美国国家公共电台 NPR Jewish CPC Doctor in War-time China: Jakob Rosenfeld

 

Jewish-Austrian Jacob Rosenfeld was born in 1903. After graduated from the Medical School of Vienna University with a doctorate¹ in general medicine in 1927, he joined the Austrian Social Democratic Party.

"Once the air-raid alert begins, we rush to the grave-mound and rely on it. I read the paragraph from Hamlet loudly to Dr. Shen, the gunshots were beside our ears, and the Vienna State Opera float in front my eyes."

It's a paragraph from Rosenfeld's dairy in 1941, when he had just came to the anti-Japanese aggression² base area in east China's Jiangsu province. 3 years before that, Vienna State Opera was one of his favourite haunts. But everything changed since Nazi³ Germany swallowed Austria in March 1938, when Rosenfeld was arrested for being a suspected Communist and Jew, and was later put in a concentration camp in Germany.

He was released in 1939, then he opened a clinic in Shanghai, there he got acquainted with Shen Qizhen, an official in charge of health affairs in the CPC. It was during the same time he had a deeper understanding of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese revolution, and became increasingly interested in it.

Kaminsky is the vice⁴ chairman of Austrian-Chinese Friendship Association.

"Actually he could live very well, even a luxurious⁵ life in China. But he was ready to give up everything."

As the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression intensified⁶, the Kuomintang brazenly⁷ fabricated the Southern Anhui Incident in 1941 to attack the Chinese New Fourth Army, which made Rosenfeld very angry. And he decided⁸ to work with the CPC.

"His friends, Like Dr. Shen, they told him, you can't bear all those hardships, it's very very difficult to live with the Xin Sijun together, and he says I don't care, I had the experiences of the concentration camp, I can endure any kind of hardships. These are the reasons why he joined the New Fourth Army, his sympathy, his compassion⁹ for the Chinese people."

Rosenfeld worked as a field doctor during the war of Resistance against the Japanese Aggression and the Chinese Civil war. Introduced by Chen Yi, he joined the Communist Party of China in 1942. Sometimes he had to do dozens of surgeries in one day. His working conditions were rather poor at the time, but he didn't complain about such matters.

Kaminsky says Rosenfeld always tried his best to conquer all the difficulties.

"Of course there was the language barrier, but he had learned enough Chinese to ask the patients where they ache. Usually he had one sentence "Kuai Yao Hao Le" , he learned it so he can console the patients."

Rosenfeld also trained some local medical staff. He opened a health school, in which he also compiled textbooks, delivered medical lectures, and made instructional aids.

New life completely changed the Austrian doctor. He didn't wear suits or leather shoes any more. Bread and milk were also rare luxuries for him.

Wang Minwei is the son of Wang Yutian, the then-Health Minister in Shandong. He has witnessed the life of Rosenfeld.

"He also slept on the heatable brick bed in the countryside, and daily food for him was usually a traditional Shandong pancake, which was hard to bite and eat because of the shortages of food then, the wheat bran was mixed in pancakes. But he didn't show any antipathy¹⁰ towards it, instead he told others that it's delicious. "

After the victory of the War of Resistance against the Japanese Aggression, Rosenfeld was sent to Northeast China, as a Health Minister in the Northeast Field Army.

Soon after New China was founded in 1949, Rosenfeld returned to his motherland, Australia. He died two years later after suffering heart failure.

One-fifth of his lifetime was spent in China. China has erected¹¹ a statue in his honor, while a hospital in Junan County of Shandong province was named after him.

A bronze memorial at the entrance of Unfallkrankenhaus Hospital in Graz, Austria depicts¹² Rosenfeld. It says: "in memory of the great doctor and humanist in China, Jakob Rosenfeld".

1 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

2 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

3 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

6 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 brazenly   

adv.厚颜无耻地；厚脸皮地肆无忌惮地

参考例句：

• How dare he distort the facts so brazenly! 他怎么敢如此肆无忌惮地歪曲事实！ 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• "I don't know," he answered, looking her brazenly over. “我也不知道，"他厚颜无耻地打量着她。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

10 antipathy   

n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物

参考例句：

• I feel an antipathy against their behaviour.我对他们的行为很反感。
• Some people have an antipathy to cats.有的人讨厌猫。

11 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

12 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。