Some Thoughts on a Report Written 70 Years Ago

This is a report my father， Dr. Richard Frey， wrote to the China Aid Council in the United States in March 1945 to seek international assistance for the military and civilians of the border area. It was written after he started to work in Yan’an after leaving the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei anti-Japanese front， a place he would never forget all his life.

In this report， he gave a personal account of the conditions and the medical treatment and teaching at the Bethune Medical School between the end of 1941 and the end of 1944， showing the extreme shortage of doctors and medicines and teaching materials and teaching tools in the medical school. He also wrote about the heroism of the Eighth Route Army officers and soldiers and exposed the brutal crimes committed by the Japanese invaders.

A year later， Dr. Frey received several batches of medicine， medical equipment， medical textbooks and other materials from other countries， which， to some extent， eased the shortage in an area devastated during the eight years of anti-Japanese war.

On the occasion of commemorating the 70th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression， Voice of Friendship is publishing excerpts of the report， the Chinese version of which has been translated by Ms. Zhang Lizhen of the Editorial Board. I would like to express my thanks to Editor-in-Chief Wang Hong and Ms. Zhang. I also wish to take this opportunity to commemorate this memorable day together with my late father.

It has been 70 years since the Chinese people won the war. However， we should never forget that time when China fought for independence， freedom and justice， and this protracted and cruel war that not only brought untold sufferings to the Chinese people but also to the people of Japan.

Regrettably， the Japanese government has still not yet deeply reflected on its history of aggression， although the people of China， as well as other Asian countries have been more than generous in their attitude to a nation that had committed war atrocities， especially when we compare it with the postwar punishment European countries meted out to Germany. Both Chinese and Japanese people and scholars should ask the question： why does the Japanese government takes such an attitude towards past aggression？

Three generations of the Frey family suffered persecution during the Nazi occupation. Since the end of WWII， successive German governments on assuming power have publicly made clear that the first item on the agenda is to bear the historical responsibility and take it as a lesson for society so as to prevent history from repeating itself. This has been fully shown from the famous kneeling down by German Chancellor Willy Brandt at a Warsaw memorial in 1970 to the present German President Joachim Gauck’s remarks： “It still holds true that there is no German identity without Auschwitz. Remembering the Holocaust remains a matter for every citizen of Germany.” In Germany today， we can see the xenophobia of ultra-Right groups and resurgent neo-Nazism. When they do anything unconstitutional， apart from government intervention， more people and civic groups will organize themselves spontaneously to oppose their wrongful acts.

Also in Austria， a book Memory in commemoration of those persecuted by the Nazis during WWII will be published by the National Fund this year. Cherishing the Memory of My Father， an article I wrote last year to mark the 10th anniversary of his death and published in Voice of Friendship， together with a number of historic photos will be included in the book. Austrian President Heinz Fischer specially wrote an article recalling the life of Dr. Frey for the book.

History is about past events. It exists whether you acknowledge it or not. Only by recognizing facts and history can there be peace and a bright future of peaceful coexistence among the world’s people and neighboring countries， especially for later generations of countries that suffered humiliation.

It is the aspirations of both the Chinese and Japanese people to build a new-type relationship between neighbors featuring peace， mutual assistance and win-win result. Arms expansion， forming alliance and confrontation， which are politicians’ shortsighted views of the moment， offer no way out.

May China and Japan maintain a good-neighborly relationship of lasting friendship！

Written on June 20， 2015