A Lady to Remember for Generations

 A Lady to Remember for Generations

Believe it or not, a Chinese lady, who looked gentle and feeble, rescued over a hundred human beings from the gun-points of the Gestapo under Hitler during the Second World War?！ 

So you don’t believe it?

Let me get a cup of tea and tell you the touching and uplifting story about her.

Born into a well-educated family in Yixing, Jiangsu Province of China in 1912, Qian Xiuling grew up into a charming girl of diligence and perseverance. She took Madame Marie Curie as her role model, dreaming of becoming the “Madame Curie of China”.

At the age of sixteen, Xiuling insisted on going to study in Belgium together with her elder brother. She even resorted to fasting until her father surrendered to her request to study abroad.

At the distinguished Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, Xiuling became the only female doctor of chemistry then, at the age of 22, after assiduous studies of six years.

While studying in Leuven, she met by chance a young man of mixed Russian and Greek origins, Gregoire de Perlinghi, who was assisting a homeless man with CPR in the street. She immediately helped him to perform CPR. They got to know each other later and soon fell in love. Eventually they got married in 1933 and Xiuling became Madam Siou-Ling Tsien de Perlinghi. They lived happily and harmoniously for over thirty years.

In 1939 Xiuling attempted to find Madame Curie’s research laboratory in Paris, only to discover that it had been emptied and all the scientists had moved to the United States, to avoid the German Fascist occupation in the Second World War.

The couple had to stay in a small town of Herbeumont in Belgium, where they operated a tiny clinic and Xiuling served as a nurse.

Herbeumont was occupied by the German Army in 1940 and the people suffered a great deal under the iron rule of the fascists.

One day in May 1943, the Nazis announced in Herbeumont that a young man called Roger would be sentenced to death. The whole town was shrouded in gloom. It turned out that the patriotic young Roger had buried mines under a railway, and they had destroyed a German military train. The Gestapo wanted to “execute one to warn a hundred”. Roger's father turned to the King of Belgium for help. The King pleaded with the Nazi leader, but the result was still "the sentence of hanging"!

At that time, Xiuling unexpectedly stepped forward bravely and said: “I'll try.” The local people thought: “The Gestapo didn’t even grant the King any favours. What capability will you have as a little woman?!”

Xiuling had accidentally seen the name of General Alexander von Falkenhausen in the newspaper. It suddenly came to her mind that General Falkenhausen, the German Chief Executive stationed in Belgium at that time, was a close friend of her elder cousin in China named Qian Zhuolun. Zhoulun served as the chief of staff of the Kuomintang Ministry of National Defence while General Falkenhausen was a military advisor to the Kuomintang, as part of the Sino-German Cooperation. Zhuolun wrote to her: “The German general is upright, full of a sense of justice and has deep feelings for China and the Chinese people.”

With a photo of Zhuolun and a joint letter from the whole town, Xiuling took the risk to rush from her town to travel to Brussels, the capital of Belgium, 170 kilometres away, to see General Falkenhausen. She talked to him about justice and asked him to spare Roger in a spirit of humanitarianism. The general deliberated for a long time. Finally, considering his friendship with Qian Zhuolun, he nodded and freed Roger. That day happened to be Xiuling's 30th birthday. She told others that it was the most meaningful birthday in her life. People in the town had been impressed by Xiuling ever since then.

The local residents in Herbeumont discovered that this small and exquisite Chinese lady seemed to have magic powers. They would turn to her for help when they were in dire situations. She did her best to help. Xiuling rescued one after another of Belgian patriots through General Falkenhausen.
In June 1944, the Belgian secret guerrillas assassinated three Nazi officers in Ecaussinnes. The Gestapo took fierce retaliation by arresting 97 young and strong men. They claimed that if the guerrilla murderers were not handed over within 36 hours, they would shoot and kill 15 hostages every half an hour. The situation was extremely critical. 

Local residents thought of Qian Xiuling. They dug up an old Citroen from the basement, added some gasoline, sped 160 kilometres, and found Xiuling's home in the middle of the night. At that time Xiuling was six months pregnant, so her usually supportive husband advised her not to go. But Xiuling said, “As a doctor, you wouldn’t give up a patient who has a slim chance of survival. Neither would I give up those who have only a slim chance!” Out of an inborn sense of justice, she followed the three strangers to Brussels, risking Nazi stray bullet attacks. They finally reached General Falkenhausen’s office. At that time, the general had been suspected and monitored by his Nazi superiors in Berlin because of his war weariness and his release of many Belgian patriots. However, after much hesitation, the general eventually acquiesced and ordered to exempt the 97 hostages from the death penalty and let them go to the concentration camp to perform hard labour. The survivors later said: without Qian Xiuling, we would have died without a burial ground. 

In 1945, the Second World War ended with the defeat of German, Japanese and Italian fascists. The Belgians did not forget Qian Xiuling's heroic deeds of saving people from the iron rule of the Nazis. They called her "Virgin Mary", “the Chinese Schindler”, renamed the street where the Nazis captured the 97 hostages in Ecaussinnes as "Rue Perlinghi-Tsien" in her honour. The Belgian government also awarded Xiuling the supreme title of "Hero of the State". 

When she was awarded “The Medal of Belgium Gratitude” (1940-1945), Xiuling said, “When I was given the task of interceding with the occupying authorities on behalf of the condemned, I realized that I was fighting for unfortunate people who had been subjected to the most odious arbitrariness.”

Xiuling’s compassion for human beings went both ways.

In 1951, General Falkenhausen was tried by a military court as the Number One War Criminal in Belgium. People focused their hatred against the Nazis on Falkenhausen. However, Qian Xiuling dared to risk universal condemnation and disregarded secular prejudice. As a witness, she presented a joint letter from the beneficiaries and also invited many survivors who had been rescued by him to testify at the military court. 

Xiuling held a news conference, explaining his role in saving the prisoners by saying: “I was honoured for what I did for Belgium. But nothing I did could have been accomplished without General von Falkenhausen’s help. Even though he might not deserve an award, neither should he be put on trial, definitely not.”

She also published an article in a local newspaper to get public support for him. Soft and tender as she appeared, she was actually firm and persistent. As a woman of little social influence, Xiuling did her utmost to win her goal. 

In consideration of his merits and crimes, the court exempted him from the death penalty and sentenced him to 12 years' imprisonment. Later, Falkenhausen was released early because of his good performance in prison. A former anti-war female soldier was so moved by his sense of justice that she married him. He died at the age of 88.

Xiuling enjoyed special honour, but she had always been low-key. In her opinion, “If people show off their good deeds, they are not truly good.” she felt that she was not a heroine, but had only done something worthy of her conscience. She returned home to visit her relatives in China several times, but she had never mentioned her deeds or honour to anyone.

In 1951, Xiuling entered the United Nations Institute of Nuclear Energy Science. Later in Belgium she invested in the construction of the first Chinese school there and raised funds for China.

Her granddaughter made a documentary film My Grandma, a Heroine? In 2003 in her honour.
In 2008, Qian Xiuling passed away peacefully in Belgium at the age of 96.

In 2015, King Philip and the Queen of Belgium paid a state visit to China and were received warmly by General Secretary Xi Jinping. During their meeting, the King of Belgium presented to Xi a book entitled Chinese Woman at Gestapo’s Gunpoint, depicting the heroic deeds of Qian Xiuling, a “Chinese Schindler”. Xiuling's name thus became known in China, and a TV drama of sixteen episodes in Chinese, with the same title, starring Xu Qing, was shown to the public. In the TV drama, the leading character Jin Ling's prototype is Qian Xiuling.

Xu Feng, a native of Yixing, (also Xiuling’s home town), wrote a non-fictional book Forget Me, which describes Qian Xiuling's legendary life. “Forget me” are Xiuling's last words to the world and the book is a portrayal of her low-key and noble life, a tribute to her good soul.

Instead of forgetting Xiuling, we should always remember her for generations to come! Don’t you think so?

When Yixing and Ecaussinnes became twin cities, the Mayor of Ecaussinnes said at the ceremony, “Ms. Qian Xiuling is the daughter of the people of Yixing and the mother of Belgium. My own father was one of the more than 90 young people rescued by Ms. Qian from the German army. Without Ms. Qian, there would be no me.”

Xiuling’s kindness, great love, courage, enthusiasm, tenacity, perseverance, sense of justice, humility and low-key bearing are worth writing about. Her excellent morality deserves to be copied and praised. When faced with despicable deeds, people can show their innate humanity. Xiuling displayed the dazzling brilliance of human nature in disaster. She brought warmth and light to the people in the abyss of despair during the cold and dark war years!

Qian Xiuling is truly a lady of unusual feats. 

  

   Portrait of Qian Xiuling

           

                Qian Xiuling in 2004

Around a hundred Belgians 

rescued by Qian Xiuling

This article was written based on my article in Chinese: “铁蹄下救人的传奇女子钱秀玲”, with references to the following articles:

1. Qian Xiuling, Wikipedia

2. The Chinese “Schindler”, China Daily

3. 正能量-中国精神贵族：钱秀玲

4. 中国女辛特勒钱秀玲 --  搜狐新闻

5. 《盖世太保枪口下的中国女人》原型人物 – 百度百科