Topic" Looking at the catastrophe of the Chinese and German nations from the perspective of personal suffering: the perspective provided by Selma

Article written by Su Xiaokang (writer, journalist, president of "Democratic China" magazine)

Block Culture Publishing House invited me to recommend the recently published biography "Selma: Escaped from Hitler's clutches, but became a prisoner of Zedong" (Selma: aan Hitler ontsnapt, gevangene van Mao), which gave me the opportunity to read a It is a rare and unique text about the victims of China’s Cultural Revolution, because in Chinese discourse, collecting, recording, and witnessing the unique group of “victims of the Cultural Revolution” is still prohibited in China, but it is already suppressed and cannot be suppressed.

In the 1980s, when I was involved in the violent history of the Cultural Revolution, I came across two major murders: Anhui Huangmei Theater Troupe actress Yan Fengying was caesareaned after committing suicide, and Bian Zhongyun, the principal of the Girls' High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University, was beaten to death by a group. While shocked, I seemed to hear a roar deep in history - if such a heavy injustice cannot be relieved by justice, how can conscience be at peace? A civilization that has cared about "human life is at stake" for thousands of years, can it swallow these decades of "eating hair and drinking blood"?

The next 20 years were prosperous on the surface, but still bloody on the inside. I dare not say whether God has come to China, but I see the struggle of conscience, which refuses to disappear - the national trauma drives historical memory like fire, secretly circulating among the people, shaping the "socialization of memory" and promoting the victims' speech , gradually emerged as a public discussion. The most famous ones include Ding Zilin’s search for the victims of June 4th, Wang Youqin’s investigation of the tortured teachers who were killed in “Red August”, Hu Jie’s independent documentary “Searching for Lin Zhao’s Soul”, the 1957 right-wing public claim to the Communist Party, Liao Yiwu's oral records of the surviving landowners, etc., and Yang Jisheng's "Tombstone", which traces the tens of millions of people who died of starvation, can be described as the latest grand climax!

Wang Youqin's "Victims of the Cultural Revolution: Records of the Search for Persecution, Imprisonment and Killing" (first edition, May 2004) has recorded 503 victims, but today I learned that there are still "missing" victims of the Cultural Revolution. , the Jew Selma may have been a recently discovered one.

➤Foreigners in Mao Zedong’s China

The above-mentioned biographical literature is written by the Dutch documentary writer Caroline. Written by Carolijn Visser, he won the 2017 Libris Prize in the Netherlands. This book uses the life experience of Selma, a Dutch Jew, to describe in detail the complex and cruel atmosphere of the times during Mao Zedong's rule, as well as the tragic records such as the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution. It is from a Western perspective - Selma personally witnessed the Great Leap Forward, the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution, and was the only Dutchman trapped in China during the Cultural Revolution.

After World War II, a large number of Western leftists came to Communist China. Many of them were regarded by the red regime as "good friends of the Chinese people." Many of them misled the West with their attitudes and writings praising "Chinese revolution" and "socialism." world. I will give just three examples: William Howard Hinton came to China in 1945 as an analyst for the U.S. War Information Service, participated in the Chongqing negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and got acquainted with Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong; in 1947, he was recruited by the United Nations to serve as a tractor technician in China , and later participated in the land reform near Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, and wrote the documentary work "Stand Up"; in 1971, he returned to China at the invitation of Zhou Enlai and frequently appeared in newspapers and television, becoming a well-known "old friend" to the Chinese people. After returning to the United States, He wrote the works "Hundred Days of Struggle" and "Deep Translation" which reflect the history of the Cultural Revolution.

Another Han Suyin, a British Asian-European writer, visited China many times during the Cold War in the 20th century. She published reports on her visits to China in mainstream Western media such as the New York Times and The Times, praising the leaders of the Communist Party of China, which had a profound impact. In the Western world, his works are considered supporters of the Chinese Communist revolution. Beautifying the CCP, a violent group, through Westerners' knowledge and writings is a successful propaganda strategy that started in Yan'an. One of the earliest famous examples is Edgar. Parks. Edgar Parks Snow and his "Red Star Shines on China" were published in London, England in 1937. The Chinese translation was renamed "The Journey to the West", which caused a great sensation and became a best-seller.

In discourses and publications outside of Chinese, texts and writings exposing the tyranny of the CCP in 1949 were very rare until "Memoirs of Mao Zedong's Personal Physician" was published in 1994, but the truth about civil and social life is still very rare. Selma, a Jew who once escaped Nazi persecution, mysteriously lived in the communist system again and witnessed another kind of tyranny and humanitarian crisis. Such a life experience is very rare in the East and the West.

Psychologist Cao Richang, who was recalled to China by Zhou Enlai, was labeled as a "capitalist roader" and a "reactionary academic authority" after the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution. He was isolated and censored, subjected to endless criticism, and suffered physical and mental injuries. His wife, Selma, who was teaching at Beijing International Studies University at the time, was also captured and imprisoned by the rebels at the Institute of Psychology. She was tortured and eventually committed suicide. The rebels even forced Cao Richang to stand in front of Selma's body and condemn her suicide, asking him to criticize his late wife and draw a clear line between her and her. In January 1969, Cao Richang, who was in prison, was tortured until his life was in danger. He died of "late-stage liver cancer" shortly after being sent to the hospital.

Selma went to China with her husband, Cao Richang, and has been ostracized and suppressed since the anti-revolutionary movement in the early 1950s. After she got married, she obtained Chinese nationality and named herself Wu Xiuming. In fact, her Dutch citizenship was lost after she married Cao Richang. She often went to the Dutch Agency in China to negotiate for the restoration of Dutch nationality. As a remedial measure, she finally got a three-month visa to return to her native Netherlands in 1966. A month later, the Cultural Revolution broke out in China, and she was forced to Returning to China in September was a step that sealed her life and death, followed by confiscation of her home, censorship, and criticism.

Amid the endless humiliation, Selma still contacted the Dutch agency, hoping to return to the Netherlands, but failed. In March 1968, when her daughter Cao Heli went to visit her mother in the bullpen of the Institute of Psychology before going to Inner Mongolia to "jump the queue", Selma's eyes were dull and silent. Within a month, she committed suicide in despair.

➤Unfinished research on the Cultural Revolution

According to estimates by different scholars, the number of abnormal deaths in mainland China caused by the Cultural Revolution ranges from about 2 million to 20 million. There is no statistics on the number of foreigners among them. Is Selma the only one? During the violence of China's Cultural Revolution, a European would suffer abuse and death just like any ordinary Chinese. Even as a foreigner, without special protection from the authorities, his status as a foreigner would be worse than his status as a capitalist roader, counter-revolutionary, gangster, etc. More dangerous and more inviting to persecution. This is the relationship between the Cultural Revolution and foreign residents. It was the first question that came to my mind when writing this book review. I even think that this may be an unexplored aspect of Cultural Revolution research.

The second question that comes to my mind is the comparison between China and Germany. Selma is Dutch and Jewish, and has personal experience of being persecuted by the Nazis in Germany. So, is Selma the only person in this world who has experience of dual tyranny and persecution by the Nazis and the Chinese Communist Party? Therefore, the comparison between China and Germany through the Selma case may be very valuable in terms of politics, society and culture.

This book talks about the experience of Nazi persecution in a relatively general way: "About her mother, she was captured by the Nazis as early as May 22, 1943, and died in the gas chamber of Sobibor a week later. Selma and her father He managed to hide, and for a time he hid in Enhofen. At that time, he was hiding with Curly and her husband Vander Laan who joined the resistance against the German army. In 1944, Vander Laan joined the Dutch army and fought alongside the British and Canadians. In the same year Died at the hands of the Germans on December 18. Selma never mentioned the horrors of those years in her letters, nor did she talk about them with her children. Those terrible years had a profound impact on her..."

Selma's experience of being persecuted during the Cultural Revolution in China is very precious and belongs to a personal perspective. If we turn to a macro perspective and compare China and Germany, for example, looking at the Chinese Cultural Revolution from the German experience, we will have the distinction between conspirators and victims, Hitler and Mao Zedong. issues in the history of thought, showing a broad vision of society, history, and culture.

➤Comparison of persecution between China and Germany

The documentary about Bian Zhongyun's death, "Although I'm Dead," produced by Chinese private director Hu Jie, was translated into German and exhibited at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair. It was translated by a small publishing house, and its owner is Wolfgang M. Schwiedrzik, who is said to have been a "Maoist", his wife is the famous University of Vienna Sinologist Susanna. Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik studied in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution and studied the history of the Communist Party of China. It is said that the couple was shocked after watching the documentary. They found Wang Youqin from the University of Chicago and contacted Hu Jie.

Professor Weigelin wrote an article "How to Face the History of the Cultural Revolution", comparing the German experience (Nazis) with China's Cultural Revolution experience, which is extremely valuable, especially her comparison of crime and responsibility. I think no nation is more qualified to talk about this issue than the Germans.

One of her important points is that Hitler once satisfied every admirer, which also led to all Germans to feel that they were victims and refused to face the real victims. This "double identity" or "doubleness" of conspirators and victims was a major obstacle.

This German-style embarrassment of "dual identity" certainly also happens to the Communist Party of China - the entire CCP system headed by Deng Xiaoping that "survived", all its officials (capitalist roaders), and of course "the ones who protect fathers and mothers" "The disciples of high-ranking cadres are both victims of Mao Zedong and his accomplices. More typical are the "Deputy Commander" Lin Biao Group, "Little Reptile" Wang Guanqi, etc., but they did not survive. I wonder if the "Gang of Four" and Chen Boda can also be counted? In fact, in a certain sense, they are also "victims" - it depends on how the Germans define Marshal Göring and SS leader Himmler.

However, there is always a layer of separation between China and Germany. Due to differences in history and culture, first of all, the difference between the chairman and the head of state - the relationship between the Germans and Hitler and the relationship between the Chinese and Mao Zedong are the most different. It was Mao Zedong who never made all Chinese people "self-satisfied" and proud. On the contrary, in every different political movement, this hero has caused different social classes to fall into hell, suffering from frustration, guilt, and a sense of "separate book". He used this magic weapon of "moving" the masses to instigate Chinese people to criticize and fight each other in various ways, turning China into an "Ancient Roman Colosseum." "There is endless joy in fighting with others" - this is an interest that Hitler definitely did not have. It is not easy for Western Sinologists to understand modern China and the Chinese revolution. Didn't some people once worship Mao Zedong in a foggy way?

There is another layer of difference. The Nazis discriminated against non-Germanic people and specialized in killing Jews. They also had a special term called "genocide." However, Stalin and Mao Zedong mostly killed competitors within their own parties and ordinary people of their own nation and country. It seems that no one has yet invented a word for this.

This distinction is not meaningless, because it makes the dual identities of "accomplice and victim" more ambiguous, and directly affects the "reconstruction of moral memory" of the entire nation as described by Weigelin.

As for the people, Weiglin believes that the "memory group" is in a state of dispersion and fragmentation. Everyone takes what they need and criticizes each other, because "everyone, every class that has participated in the movement, and every political group must learn from Look for things in historical experience that can support and rebuild their self-esteem, and at the same time try to forget things that are irrelevant to this purpose.” This observation is accurate, but I don’t know if she will see it clearly. This is exactly what the authorities like to see.

The biggest difference between China and Germany is that at the real system level, the Third Reich completely collapsed and Hitler had no successors. This made the Germans’ introspection without any institutional resistance.

This is exactly the opposite situation in China. Weigeling asked: "Why don't the younger generation rise up and demand a public discussion of the Cultural Revolution? This is an incomprehensible phenomenon." But why didn't she ask: "Why do the Chinese authorities still not allow public discussion of the Cultural Revolution?"

➤Forgotten China

Moreover, is it possible that the international community and the Western Sinology community have turned a blind eye to the "nationwide forgetting campaign" that the Chinese authorities have been trying their best to implement after the June 4th Incident? Today's young people in China, in addition to knowing who Mao Zedong is, have never heard of Liu Shaoqi, Lin Biao, the Gang of Four, etc. Few people even know about Zhao Ziyang 20 years ago. Isn’t it outrageous for you to expect such a nation to have moral memory?

Mao Zedong's portrait still hangs on the Tiananmen Gate Tower, and his body still lies in the memorial hall opposite - let a German intellectual imagine that if Hitler still enjoyed such treatment in Germany after World War II, the German nation could still reflect on the Were the Three Reichs crimes against the Jews? Do they still have the ability to understand "why most people violate the most basic moral principles and follow great leaders"?

By protecting this "symbol" in the most authoritative public space, the Chinese government protected the "little Mao Zedong" in the hearts of every participant in the Cultural Revolution - the dual identities of "accomplice and victim" would not disintegrate, and Mao Zedong would still look down on him. China, and under his gaze, people don't care about the victims. Moreover, the scenes of history after the Cultural Revolution have repeatedly reinforced the idea that the magic card of "Mao Zedong" must be preserved, because he is the source of this regime. In fact, the problem is not that profound: the German nation was destroyed once with Hitler, but China was not.

The greatest significance of the perspective provided by Selma today is that China has experienced regression and restoration of its political system, and Mao Zedong has also "found" his successor. Xi Jinping is not related by blood to Mao Zedong, but his bloodthirsty inheritance is clearly identifiable. It is inherited from the Shang Yang Qin system two thousand years ago. The historical line from ancient times to the present has never been broken, so China is not yet a modern country. ●( The original article was first published on the Openbook official website on 2023-12-19)

Selma: Escaped from Hitler’s clutches but became a prisoner of Mao Zedong
Selma: aan Hitler ontsnapt, gevangene van Mao
Author: Caroline. Carolijn Visser
Translator: Nakao Eki Pacidal
Publishing: Internet and book publishing [ Content introduction➤ ]

About the author: Caroline. Visser

Dutch author Caroline. Visser has traveled around the world for many years and her subjects of interest are communist and post-communist societies such as Vietnam, Nicaragua, Estonia, China and Tibet. She has published 26 works. In 2017, she won the Libris History Prize in the Netherlands for her book "Selma". In 2019, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Open University in the UK.