Tributes paid to the 'angel of peace'

A team of 27 Russian residents from Vladivostok, a Russian city that borders Suifenhe, Heilongjiang province, pose for a photo in front of the statue of Galiya Vasilievna Dubieva on April 26. Provided to China Daily

Statue for martyr

On Oct 8, 2009, 64 years after Galiya sacrificed herself during the liberation of Suifenhe, a statue of her was erected in the city's Peace Square.

"In 1984, when I began researching local history, I found the story of Galiya and was deeply moved by this brave young girl," said Sun Boyan, 65, a retired official who initiated erecting the statue. "After that, I began to collect everything about her and had the idea of a statue."

"I received strong support from the government and local entrepreneurs, which helped me realize my dream," said Sun.

He invited world-class sculptors from Russia to design the statue, which took five years to complete.

"The highest-standard bronze was chosen for the statue, which will ensure it lasts for 60,000 years," he said. "We hope Galiya can be remembered for generations."

Preserving peace

In May 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote a letter to the city.

He ended the letter by saying: "Sino-Russian friendship means mutual understanding, trust and common values and benefit. We will remember the past and look forward to the future." Those words were inscribed on the statue in both Russian and Chinese.

On April 26, a motorcade comprising eight cars and 27 people crossed the border from Vladivostok, which borders Suifenhe, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the ending of World War II.

After they reached Suifenhe, the first commemorative act was to present wreaths and flowers to Galiya.

Members of the motorcade included four survivors who experienced the war in their childhood.

"In Russia, lots of people know of this young girl who tried to save the lives of Chinese and Russian soldiers at the end of World War II. There were lots of such heroes in our country during the war," said one of the survivors, Katchenkova Nataliia, 77. "War is cruel and we two peoples suffered profound losses. Now we should try our best to preserve the peace."

Russian newspaper journalist Alexey Mikhailov, 24, was also among the visitors.

"Young people know a lot about the war from history books," said Mikhailov. "During the hard times of war, we two peoples helped each other, and now the common goal of our countries is to protect the peace."

When Wang Lei, a resident of Suifenhe, was crossing Peace Square with his 4-year-old daughter, she asked him, "Who is Galiya?"

He answered, "She is the heroine who helped the city."

Wang said: "In Suifenhe, almost everyone knows the story about Galiya. I often take my daughter to see the statue and tell her something about Galiya. Maybe she is too young to have a deep impression about Galiya now, but I believe that when she grows up, she will understand the profound significance Galiya had for the city and even the country."