Author: Jiang Heping
My father Jiang Tao left behind two old photos taken in the volunteer prisoner-of-war camp, one is a group photo of Wang Zhonghua and 17 other volunteer prisoner-of-war cadres in December 1950, and Wang Zhonghua's smile in the middle of the photo is very bright.
In December 1950, the former squatters of the Volunteer Army Prisoner of Custody Office were 1 Yao Shirui, 2 Xu Zhenghao, 3 Tang, and 5 Chen Hanbo.
Later Li 2 Han Ji Chong 4 Xu Guofu 5 Chen Shicheng 6 Wang Zhonghua 7 Jiang Jia 8 Mei Yongxi 10 Liu Yufeng
The other is the scene of the American prisoners of war walking into the peace venue on February 2, 1951, and the mental outlook of the prisoners of war is relaxed and relaxed.
When my father was the head of the intelligence department of the Volunteer Command, the interrogation of prisoners was one of his main tasks, so I have always paid attention to the historical data of the Volunteer camps. In the spring of 2012, I listened twice to Uncle Wang Zhonghua's memories of his past at the Bitong Prisoner of War Camp. Unfortunately, half a year later, Uncle Wang Zhonghua died of illness.
I have seen many stories of volunteer prisoner-of-war camps in recent years, as one British lieutenant colonel prisoner of war put it: "Chinese soldiers have rewritten the history of world prisoners of war." ”
On February 22, 2012, Jiang Heping accompanied his mother Zhang Jin (1st from right) to visit an old comrade-in-arms of the Intelligence Department
He Bin (4th from right) Wang Zhonghua (3rd from right) Liang Fushen (2nd from right)
First, Bitong Mountain Village is suddenly bustling
The two sides negotiated: Prisoners of war of the United Nations army were mainly managed by the Volunteer Army, and prisoners of war of the South Korean Army were mainly managed by the Korean People's Army.
On November 5, 1950, after the end of the first campaign to resist the United States and aid Korea, the Chinese Volunteer Army and the Korean People's Army drove the "United Nations Army" from the Yalu River to the south bank of the Cheongcheon River, 200 kilometers away, initially stabilizing the Korean war situation. The campaign annihilated more than 15,000 enemy soldiers and captured a large number of prisoners of war, some of whom were concentrated in Bitong County.
Volunteer Camp of Bitong Prisoner of War
Bitong County is located on the south bank of the Yalu River in the west of the border between China and North Korea, facing mountains on one side and the river on three sides, and has only 200 households due to inconvenient transportation. After the outbreak of the Korean War, the houses here were blown to rubble by the US military. Yang Lin, director of the Security Department of the Political Department of the Volunteer Army, sent cadres to investigate and select the site and decided to prepare for the establishment of a prisoner-of-war camp here. The officers and men of the volunteer army repaired the houses that had been damaged, brought bricks, wood, cement, lime and other building materials from the northeast of our country, built some simple houses on the rubble, and built camps.
The originally quiet village suddenly became lively, and the number of people increased sharply to more than a thousand, and eating, wearing and living became a problem. Although Bitong is across the river from Kuandian County in Liaoning Province, China, it is inconvenient to transport, transportation is difficult, and the supply and supply are extremely tight. In the middle of winter, with ice and snow and slippery mountain roads, the officers and men of the Volunteer Army were not afraid of sacrifice, overcame difficulties, and completed the task of preparation and resettlement in a very short period of time.
2. The Prisoner of War Management Office was formally established
On April 24, 1951, the "Prisoner of War Management Office of the Political Department of the Chinese Volunteer Army" was formally established in Bitong, with Wang Yanggong as the director and Xu Yuanfu, Xi Yi, and Shang Xuewen as the deputy directors. The POW Has a Secretarial Section, a Registration Section, an Organization Section, a Research Section, a Press Section, a Security Section, a Recreation Section, a Supply Section, a Health Section, a Hospital, a Film Brigade, a Transport Team, and a Guard Battalion. The PRC manages 5 captive regiments, 2 captive brigades, and 2 captive shelters located near the Korean side of the China-NORTH Korea border in Bitong, Changcheng, Yanshi, Tiancang, Weiyuan, Sui'an, and Chengchuan.
Just after the end of the first campaign, the Intelligence Department of the Central Military Commission in Beijing decided to set up the first batch of intelligence work research groups to secretly go to the Korean battlefield, one of its tasks was to obtain intelligence by interrogating UN prisoners of war. My father, Jiang Tao, who was then deputy director of the Reconnaissance Department of the Intelligence Department, was the leader of the group, and the group consisted of Wang Zhonghua and eight other members.
In November 1950, Jiang Tao led the first batch of intelligence work research groups to leave Beijing for the dprk
Xu Zhenghao, Zhao Rui, Wang Zhonghua, Jiang Tao, Chen Hanbo, Zhu Hua, Zhu Yongqi, Jiang Jia, Liu Yufeng
The research team crossed the Yalu River from Kuandian, Jilin province into North Korea, and used the night to make a difficult progress in the ice and snow. Six members of the research group, Liu Yufeng, Zhu Hua, Wang Zhonghua, Chen Hanbo, Jiang Jia, and Xu Zhenghao, came to Bitong to participate in the captive work. Wang Zhonghua recalled that when he was too young, he smiled and said: "In order to appear mature and sophisticated in front of prisoners of war, I learned to smoke in the prisoner of war camp. ”
Most of the cadres in captivity are selected and dispatched by the Political Department, intelligence department, liaison department, investigation department, and other departments of the Central Military Commission, and most of them are cadres with long-term relevant work experience. Director Wang Yanggong graduated from Fu Jen University in Beijing, served as the director of the Enemy Engineering Department of the Northeast Military Region, and has been engaged in enemy engineering work for a long time. Deputy Director Xi Yi received espionage training during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and was former deputy director of the Intelligence Department of the Central Military Commission at the Prisoner of War. Chief Wang Dagang of the Research Section served as deputy military attaché of the Military Attaché Department in Korea and provided important intelligence support.
There are more than 200 captive translators, mainly English translators, most of whom are young students who have just left school and are newly recruited. In the early days of the founding of New China, there were very few foreign language talents in China, and there was a shortage of talents in the translation of a few languages. Since UN troops came from 16 countries, communication with non-English-speaking prisoners of war was a challenge. The Turkish army that went to Korea to fight was a brigade of 6,000 people, and it was impossible to find a translator who understood Turkish at home, making the management of Turkish prisoners of war very difficult. After many efforts, a Russian who knew Turkish was found in Xinjiang, and he was equipped with a Russian translator, and after a second translation, the mood of the Turkish prisoners of war was stabilized.
3. Release and disintegrate prisoners of war in the line of fire
During the entire period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, there were about 20,000 PRISONERs of war of the United Nations Army, and a considerable number of them were released on the front line. Only more than 5,000 people were held in the prisoner-of-war camp, including about 3,000 American prisoners of war, more than 1,000 British prisoners of war, more than 200 Turkish prisoners of war, and dozens or several prisoners of war of other countries.
Initially, the PRISONERs of war resisted desperately when they were captured, believing rumors that the Chinese army was mistreating the prisoners, fearing being beheaded, gouged out their eyes, and cut their noses. The volunteers' release of prisoners of war on the battlefield effectively dismantled the enemy. On November 11, 1950, in order to publicize the volunteer army's preferential prisoner policy, Peng Dehuai, Deng Hua, and Du Ping jointly sent a telegram to the Central Military Commission, proposing the release of 103 prisoners of war (27 American prisoners and 76 Li prisoners). On the 12th, Chairman Mao called back: "It is very good that you release a group of prisoners of war, you should release them quickly, and then release them in batches at any time, and do not ask for instructions." On the same day, Peng Dehuai ordered: immediate release. The captives gave brief education to the PRISONERs, giving them haircuts, baths, changing clothes, feeding them, and were sent across the cordon in four trucks. The release of prisoners of war by the volunteer line of arms shook the world and caused great panic among the U.S. military authorities, desperately trying to block the news.
Volunteer prisoners of war cut their hair
When the volunteers released the prisoners of war, in addition to their personal belongings, they also distributed travel expenses, souvenirs and "security passes", and the prisoners of war were grateful. The PRISONERS cherished the Volunteers' Security Pass as an amulet and said, "Being a prisoner of war is safer than combat." ”
Canada's Vancouver Daily reported: "Chinese countless times to release american wounded prisoners back to their positions, some of the wounded could not walk, and when Chinese could not be carried, they put the wounded in a place and then gave them a white flag so that they could mark their positions with American troops." In his book The Korean War, the American writer said: "Chinese showed astonishing sympathy for captives, especially the wounded. The volunteer army used facts to crush the lie that "the Chinese army tortured and killed prisoners of war."
4. Prisoners of war shall be treated equally
In accordance with the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Peng Dehuai and Kim Il Sung jointly signed an order on the leniency of prisoners of war with four provisions: 1. Ensure the safety of prisoners of war' lives. (2) Keep the personal belongings of prisoners of war. 3. Do not insult the personality of prisoners of war and do not mistreat prisoners of war. 4. If a prisoner of war is wounded or sick, he shall be treated.
Prisoner-of-war camps exercised military control over prisoners of war, established normal order, improved prisoner-of-war archives, and treated all prisoners of war equally, regardless of nationality, race, creed, colour, rank or culture. The Bitong POW camp had no high walls, watchtowers, or barbed wire, and only two soldiers stood guard at the gate. When the Bitong POW camp was first built with few manpower and the work was not on the right track, two terrified prisoners of war took the opportunity to escape. But where to run when it is snowy, with lofty mountains and mountains and no road on the water? The prisoners of war were captured by the Korean people and sent back, and our captive management cadres criticized and educated them without punishment.
The Establishment of the Bitong Prisoner of War Camp was initially overcrowded, the supply of various materials was tight, and cigarettes were even more scarce. A U.S. prisoner of war asked for a gold watch for a pack of cigarettes, and the captive officer said: "The volunteers are not insulting to the prisoners of war, they don't want personal property, you put away the watch, I can give you some cigarettes." "There are many things like this that are not moved by the temptation of prisoners of war gold watches, gold rings, etc.
Some of the prisoners of war were captured by the Japanese during World War II, and american and British officers and soldiers personally experienced two very different types of prisoner of war treatment. The Japanese brutally saw them as walking dead, punched and kicked, forced to do hard work, and killed at will. And the volunteers said kindly to them in English: "Don't be afraid, the volunteers give preferential treatment to prisoners of war." The house they lived in was warm, new cotton clothes and blankets were distributed, the food was hot, and some prisoners of war even said, "I don't look like a prisoner of war at all, but like a guest." ”
The standard of food for prisoners of war was slightly higher than that of the volunteer army's large stove. When a U.S. prisoner of war ate bread, he cut off the crust around the bread and ate only the heart of the bread inside. He saw our soldiers take away the bread crust and asked why? The warrior replied, "Give it to our wounded and sick, we can't eat the crust, but you're eating the heart of the bread." "This particularly touched the American prisoners of war.
Peter, a British prisoner of war in a camp, suffered from acute pneumonia and was dying of pneumonia. At that time, there were only 10 bottles of life-saving penicillin in the whole group, what to do? Qian Hua, director of the health department, and Huang Yuan, a military doctor, asked the regimental commander Zhang Zhisun, and the regimental commander clearly replied: "Use it when you should use it!" The Volunteers, who had saved Peter's life twice on the battlefield and in a prisoner-of-war camp, burst into tears of excitement. At the end of the last century, Peter came to China four times to give thanks, which had a great impact on China and Britain.
Prisoners of war of the "United Nations Army" undergo medical examinations
5. Special international universities
The POW camps of the Volunteer Army were known as the "World's First Class POW Camps" and also known as the "International University". Director Wang Yanggong of the Prisoner of War Management Office said to the prisoners of war in English at the meeting: "Students! This is not a prison, it is not a concentration camp, it is not a penal colony, this is a school. In this special school, let us learn together and pursue the truth together! He talked about China's modern history, the principle of victory for the Chinese and Korean people, and the policy of the volunteer army to treat prisoners leniently, and said that the prisoners of war nodded their heads in praise.
Captive control cadres organized prisoners of war to read newspapers, listen to radio broadcasts, listen to reports, broadcast movies, hold symposia, and carry out entertainment activities to help them understand the nature of the Korean War and expose the crimes of the United Nations forces. Activists among prisoners of war run their own newspapers to introduce the progress of the armistice negotiations that they are most concerned about, to spread the anti-war voices of the people of the world, to publish letters from their families, to convey the calls of relatives and friends, and to share the changes in understanding.
"UN" PRISONERs of war read newspapers
At the end of 1951, the prisoners of war celebrated their first Christmas in the camp. The captive officer said: "We are not religious, but we respect your religious beliefs and customs, and we sympathize with you for not being able to go home and spend Christmas with your loved ones." The captive control cadres organized prisoners of war to celebrate the Christmas party, and on Christmas Eve, colorful archways were erected in the square, a large Christmas tree full of ornaments made by prisoners of war was erected, and English slogans such as "Merry Christmas", "Strive for Peace" and "Oppose War" were posted everywhere. The priests accompanying the PRISONERs of war do Mass, santa claus dressed as prisoners of war send blessings, everyone sings Christmas songs, the wounded and sick prisoners are comforted, everyone is given candy and gifts, the Dishes of Christmas Dinner are colorful, and the lively scenes make the PRISONERs ecstatic.
The prisoners of war celebrate Christmas on December 25, 1951
The "United Nations Army" PRISONERS were entertaining
From November 15 to 27, 1952, Bitong held a large-scale "Bitong Prisoner of War Camp Olympic Games". Through the selection of various captive groups and captive control teams, more than 500 representatives of POW athletes from 14 countries and regions participated. After the grand opening ceremony, 27 competitions were held in athletics, ball games, gymnastics, boxing, wrestling, and tug-of-war. At the same time, more than 200 prisoners of war participated in cultural and entertainment programs, performed wonderful literary and artistic programs, and screened movies. At the end of the competition, a grand award ceremony was held, and the prizes were exquisite handicrafts from China. Each participant was also given a souvenir and a medallion, and the prisoners of war said with great emotion that the games "will go down in history and will never be forgotten." ”
POW Camp Olympic Awards Ceremony
POW Camp Olympic football match
6. Obtaining information on the interrogation of prisoners
Interrogation of prisoners is one of the important sources of military intelligence, and prisoners of war are usually first examined by combat troops on the front line and then partially sent to prisoner-of-war camps in the rear. Through the interrogation of prisoners, our army learns about the enemy's operational deployment, information on the chief officer, troop establishment, weaponry and equipment, training, military academies, combat effectiveness, combat history, and other information, and after comprehensive analysis and collation, promptly reports to the superiors and friendly forces, so as to provide a reliable basis for the commander to command the operation.
In January 1951, Deputy Commander Hong Xuezhi personally interrogated the five captured U.S. company commanders. One of the PRISONERs who participated in World War II said, "You don't have the same way of fighting, so how did you get behind our butts?" I hate this style of play. Hong Xuezhi said: "When you fight a war, you push it flat, and when we fight a war, it is interspersed, roundabout, and enveloping, which shows that our tactics are effective." The prisoner of war said, "Our soldiers are in groups, one company, one battalion." You soldiers are brave, and three or five of you will do it. Another prisoner of war said: "Wars are fought during the day and rested at night." How do you fight at night, and make us sit restlessly. Hong Xuezhi said: "This is our characteristic, so we can defeat you." After interrogation, Hong Xuezhi learned about the enemy situation and summarized the results of the interrogation.
Under the influence of my policy of leniency, prisoners of war were mostly able to truthfully provide the information they knew, including more tactical intelligence. The highest-ranking of the PRISONERs of war was Major General Dean, commander of the U.S. 24th Division, who provided information on the U.S. 24th Division and the West Point Military Academy. A black American prisoner pilot explained: "The MiG-15 fighter aircraft made by the Soviet Army has a light load and a fast rise. When I flew the AMERICAN F-86 fighter jet to chase down your MiG-15, I pulled the nose of the aircraft and opened fire, and the hit rate was extremely high. "My prisoner cadres informed our Air Force of this information, and our pilots quickly made tactical adjustments: when the MiG-15 was chased, it was raised to the sides, and the losses were greatly reduced.
Prisoner of War Sinkley, commander of a battalion of the U.S. 9th Infantry Regiment, was examined as a former military attaché at the U.S. Embassy in old China and learned about U.S. military deployments in Korea and the intelligence system in old China. Based on his confession, our intelligence personnel compiled the "Sporadic Materials on THE INTELLIGENCE Work of the US Imperialist Empire and the Brief Situation of the Work of Military Attachés," which is the earliest and most systematic research material for the work of military attachés of foreign armed forces and provides an important reference and reference for the work of military attachés of our army in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Seventh, show up to reveal the truth
On January 28, 1952, the ice and snow in northern Korea were suddenly scattered with flies, fleas and other pests, and carried high-allergenic infectious diseases. China and the DPRK strongly protested the use of germ weapons by the US side, but the US side denied this physical evidence.
The search for witnesses to the US "germ warfare" is very difficult, and we can only start with prisoners of war. The US military has conducted strict anti-interrogation training for relevant personnel and formulated strict disciplinary measures for leaking secrets. After a long period of work, sincere indoctrination, and arduous research, the captive cadres finally reassured Quinn, Inac, O'Neill and other captured U.S. pilots and confessed to the crime of participating in germ warfare.
In May 1952, a joint investigation team of multinational experts and journalists came to Bitong and questioned the captured American pilots. Quinn and other prisoners of war gave the international investigation mission details of the bombs thrown with insects such as flower flies and black fleas, and confessed: "I dropped germ bombs and participated in this dirty war, and some of them were only ashamed and remorseful!" ”。 The joint investigation mission made a live recording, wrote a written report and published it to the public, which aroused unanimous condemnation in world public opinion. Although the US authorities have covered up this, there is human and physical evidence, and denial can only be futile.
Eighth, the real picture is right or wrong
In accordance with international practice, our side set up a very conspicuous "POW (Prisoner of War Camp)" sign in the Bitong Prisoner of War Camp, but in the early days of its establishment, it was still unable to stop the indiscriminate bombardment of US aircraft. In a bombing campaign, the captive control cadres guided the terrified PRISONERs of war to quickly enter the air raid shelter to hide, or caused 3 deaths and 2 wounds to the prisoners of war, and the prisoners of war were angry and cursed. After the Korean armistice talks were held in Kaesong on July 10, 1951, our side issued a serious warning about this, and the United States stopped bombing and harassment.
Black prisoners of war of the "United Nations Army" in a volunteer prisoner-of-war camp
On November 14, 1951, the U.S. military held a press conference in Busan to slander that Chinese troops had killed 5,500 U.S. prisoners of war and 290 other Allied prisoners of war in Korea. When the news reached the prisoner-of-war camp, the prisoners of war blew up the pot: "People are obviously still alive, how can they be said to be dead?" Aren't you going to want us? They marched and shouted: "The U.S. government has withdrawn its troops from North Korea!" He also published the "Letter to peace-loving people around the world" and the captive cadres delivered letters to the prisoners of war and their families through different channels, and sent out 120,000 prisoners of war letters and more than 60,000 photos in more than two years. British Secretary of State of War Hurd said: "From the more than 6,000 letters we know of them [referring to prisoners of war] to relatives, almost unanimously say that their treatment is quite good. ”
The "Un Army" prisoners of war read the letter
In April 1953, the Panmunjom armistice negotiations resumed again. On the 11th, the two sides signed an agreement on the repatriation of wounded and sick prisoners. Du Ping, director of the Political Department of the Volunteer Army in charge of the work of prisoners of war, demanded: The Ministry of Health of the Logistics Department of the Volunteer Army sent people to the Bitong Prisoner of War Camp to comfort and finally treat each repatriated wounded and sick prisoner of war one by one, organize their cases into Chinese and English files and transfer them, and mobilize medical teams and automobile regiments to repatriate them in batches according to the severity of their injuries and illnesses.
Soon after the establishment of the Bitong POW camp, the captive officers found the prisoner frank. Noel was an Associated Press war photojournalist, so he was hired as a non-editorial photographer for the POW Camp Publicity Section. The Tokyo bureau of the Associated Press rejected obstruction from the U.S. military hierarchy, provided Frank with cameras and film, and reached an underground hotline with him for "exclusive coverage of the POW camp." For more than two years, Frank took countless photographs in the prisoner-of-war camp, hundreds of which were published in public, allowing him to not only find the value of life, but also to make a fortune. It was these rare photographs that left a real picture and spread to the world the fact that the Chinese army was humanitarianizing prisoners of war.
Associated Press war photographer Frank Knoll (1st from left) at a prisoner-of-war camp
From the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953, to the abolition of the PW Prisoner of War Management Office in September, our army repatriated all prisoners of war. Among them, 21 American prisoners of war and 1 British prisoner of war refused to return to their places of origin, choosing to stay in China, which was still very poor at the time. Prisoner of war Winaris, who lived in China for 50 years, said: "It was during my two and a half years in the prisoner-of-war camp that I gradually gained the truth and the true ideal of life. ”
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【Author:Jiang Heping】