Cola Podshivoloff
Cola Podshivoloff, or Nicolai Podshivoloff, Chinese name Gao Liang was a Russian engineer. He was a member of the International [Red Cross Committee of Nanking] during the Nanjing Massacre. He was part of an international group of expatriates, resident in Nanking, who set up the Nanking Safety Zone, which is credited as protecting thousands of refugees and tending to injured soldiers from the battlefronts.
Biography
Cola was born on February 1, 1912, in Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, and completed his education at Horvat High School in 1930. On October 8, 1930, he arrived in Shanghai with his aunt, Maria Konovalov, to serve as an apprentice at the Ford Motor Company. Subsequently, on December 20, 1936, he moved to Nanjing to assume the role of supervising engineer for the installation of electrical, heating, and sanitary systems at the East Asia Trading Company.In November 1937, K. Sand Green, proprietor of East Asia Trading Company, departed Nanjing for Peking and requested Cola to manage his properties in his absence. In late November, Cola joined the International Red Cross Committee of Nanking and safeguarded Chinese refugees from the horrors committed by the Imperial Japanese Army. Cola had a particular part of play within this group of expatriates, since he was a Japanese speaker. Following the cessation of the Nanjing Committee's operations in June 1938, Cola continued in his role as an automotive mechanic in Nanjing.
In October 1945, Cola was apprehended by the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics of the Nationalist Government, and his residence was subjected to a search. On September 6, 1946, the Prosecutor's Office of the High Court of the Capital, citing Article 2, Item 1, Paragraphs 1 and 7 of the Regulations on the Punishment of Traitors, lodged an indictment against Cola, alleging his role as a Japanese secret agent, facilitating the Japanese army's movements, and participating in the fatal assault on Ding Shijun. On September 15, 1947, the First Division of the Criminal Court of the High Court of the Capital exonerated him.