Aleksandr Min

Aleksandr Pavlovich Min (Russian: Александр Павлович Мин; 1915 – 9 July 1944) was an officer in the Red Army and the first Korean awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Aleksandr Pavlovich Min
Native name
Александр Павлович Мин
BornDecember 1915
Chersan-Don village, Primorskaya Oblast, Russian Empire
Died9 July 1944 (aged 28)
Pariduby village, Stara Vyzhivka Raion, Volyn Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
Allegiance Soviet Union
Service/branchRed Army
Years of service1941 – 1944
RankCaptain
Unit605th Rifle Regiment
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union

Early life

Min was born in December 1915 to a Korean peasant family in Chersan-Don. After completing his tenth grade of secondary school in 1932 he went on to attend the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, which he studied at from 1933 to 1937 before becoming a Russian language teacher on Putyatin Island. That very year, he and his family were deported to Kazakhstan by the Soviet government because they were Korean. As a "special settler", he had few civil rights compared to other Soviet citizens. In exile he worked as an accountant and attended the Saratov Economic Institute. He was drafted into the Red Army in May 1941, shortly before the German invasion of the Soviet Union.[1][2]

World War II

After graduating from the Ryazan Infantry School, Min was assigned to a construction battalion with the rank of private; there he participated in the defense of Moscow. In fall 1942 he became a junior lieutenant, and was assigned to the 1st battalion of the 605th Rifle Regiment as an adjutant. His actions during the battle of Kursk were noticed by senior officers, who praised him for his bravery in repelling four German counterattacks on 5 July 1943. For doing so he was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the first of his many military awards. In January 1944 he was promoted to battalion commander in his regiment, and that year he was accepted into the Communist Party as well as promoted to captain. Min again distinguished himself for bravery after he repelled five counterattacks, enabling the successful take over the Ukrainian village of Stary Koshary in Kovel on 4-5 July 1944. However, he was killed in action just a few days later while breaking through a heavily fortified area in Pariduby. He was posthumously declared a Hero of the Soviet Union on 24 March 1945, making him the first Korean awarded the title.[1][3]

Awards
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References
  1. Simonov, Andrey. "Мин Александр Павлович". www.warheroes.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  2. Ge, Nikolai (2008). Жизнь в стране трагического абсурда: говорят потомки (in Russian). Almatinskoe Obščestvennoe Ob·edinenie "Potomki Borcov za Nezavisimost· Korei" "TONGNIP". p. 26.
  3. Герой Советского Союза - Казахстанцы (in Russian). 2. Алма-ата: Издательство «Казахстан». 1968. p. 57-58.
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