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Bethune was praised by Mao Zedong as “a person who has escaped from vulgar taste.” (Internet picture)
November 12, 1939Mao ZedongWrote the article “In Memory of Bethune”,BethuneHe was almost deified into a perfect man, and he was praised as “a noble person, a pure person, a moral person, a person who has escaped from vulgar taste, and a person who is beneficial to the people.” arriveCultural RevolutionAt that time, Mao’s article was designated by the CCP as “The third article“” is an article that mainlanders must recite every day, making Bethune’s name famous in China ever since.household nameno one knows.
Throughout Bethune’s life, he was certainly a unique figure with a spirit of dedication, but he was by no means the perfect man described by Mao Zedong. Overseas experts’ research on Bethune and the release of 60-year-old Soviet declassified documents have allowed people to see another real Bethune.
Divorced his wife twice
Ted Alan knew Bethune well, having experienced the pain of the Spanish War with Bethune. His book “The Scalpel is a Weapon: A Biography of Bethune” published in 1952 was the first biography of Bethune in the Western world.
According to Alan’s account, Bethune was born in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada on March 4, 1890, and was originally from Scotland, England. His grandfather was a doctor and his father was a Christian minister. Bethune, who was born into a wealthy family, became a thoracic surgeon after graduating from the University of Toronto.
In early 1922, the 32-year-old Bethune went to Edinburgh, England, to take the membership examination of the Society of Surgery and met the 21-year-old beautiful British girl Frances Campbell Penny. Although the two were 11 years apart and had completely different life experiences, Bethune fell in love with Frances at first sight. As soon as the exam was over, the two traveled to Western Europe together. On August 13, 1923, the two held a wedding in London, England.
After their marriage, they visited various famous cities in Europe and spent an unforgettable time in their lives.
Because Bethune has a bold, informal and adventurous personality, while Frances has a quiet, introverted and shy personality, as time goes by, the two begin to develop a gap, which damages their mutual respect and love.
One year after their marriage, Bethune and his wife left the UK and officially started practicing medicine in Detroit, USA. Bethune had no children in his life. He was busy working all day long, while Frances stayed at home all day long, feeling very lonely and depressed.
In the summer of 1926, Bethune was diagnosed with tuberculosis. At that time, having tuberculosis was equivalent to receiving a death sentence. One day he said to his wife: “There is something we must talk about. I don’t know what the doctor said to you, but I am going to die, and you are only 25 years old, and you have a whole life ahead of you. I want you to follow me Divorce, go your own way.” Bethune said firmly.
“No! Norman, I won’t leave you, especially now.” Frances said sincerely: “No matter what happens between us, my only wish now is to be with you.” “This makes no sense. I will never do it again. Waste your life. Unless you agree to divorce me, I will never go to the nursing home for treatment.” Bethune had no room for negotiation.
So the two divorced. In the Trudeau Sanitarium, Bethune used pneumothorax therapy, which finally improved his condition. A year later, after being discharged from the hospital, Bethune was hired to teach at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He eagerly gave birth to a child at the train station. Frances sent a telegram: “I have recovered from my illness. I left Trudeau today. My feelings for you are still the same.” Frances has not been in love with anyone else since her divorce. She wrote a letter saying: “Dear, since we are still in love, why should we break up?” The two got married again, when Bethune was 39 years old and Frances was 28 years old.
After the two enjoyed a sweet time that was better than a newlywed, their relationship was in crisis again. One morning when she went to work, Frances asked her husband to buy some meat and vegetables, and to cook some delicious dishes for her husband in the evening. In the afternoon, she returned home in high spirits. When I walked in, I saw my husband sitting on the floor, studying a skeleton intently. She asked: “Have you bought the meat and vegetables?” Her husband said without hesitation: “It’s in the refrigerator.” She opened the refrigerator and saw only a piece of intestines. She frowned and pinched the intestines and said, “Just buy this piece of broken intestines?” Her husband jumped up suddenly and shouted: “Don’t move, those are human intestines!” Frances was so frightened that she yelled “Oh!” and hurriedly threw it down: “How can the intestines of a dead person be put together with the food?” Bethune said without raising his head: “What’s this? Aren’t the cows, sheep, and pork you eat all the organs of dead animals?”
This happened several times, and Frances couldn’t bear it. She felt that Bethune’s heart was not in this family at all. She believed that Bethune wanted to do something big, and she was his obstacle. So after friendly negotiation, the 43-year-old Bethune and Frances divorced again in March 1933.
Bad temper and drunkenness
In September 1936, Spanish rebels supported by German fascists began to attack Madrid. In order to defend the Spanish regime, communists from 54 countries in the world formed the “International Column” to support the Spanish Republican Army in the defense of Madrid. Bethune was one of them.
On November 3, 1936, Bethune came to Madrid, the Spanish capital surrounded by fascist troops, and established a “mobile blood transfusion team” a month later. In early 1937, Alan also arrived in Spain as a war correspondent, and the two met in Madrid in February of that year.
Alan found that although Bethune was an excellent doctor, his bad temper made people around him unbearable. “I hate that guy sometimes. He was drunk again last night and broke the glass when he closed the door.” This is a sentence in Alan’s diary in Spain in February 1937. Bethune often had nightmares. For this reason, he sometimes drove out (or even took an ambulance) in the middle of the night without knowing where he was going. Once there was no news for five days, which made the “International Brigade” and Alan feel very embarrassed.
According to Canadian Michael Petro’s disclosure in “MacLean’s” magazine, in early 1937, a stunningly beautiful Swedish reporter who called herself Kasha went to the headquarters of the blood transfusion team and asked to interview Bethune. According to Bethune’s young assistant Ted Allen, the two disappeared shortly after meeting and spent two days together in a bedroom. Ted accidentally bumped into two naked men; Bethune occasionally showed up when he went out and told people that the reporter was conducting an in-depth interview with him.
In addition to Kasha, Dr. Bai courted many reporters and gained a growing reputation. Canadians read about his achievements in domestic newspapers and were intoxicated by it, so a steady stream of donations were sent to Bethune’s mobile blood transfusion team. However, a few months later, in April 1937, before the end of the Spanish Civil War, Bethune suddenly left Spain.
Documents released at the time stated that on April 19, 1937, Bethune wrote a resignation letter to the head of the military health department. The letter stated that the blood transfusion team was working normally under the management of the Spanish authorities and he was no longer needed, so he would Leave. However, after returning to China, Bethune requested several times to return to Spain, but was rejected by the International Brigade. Bethune wrote to his ex-wife Frances that Spain was “a wound in my heart.”
Why did Bethune leave Spain while the war was still going on? It was not until 60 years later, after the secret files of the Soviet Comintern were declassified, that people discovered that Bethune was forced to leave by the then Spanish government on the grounds that he was accused of rebellion and espionage.
In a report to his superiors, a Spanish official named Juan Elchental explained why Bethune must be removed from the country at all costs. He listed some of Bethune’s faults: “For misconduct and other reasons, he often drank heavily, and his physical and mental condition has never been suitable for leading such delicate work as blood transfusions. … He once took away some jewelry on the pretext that he wanted to He gave it to someone, and later said he was going to Paris to sell it to raise funds for the team. In fact, no one knows what he did with those things. ”
“He spent his money complacently and lavishly, never thinking that the money was often raised penny by penny by the Canadian proletariat in order to express solidarity with Spain. … We have always noticed that he has great enthusiasm for going to the front, no matter what Whenever there is a combat mission; but never for the legitimate purpose of blood transfusion.”
The official then gave the most serious allegation against Bethune: “According to a report that has been sent to the Central Committee of our Party and the Military Ministry of Health, Bethune is suspected of being a major espionage.” interview, and Kasha was suspected of being a fascist.”
Although it was later proven that Bethune’s Swedish lover was not a fascist spy, Bethune’s alcoholism, temper tantrums and other personality styles, as well as his relationship with Kasha, ultimately doomed his departure.
Invited to China by Tao Xingzhi
In September 1936, in order to mobilize overseas Chinese and international friends to support China’s Anti-Japanese War, the famous educationist Mr. Tao Xingzhi went overseas to appeal for help at his own expense. On July 30, 1937, Tao Xingzhi was invited to attend a dinner party for medical friends in Los Angeles, USA, where he met Bethune. As an international anti-fascist fighter, when Bethune heard that Tao Xingzhi came from war-torn China, he immediately held his hand tightly and said without hesitation: “I am willing to go to China if necessary!”
Soon after, Bethune was sent to China by the Communist Party of Canada and the Communist Party of the United States. In the spring of 1938, he arrived in Yan’an and served as a military health consultant in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region. Life was very difficult at that time. There was no milk, bread and fragrant coffee, only coarse grains from the mountain villages, but Bethune endured it. He refused the special care offered to him and was fed and housed like everyone else. At that time, Bethune worked more than 18 hours a day and performed 115 operations in 69 hours.
Alan described Bethune as a “very complex person”. He had shortcomings in treating women and alcohol, and had a bad temper. He often quarreled with Spanish doctors. “But he was very gentle and caring to his patients. It seemed that his personality would suddenly change.” Similar.”
last words before death
In 1939, Bethune was infected during an operation in the Wutai Mountain area and suffered from septicemia. When the CCP leaders learned of the incident, they ordered an all-out rescue effort. When the Shanghai Underground Party of the Communist Party of China received the purchase order including the antibiotic penicillin and other rescue drugs, they were dumbfounded. First, there was such a large demand. Even if they had money, they would not be able to buy so much in Shanghai. Purchased medicines.
In desperation, they found Du Yuesheng in Shanghai for help. Du Yuesheng didn’t say anything for a long time after reading the list. Finally, Du Yuesheng said slowly, this time the medicine order is indeed a bit difficult to handle. It is different from the small things I helped with in the past. However, if a foreigner can risk his life to help us Chinese fight the little Japanese devils, we Chinese ourselves can still do it. There is nothing to say. Please pick up the goods at Huangpu Jiangkou tomorrow night, and I will donate all the expenses.
When this batch of urgently needed medicines arrived in Huangshi Village, Tang County, Bethune was already dying. At this time, two opinions emerged within the CCP. One said that these medicines were too precious, and even if they were used by Bethune, they might not be effective. If they were not effective, it would be in vain. Another opinion is to use it regardless of whether it works. In the end, everyone was deadlocked, so they agreed to listen to Bethune’s own opinion.
So everyone sent an interpreter and two people in charge to ask Dr. Bethune. After Bethune figured out what the visitor meant, he said slowly: “It’s better to use it. For our cause, life is also important.” But what he said in the end became “Forget it, for our sake.” You can also devote your life to your career.”
On November 12, 1939, Bethune finally closed his eyes, but a batch of precious medicines were saved.
Editor in charge: Yi Tian
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