Descendants of the International Medical Relief Corps and the Chinese Red Cross Medical Relief Corps pose for a group photo at the Guiyang Tuyunguan Memorial to the Chinese Red Cross Medical Relief Corps in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 26, 2025. (Xinhua/Wu Si)
GUIYANG, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- More than 20 descendants of the International Medical Relief Corps are currently visiting southwest China's Guizhou Province this week to trace the footsteps of their forebears who risked their lives to provide medical aid during the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
Since Aug. 24, the delegation has embarked on a week-long journey to visit historical sites, including the Guiyang Tuyunguan Memorial to the Chinese Red Cross Medical Relief Corps in the provincial capital of Guiyang and the 24-Zig Road in Qinglong County.
More than 80 years ago, Tuyunguan served as a key medical rescue base, training center and supply hub in southwest China during the war against Japanese aggression, a crucial front in the World Anti-Fascist War.
Dozens of foreign medical workers worked alongside thousands of their Chinese counterparts from the Chinese Red Cross Medical Relief Corps to save lives and provide medical training under harsh conditions. Today, these foreign medical workers are collectively remembered as the International Medical Relief Corps.
On Tuesday, the delegation attended a commemoration near the Guiyang Tuyunguan Memorial to pay tribute to their forebears and mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
Joseph Somogyi from Germany, son of Hungarian physician George Schoen (who later changed his name to Gyorgy Somogyi), told Xinhua that although he had long known of his father's work in China, it was not until his first visit to Guizhou in 2019 that he realized how deeply his father's heroic deeds were remembered and honored there.
At Tuesday's commemoration, Joseph and his brother Peter Somogyi donated photographs and stamps kept by their father to the memorial. "The Chinese keep the memory of my father and all the other doctors who were working for China at that time. China keeps the memory, upholds it, appreciates it, keeps it for future generations and tries to teach that peace is not given," Joseph said.
"As descendants of the International Medical Relief Corps, we are incredibly grateful to you for keeping our ancestors' memory alive," Peter said. "For them, as international anti-fascists, this was not just China's war; it was their own."
"It is essential for future generations to understand the fight against fascism and the struggle for freedom," Peter added.
Dmitrii Kamenetskii from Russia paid tribute to his grandfather Leon Kamieniecki, a Polish doctor, at Tuesday's ceremony. Running his fingers over his grandfather's name on a monument at the memorial, Kamenetskii was particularly moved and struggled to hold back his tears. He said that touching the monument and looking at the old photos and relics in the memorial, he felt as if he were touching real history.
For descendants of the International Medical Relief Corps, the trip has also inspired them to further carry forward their ancestors' spirit.
Anton Agov, the 36-year-old great-grandson of Bulgarian doctor Ianto Kaneti from the International Medical Relief Corps, came to China in 2014 to study traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). After graduation, he returned to Bulgaria and opened a clinic providing TCM treatment. Now head of the Bulgarian-Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Culture, he regards his work as an effort to inherit the legacy of his great-grandfather.
Through our work in Chinese medicine, we hope to carry on the spirit of the International Medical Relief Corps, Agov said. ■
Descendants of the International Medical Relief Corps attend a commemoration near the Guiyang Tuyunguan Memorial to pay tribute to their forebears and mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 26, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Qianyu)
