Experts find WWII Soviet soldiers’ remains
Print Edition
A Sino-Russian project to locate the remains of Soviet soldiers who fell in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province while helping defend China against Japanese invaders in 1945 has identified at least 15 burial sites.
The Soviet Red Army sent troops to northeast China on August 9, 1945. A total of 413 Soviet soldiers died during the Battle of Huoshao Mountain in Heilongjiang’s Muling City.
The search for their remains on Huoshao Mountain and surrounding villages is one of many activities marking the 70th anniversary of the Allies’ victory in World War II.
During a preliminary survey, which took about 10 days and concluded yesterday with the six Russian experts leaving Heilongjiang, the team found 10 pieces of bone that they suspect are from Soviet soldiers. They also discovered bullets, mortar parts and boots worn by the Japanese.
A more thorough follow-up search, which will last a month, starts on May 10. It will involve a 17-member Russian team, and tentative plans are under discussion over whether the remains will be sent back to Russia or housed in a new memorial cemetery on the site.
Seniors living around Huoshao Mountain still recall what happened in the fierce battle there 70 years ago.
Ji Yaozong was 12 in 1945 and can still remember the sound of bombs falling from the sky while he was hiding in an air-raid shelter. The air raids ignited fires that burned for days, which is where Huoshao got its name — which means “fire burning” in Chinese.
Zhang Ke was eight at the time of the battle. Five months later, he went to Hualin Village near the mountain and saw bodies half buried in snow.
“The bodies were piled on top of each other,” he recalled. “The Japanese had caps with earflaps, while the Soviet soldiers had steel helmets.”
Even after several years, Ji Yaozong said bones were still scattered on the mountain.
“I got used to seeing them. I was not scared by it,” he said.
It is these remains that the Sino-Russian team has been uncovering over the past 10 days.
“We are trying to preserve our collective memory of when we helped the Chinese drive the Japanese out of the northeast,” said Roman Chukmasov, deputy head of the Russian team.
“We want to let our people know what happened 70 years ago on this land.”
It took the team a two-hour walk from their lodgings to reach the search sites, where they had to be on the lookout for unexploded bombs.
However, for Chukmasov, it was worth it. “The search itself is meaningful enough,” he said. “We have been able to touch history with our own hands.”
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