On May 29, 1989, People's Daily published Mr. Wang Huajun's article "Snubbed Monument", which recorded that he found a "Monument to the Death of Chongqing Firefighters" that had been neglected for 23 years in Chongqing People's Park.
This monument was built by all walks of life in Chongqing After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, to commemorate the 81 firefighters who died heroically in the fire caused by the Japanese invading army bombing Chongqing.
From May 1940 to March 1945, the Japanese invaders' aircraft carried out a brutal and indiscriminate bombardment of Chongqing, a total of 96 times, with as many as 296 fire sites.
In particular, the bombing of August 19, 1940 shocked China and foreign countries. From 2:15 a.m. to 1:40 p.m., the Japanese plane dropped a large number of incendiary bombs on 25 streets, alleys and areas in Chongqing in three periods.
The mountain city of Chongqing is densely populated and lined with houses that are mostly wooden structures, and after the fire, the fire spread in pieces.
In order to save the lives and property of the people, the Chongqing Municipal Fire Brigade and the Private Fire Fighting Association went all out to fight against the air raids, and 81 people died heroically. Of these, 74 people were killed in the "8.19" bombing alone.
In order to commemorate the merits of the fire martyrs and comfort the heroic souls of the martyrs, all walks of life in Chongqing Organized a monument donation in 1947. On August 19, 1947, the "Monument to the Death of Firefighters in Chongqing" was inaugurated in Central Park (now People's Park). The monument is a stone structure, sitting north to south, with a height of 7.34 meters.
The Chongqing Municipal Government held a grand commemorative event here and decided to designate August 19 as the Chongqing Fire Festival, which will be commemorated every year. This is the first fire festival in Chinese history to be determined by a local government.
Mr. Wang Huajun, with reverence for the firefighters who did not fear danger, called for the restoration of the original appearance of this monument destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and the restoration of the monument to prove that future generations will never forget history.
After the article was published, not many people in the fire protection community read it, but there was a person with a heart who deeply felt the educational significance of this article and cut it out and collected it, he was Mr. Wang Li, who was the director of the Publicity Department of the Fire Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security at the time.
In 1992, the People's Government of Yuzhong District of Chongqing Municipality announced that this monument was a district-level cultural relics protection unit and restored it, and it is now basically intact.
In the late 1990s of last century, the Science Popularization Education Working Committee of the China Fire Protection Association and the Jiangsu Provincial Fire Bureau jointly organized the compilation of the "General History of Fire Protection in China", mr. Wang Li served as the deputy editor-in-chief, he took out a newspaper clipping, and suggested that the monument should be written into the "General History of Fire Protection in China".
Therefore, Mr. Li Caiqin, the editor-in-chief, sent a letter to Wang Qinlin, chief of the Chongqing Municipal Fire Brigade, and Zhou Jianxiu, the political commissar, asking them to help understand the construction process and current situation of the monument.
The two leaders attached great importance to it, and immediately sent personnel to investigate, write out the investigation report, and take photos. When sending these materials, the two leaders also wrote a passionate letter, and the writers of the General History of Fire Protection in China were deeply encouraged.
The deeds of the "Monument to the Death of Firefighters in Chongqing" are recorded in the "General History of Fire Fighting in China", and the pictures and inscriptions of the monument are also included in the "Monument to the History of China in a Hundred Years" published by Liaoning Education Publishing House in December 1999.
To this day, people have not forgotten these fire heroes. Every year on November 19, many firefighters and people from all over the world gather under this monument to comfort the fire martyrs who sacrificed themselves to save others.
Wen | Fan Qiangqiang
The | is from Baidu Pictures