Wartime pupil tells survival story

In June 1941, 13-year-old Chen Zutao heard a radio broadcast describing the opening salvos of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

Chen, born in Hubei province in November 1927, lived in an international boarding school in the city of Ivanovo. The school was dedicated to looking after children whose parents were involved in communist activities during the 1930s and 1940s.

As the German army advanced toward Moscow, the school - 300 kilometers from the Soviet capital - made preparations to evacuate its pupils, recalled 87-year-old Chen, who lives in Beijing.