Yan Mingguang, 88

Now a resident in Xinzhuang, Yan Mingguang attended the September 3 military parade in Beijing as the daughter of Yan Baohang, a Chinese intelligence agent who made great contributions to the war for both China and Russia.

Yan said her father was a man determined to save the nation.

“My father’s only wish was to drive the Japanese army out of the country,” said Yan. “Both my younger brother and I were born during the war, so we were given patriotic names. My name means “restore the nation.” My brother Mingfu’s name means “welcome the brightness.”

Born in Liaoning Province in northeastern China, Yan Baohang was a secret agent in the Communist Party of China, but with a dual identity. He was also able to infiltrate high levels of the Kuomingtang. He obtained valuable intelligence about the pending German attack on the Soviet Union and on the deployment of the Japan’s Kwangtung Army in northeastern China. He also managed to pass on intelligence about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to the Soviet Union, though it was discounted by the Americans.

In 1937, Yan joined the Communist Party. His only liaison was Zhou Enlai, who was later to become the first premier of the People’s Republic of China.

In 1941, a German military delegation visited Chongqing, and Yan Baohang was invited to a welcoming cocktail party. At the event, he found the atmosphere so light that his suspicions were aroused. He asked educator Yu Youren, a local Kuomingtang official, what the German guests were celebrating.

Yu told him that Germany was planning to attack the Soviet Union on June 22. Yan immediately cross-checked the information with Sun Fo, son of Sun Yat-sen, and the latter confirmed the report.

Yan immediately found an excuse to leave the party and pass the intelligence to the Communist Party, which in turn informed Joseph Stalin. The Soviet leader was at first suspicious about the intelligence until a surrendered German official confirmed it to him. The Soviet army was prepared.

On June 30, Stalin sent a telegram to the Community Party, thanking it for Yan’s intelligence.

In 1944, Yan was asked by the Communist Party to gather intelligence about the deployment of the Japan’s Kwangtung Army. He was told a deployment plan was stored in the offices of the No. 3 Department of the Military, a core area of the Kuomingtang army. Yan wormed his way into the favor of Niu Xianming, a deputy director of the department.

At the same time, a Kuomingtang official had asked Yan to investigate reports that Japan was planning to attack the Soviet Union. That made his task a bit easier. He told Niu that he needed the deployment plan because he was working under orders of the Kuomingtang. Niu gave it to him for three days.

Yan immediately reported his findings to the Communist Party, which passed the information on to the Soviet Union.

In 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, President Boris Yeltsin of Russia awarded the Jubilee Medal to Yan and two of his comrades for their contributions to the victory.

Yan Baohang died in 1968.

“My father’s contributions remained unknown until recent years,” said Yan Mingguang. “But among us children, he was always a true hero and influenced our view on the nation and world.”Qin Zhipei, 94

In Zhaojialou Ancient Town of Minhang, a residential house bears the nameplate “Former Residence of the Martyr Gu Zhen.”

“My husband left me for the war 73 years ago, and I never saw him again,” said Gu’s wife, Qin Zhipei. “I have never forgotten him, not even for one day.”

Gu was a young teacher at the Chenhang Elementary School when they first met.

“I was only 12 years old, just starting junior high school,” said Qin.

Four years later, in 1940, they married. At that time, Gu was officially headmaster of the school, but, in actuality, he had secretly organized a small anti-Japanese guerrilla unit.

As the war escalated, Gu decided to merge his guerrilla fighters with the Kuomingtang army, which had surrendered to the Japanese army.

“He didn’t want to surrender,” Qin said. “He wanted to instigate a rebellion among the ranks of the surrendered army.”

On December 23, 1940, Gu and his guerrilla group occupied the army headquarters, disarming its high-ranking officials. Then he went into the army camp, calling on foot soldiers to join the rebel cause.

“He said those who wanted to follow him would be mobilized to fight the Japanese,” Qin said. “Those who declined were free to leave and go home. No one left.”

Gu’s group of more than 240 rebels moved to the former Nanhui County, where they linked up with a local unit of the Communist Party army.

For his actions, Gu landed on the top-wanted list of the Japanese. He was forced to go underground. By day, he worked as a simple elementary school teacher; by night, he kept close contact with Communist Party forces.

He frequently shuttled between Shanghai and Jiangsu Province, where the party’s New Fourth Army was bivouacked.

“He concealed weapons at home, and told me to keep them safe no matter what,” Qin recalled. “He said the weapons were seized from our soldiers’ sacrifices.”

In December, 1941, Gu was arrested by forces loyal to the Kuomingtang.

“I remember it was a Monday, and he walked me to the bus stop to work,” said Qin. “I was pregnant, and he was about to leave for Jiangsu again. I never thought it would be the last time we would see each other.”

On February 5, 1942, Gu was killed in Qingpu District. Qin, however, did not receive official notice of his death until the spring of 1952, when she was given a “Martyr’s Certificate” honoring her husband.

“All those years, I kept waiting and waiting, always hoping he would return,” she said. “He never did. My daughter never met her father, but I told her about him. For the past 73 years, I’ve never forgotten him.”Zhu Liqi, 90

“In 1937, when the Japanese attacked Shanghai, I was about to start junior high school in Minhang.

“I remember the endless roaring of planes overhead, day and night. Bombing and gunning were frequent. At such sounds, people cried and screamed and ran from the streets. Many innocent civilians were killed anyway.

“People who didn’t go to war also fought the Japanese invaders in their own ways. Stores removed all Japanese goods from their shelves, and our teachers encouraged us to stay resolute.

“But, eventually, my family had to evacuate the district to escape the war. We moved to the French Concession downtown in search of safer ground.

“My father worked with a group actively opposing the Japanese occupation when I was in high school.

“Those days were really difficult for us. Food and daily necessities were in short supply. We were haunted by starvation and deprived of sleep.

“But one of my teachers told us that ancient Chinese essays said gods make us suffer to empower us, and we should always remember that during our time of suffering.

“The education I received against such a backdrop stayed with me the rest of my life.”