In Memory of Norman Bethune

#PUBLICATION NOTE

This edition of In Memory of Norman Bethune has been prepared and revised for digital publication by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism under the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Switzerland on the basis of the edition published in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Volume 2, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1965.

#INTRODUCTION NOTE

This is an obituary written for Comrade Norman Bethune by Comrade Mao Zedong in Yan'an, China, on the 21st of December, 1939. It was first published in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Volume 2, in 1951.

The distinguished surgeon Norman Bethune was a member of the Communist Party of Canada. In 1936, when the German and Italian fascist bandits invaded Spain, he went to the front and worked for the anti-fascist Spanish people. In order to help the Chinese people in their War of Resistance Against Japan, he came to China at the head of a medical team and arrived in Yan'an in the spring of 1938. Soon after, he went to the Shanxi-Chaha'er-Hebei Border Area. Imbued with ardent internationalism and the great Communist spirit, he served the army and the people of the Liberated Areas for nearly two years. He contracted blood poisoning while operating on wounded soldiers and died in Tang County, Hebei, on the 12th of November, 1939.

#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!

#IN MEMORY OF NORMAN BETHUNE

#Mao Zedong

#21st of December, 1939

#★

Comrade Norman Bethune, a member of the Communist Party of Canada, was around 50 years old when he was sent by the Communist Parties of Canada and the United States to China; he made light of travelling thousands of miles to help us in our War of Resistance Against Japan. He arrived in Yan'an in the spring of last year, went to work in the Wutai Mountains, and, to our great sorrow, died a martyr at his post. What kind of spirit is this that makes a foreigner selflessly adopt the cause of the Chinese people's liberation as their own? It is the spirit of internationalism, the spirit of Communism, from which every Chinese Communist must learn. Leninism teaches that the world revolution can only succeed if the proletariat of the capitalist countries supports the struggle for liberation of the colonial and semi-colonial peoples and if the proletariat of the colonies and semi-colonies supports that of the proletariat of the capitalist countries.¹ Comrade Bethune put this Leninist line into practice. We Chinese Communists must also follow this line in our practice. We must unite with the proletariat of all the capitalist countries, with the proletariat of Japan, Britain, the United States, Germany, Italy, and all other capitalist countries, for this is the only way to overthrow imperialism, to liberate our nation and people, and to liberate the other nations and peoples of the world. This is our internationalism, the internationalism with which we oppose both narrow nationalism and narrow patriotism.

Comrade Bethune's spirit, his utter devotion to others without any thought of self, was shown in his great sense of responsibility in his work and his great warmheartedness toward all comrades and the people. Every Communist must learn from him. There are not a few people who are irresponsible in their work, preferring the light and shirking the heavy, passing the burdensome tasks on to others, and choosing the easy ones for themselves. At every turn, they think of themselves before others. When they make some small contribution, they swell with pride and brag about it for fear that others will not know. They feel no warmth toward comrades and the people, but are cold, indifferent, and apathetic. In truth, such people are not Communists, or at least cannot be counted as devoted Communists. No one who returned from the front failed to express admiration for Bethune whenever his name was mentioned, and none remained unmoved by his spirit. In the Shanxi-Chaha'er-Hebei Border Area, no soldier or civilian was unmoved who had been treated by Dr. Bethune or had seen how he worked. Every Communist must learn this true Communist spirit from Comrade Bethune.

Comrade Bethune was a doctor, the art of healing was his profession, and he was constantly perfecting his skill, which stood very high in the Eighth Route Army's medical service. His example is an excellent lesson for those people who wish to change their work the moment they see something different and for those who despise technical work as of no consequence or as promising no future.

Comrade Bethune and I met only once. Afterward, he wrote me many letters. But I was busy, and I wrote him only one letter and do not even know if he ever received it. I am deeply grieved over his death. Now we are all commemorating him, which shows how profoundly his spirit inspires everyone. We must all learn the spirit of absolute selflessness from him. With this spirit, everyone can be very useful to the people. A person's ability may be great or small, but if they have this spirit, they are already noble-minded and pure, a person of moral integrity and above vulgar interests, a person who is of value to the people.