Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Moscow/Nanjing, May 7 (Xinhua) — “Thank you for finally finding me,” Alexey Orekhov wrote in a red contact book for relatives of heroes in the Moscow region on the evening of April 30. The book, from the Anti-Japanese War Pilot Martyrs’ Memorial Museum in Nanjing, east China’s Jiangsu Province, was delivered to Moscow by Xinhua correspondents from Nanjing.
In Nanjing and Moscow, there was a simultaneous search for information about the Soviet hero who gave his life while helping the Chinese people fight the Japanese invaders.
The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Great Patriotic War and the World Anti-Fascist War. Xinhua reporters made great efforts to find information about Soviet veterans who helped the Chinese people resist Japanese aggression. They met Alexey Orekhov, who had been trying for years to find out the story of his great-uncle, Soviet volunteer pilot Alexander Orekhov, who participated in the anti-Japanese war. Xinhua reporters began searching for clues in Nanchang, Nanjing and other places, and then contacted the Nanjing Anti-Japanese War Martyrs’ Memorial Museum.
“We are looking for him too! There are a total of 236 Soviet heroes engraved on the Heroes’ Monument, and Alexey Orekhov is the second relative of one of the heroes that we have found. I have been waiting for this moment for many years,” said Miao Lei, an employee of the Nanjing Anti-Japanese War Pilot Martyrs’ Memorial Museum.
At the end of April, Alexey Orekhov received a call from Miao Lei. “I have been looking for information about my great-uncle for many years, and I am very happy to receive this call from Nanjing!” said Alexey Orekhov. During the conversation, he learned that the memorial museum would be sending him a contact book for the relatives of the heroes so that he could contact the descendants of the martyrs and record more stories about them.
In the 1930s, to help China fight the Japanese invaders, more than 2,000 Soviet pilots volunteered to fly for China, and more than 200 of them died heroically. Aleksandr Orekhov, Alexei Orekhov’s great-uncle, was one of them. His name is engraved on the monument to fallen heroes in the memorial museum.
Since last year, the Nanjing Anti-Japanese War Airmen’s Martyrs’ Memorial Museum has been making active efforts to find historical materials, and hopes to find more descendants of the soldiers who died bravely for the victory in the war against Japanese aggression by compiling a contact book for the heroes’ relatives, so that more people can understand, cherish and remember the history of the unyielding struggle and friendship forged in blood and fire. The memorial museum and the heroes’ relatives each hold a copy of the contact book and can exchange messages.
Miao Lei said: “We have looked through the existing Chinese and Russian materials, but we have not found any other records of Alexander Orekhov’s combat experience in China.” In the contact book, the “Combat Experience” page is still empty. “I hope that Alexander Orekhov’s relatives can fill in this page,” Miao Lei said.
Miao Lei studied in Russia and has been collecting materials about Soviet heroes for 20 years. In the contact book given to Alexey Orekhov, Miao Lei wrote the following sentence in Russian: “I studied Russian many years ago and have already forgotten many words. But I remember one word clearly – “hero”. Miao Lei hopes to find more relatives of Soviet heroes in the future and, through joint efforts, “revive” heroic stories from the dust.
Alexey Orekhov showed Xinhua a precious wooden box containing family belongings. Among them are several old, yellowed photographs. A handsome, stately young man, either in a military uniform or a pilot’s uniform, sits with his wife, parents, younger brother, and younger sister. This is Alexander Orekhov, Alexey Orekhov’s great-uncle. He studied in Bryansk and then joined the 61st Fighter Squadron in Bryansk. After the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression began in China, Alexander Orekhov enlisted in the Soviet Volunteer Aviation Corps and went to China to help in the war.
Alexey Orekhov initially knew little about his great-uncle’s experiences in China. Over the course of more than a decade of research and reviewing relevant books, he discovered even more historical records of his grandfather’s exploits. Alexander Kalyagin’s book “On Unknown Roads” mentions how Soviet pilot Alexander Orekhov sacrificed himself to help China. Anatoly Demin’s book “Aviation of the Great Neighbor” details the strategic deployment of an air battle over the Chinese city of Nanchang (Jiangxi Province, East China) in which Alexander Orekhov participated.
According to the information he collected from both sides, on January 9, 1938, 18 Japanese bombers and 21 fighters of the Japanese Air Force carried out an air strike on Nanchang. Fighters with Chinese and Soviet pilots took off to intercept. After fierce fighting, the Chinese side managed to shoot down the Japanese bomber. Alexander Orekhov, unfortunately, died in that battle and was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner by the Soviet military.
From information received by the Russian side, Alexey Orekhov learned that his great-uncle was buried on the outskirts of Nanchang City. He also learned that the Nanjing Anti-Japanese War Airmen’s Memorial Museum might contain “more information.” In connection with this, he made a trip to Nanjing in 2012. At the memorial museum, he took a photo next to a monument to heroes where Alexander Orekhov’s name was engraved, sprinkled soil specially brought from his hometown in front of it, and then brought home a handful of soil from Nanjing.
Recalling that trip to China, he said: “It’s a pity that I didn’t have the opportunity to meet Miao Lei then and didn’t leave my contact.”
13 years later, it was possible to make up for lost time. “It is very important for me to know that the memory of my ancestor is preserved in China and there are people who collect information about what happened to Russian Soviet soldiers in China in the 1930s,” said Alexey Orekhov.
More than 80 years ago, the peoples of the two countries also “went both ways” to achieve victory in the World Anti-Fascist War. The Soviet people provided valuable support to the Chinese people in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and during the difficult times of the Great Patriotic War, many Chinese youth resolutely joined the heroic struggle against fascist Germany.
At the Nanjing Anti-Japanese War Airmen’s Memorial Museum, visitors stop from time to time to read and reflect in front of the historical exhibition board “Heroes Side by Side Created Immortality”. In Nanchang, Wuhan and many other memorial museums of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the history of China and the Soviet Union’s joint struggle against Japanese aggression has been preserved forever. The two countries work hand in hand to pass on this friendship forged in blood and life from generation to generation.
“I never thought I would have such a deep connection with China,” said Alexey Orekhov. He sees the search and memories of this story as emotional bonds that transcend time, space and national boundaries. “It binds my family tightly, as well as two countries — Russia and China.”
Alexey Orekhov told Xinhua that he decided to donate valuable old photos, books and materials to the Nanjing Anti-Japanese War Airmen’s Martyrs Memorial Museum. “We should remember this unforgettable history of shared experience, understand it more deeply, study it and pass on the memories from generation to generation.”
“I hope that this will be the beginning of a long friendship and cooperation. See you soon,” Alexey Orekhov wrote in the contact book for the heroes’ relatives.
The contact book will be handed over by Xinhua correspondents to the Nanjing Anti-Japanese War Pilot Martyrs Memorial Museum and will be kept on the same ground where the Soviet heroes fought to help China. –0–