for Chinese civilians set up on the eve of the Japanese breakthrough in the Battle of Nanking (December 13, 1937). The Battle of Songhu was fou ...

during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, while working for the

German Foreign Office The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with the European Union. It is a cabinet-leve ...

."Quarantäne Aufgehoben", Der Spiegel online über einen Spiegel-Artikel (15/1969) Vol.7. Mirrors a Der Spiegel article (15/1969) of 7, April 1969, p.148]

Biography

Rosen was born in 1895 in Shirvan, Iran (then known as Persia), as son of Friedrich Rosen, who served a few months as German Foreign Minister in 1921. His father and his grandfather, who was also named Georg Rosen, were both noted

Orientalists In art history, literature, and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world (or "Orient") by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. Orientalist painting, particularly of the Middle ...

. His paternal grandmother Serena Anna Moscheles (1830-1902) and maternal grandmother Emily Moscheles (1827–1889) were sisters, and were of baptised Jewish parents,

Ignaz Moscheles Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano in the Co ...

and his wife Charlotte Embden. In 1917, the youngest Rosen served as a volunteer on the Western Front during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the war he completed his studies in 1921 and joined the German diplomatic service, carrying the academic designation of a Ph.D.

Republic of China

From 1933 to 1938 Rosen was assigned to the German Embassy in China, acting as the Secretary of the Legation, and in 1937 worked in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

(Nanking), the then-capital of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. During this period he worked together with German businessman John Rabe after the

Japanese invasion of China The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part of World War II, and often r ...

, and during the Massacre of Nanjing. Along with other Westerners in the Nanking emergency committee, they established the

in order to offer protection to the Chinese population of the region from Japanese atrocities carried out by their soldiers during the Nanjing Massacre. The Massacre lasted more than six weeks spanning the end of 1937 through early 1938. Together, the committee members helped to save more than 200,000 Chinese lives. In 1938 he was forced to leave the diplomatic service due to his Jewish heritage and to avoid damaging the Nazi government's relations with the

Japanese Imperial Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

. Rosen then emigrated to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1938, and later to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

where he taught at several universities. Rosen's role in the rescue of civilians was described in detail in the 2009 Sino-Franco-German movie ''John Rabe''.

Post-war service

After the war, Rosen returned to the Federal Republic of Germany and again joined the foreign diplomatic service. He served at the German embassy in London, and in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, where he was an

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

. Rosen retired in 1960.John Rabe. "The Good German of Nanking", Hrsg. E. Wickert, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt Stuttgart 1997; p.68. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Rosen, a Rhodes scholar himself, also worked to enable that Germans could be again among the Rhodes Scholarship recipients at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Brook, Timothy
Documents on the Rape of Nanking
Arbor Paperbacks, University of Michigan Press, 1999, , * Wickert, Erwin (Hrsg.): ''John Rabe'', April 1969. * Wickert, Erwin (ed.): ''John Rabe. The Good German of Nanking'', Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart, 1997.
John Rabe
443 Seiten, . * E. Wickert (Ed.). "Rosen's War" Rhodes-Stipendiat, German Publishing House, Stuttgart, 1997.
The Good Man of Nanking
* Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi
The Nanking Atrocity, 1937-38: Complicating the Picture
Volume 2 of Asia Pacific Studies, Berghahn Series, Berghahn Books, 2007, , . * Fujiwara Akira
The Nanking Atrocity: An Interpretive Overview
Asia-Pacific Journal website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, Georg German orientalists German Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom German expatriates in China People assisting Chinese during the Nanjing Massacre Ambassadors of Germany to Uruguay 1895 births 1961 deaths German male non-fiction writers German expatriates in Iran

Biography

Republic of China

Post-war service

See also

References