Image: Soviet embassy burned down

Description: Soviet embassy in Nanking is being burned down by arson on January 1, 1938: The Soviet Union Embassy was burned down by suspicious fire around noon on January 1, 1938. The embassy was a center to expand communism movement of Soviet Union in China, and from the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, it was the place where Ambassador Bogomolov, Military Attache Repin, and such people desperately worked for the Soviet-China co-operation for Anti-Japan movement like Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. After the fall of Nanking, it was said to have been used as a hide-out and a place for radio contact with Hangkow and others by a knot of Chinese government. There were various rumors on the suspicious fire. It seemed that Chinese government set fire to the building because they were displeased with the inaugural ceremony of Nanking Autonomous Commission of the day and trying to make the fire work to the disadvantage of the Autonomous Commission and Japan. A suspicious Chinese was arrested in Nanking on January 5 and interrogated. It was found that the arson was the act of Chinese stragglers.
Title: Soviet embassy burned down
Credit: Japanese photograph magazine "Sino-Japanese war photograph news #16" (Mainichi Newspaper, published on Jan. 21, 1938)
Author: Sweeper tamonten (talk)
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No