When artifacts "tell" historical stories

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - Like the Ma River, which has been depositing alluvium for thousands of years, the heroic spirit of overcoming difficulties and hardships of the people of Thanh Hoa has been nurtured for generations. On that historical journey, many generations have sacrificed, have been brave and resilient... so that today, every time we look at the artifacts and images, it is another reminder for future generations to never forget the history of their homeland.

Students visit the exhibition room " Thanh Hoa revolutionary tradition, period 1858-1945" of the Provincial Museum.

The first communist youth

Following the revolutionary path when he was only in his twenties, at the age of 28, the young man Le Huu Lap met Nguyen Ai Quoc in China and was admitted to the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association, then was sent back to the country to propagate revolutionary ideology to young people in the provinces of Thanh Hoa, Thai Binh (now Hung Yen province), Nam Dinh (now Ninh Binh province), Nghe An, Quang Tri... and sent some people to Guangzhou for training.

In early 1927, he led the establishment of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association of Thanh Hoa province and elected the provisional Provincial Executive Committee. At this time, Le Huu Lap was appointed as the provisional Provincial Secretary. One year later, at the Conference of delegates of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association of Thanh Hoa province, the official Provincial Executive Committee with 7 members was elected, with comrade Le Huu Lap as the Provincial Secretary. At the end of 1928, he was transferred to the Central Region to take up a new job.

In March 1930, at the Conference of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association in Udon (Thailand) chaired by Nguyen Ai Quoc, it was decided to transform the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association into a communist organization. Due to his active contributions to the establishment of the Communist Party, comrade Le Huu Lap became the first communist party member of Thanh Hoa province.

Visiting the memorial site of comrade Le Huu Lap (Hoa Loc commune), looking at the An Thu that he used in the early days of revolutionary activities, we understand more clearly the reason why he organized the Revolutionary Book and Newspaper Reading Association to impart simple but extremely profound knowledge about current events. Listening to the story of the two times Le Huu Lap returned home, not only his family but also the whole village was in chaos when the French searched the whole village and arrested him. Le Huu Lap told his father and brother: If I return this time, I will not dare to return again. If I return, the whole family and the whole clan will suffer. This is the last time I return home. From then on, he disappeared, and only later did his family receive news that he had passed away in Nghe An .

At the age of 37, Le Huu Lap devoted all his passionate youth to the revolutionary cause of the Party. The activities and dedication of comrade Le Huu Lap contributed to writing the brilliant opening pages in the glorious history of the revolutionary struggle of the Party Committee and the People of Thanh Hoa.

Where the bell tower echoes

Going back in history, from 1930 to 1945, before the August Revolution, the whole country was plunged into poverty, the oppression and exploitation of colonialism and feudalism reached its peak. Many small-scale struggles of the people took place. In that context, communist party cells were born one after another.

On October 10, 1930, at the bell tower of Tran pagoda, Ngo Xa commune, the representative of the Central Region Party Committee went to Ha Trung with local comrades to organize a conference to establish the Ha Trung communist party cell. This was one of the first 6 Party cells in Thanh Hoa province established in 1930.

In the context of secret operations, hardships and shortages, always being watched and strictly controlled by the enemy, printing and distributing revolutionary leaflets required extremely careful preparation and calculation. In just a short time, the Ha Trung communist party members had arranged enough tools, paper and ink, and a safe location to print leaflets.

After printing, the leaflets were secretly hidden at the house of comrade Dao Van Ty in Tran village, Ngo Xa commune (now Ha Trung commune). At Trau garden, the Party cell held a meeting to discuss a plan to carefully and safely distribute the leaflets to ensure victory.

Due to time and war, Tran Pagoda has become a ruin. The ancient monumental architectural works such as: pagoda, ancestral house, ancient trees, Buddha statues, lakes, wells... are all in the memories of the people. However, the bell tower is still there with sounds reminding people of a heroic and resilient period, a period when thanks to the communist party cell, people understood that there must be struggle and sacrifice to have a day of freedom and happiness.

Revolutionary village

In Thanh Hoa, every village, every inch of land bears the footprints of the revolution. Although not directly involved in the revolution, each citizen is a soldier, a fortress, ready to protect the achievements of the Party.

Phong Coc village in the 1930s was plunged into poverty but the revolutionary spirit was burning. In early July 1930, under the influence of the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement, a number of active and loyal members of the old Tan Viet organization such as comrades Nguyen Xuan Thuy, Nguyen Van Ho and Le Van Thiep, after a period of contact with each other, spontaneously gathered in Phong Coc village to agree on the policy of selecting the most outstanding Tan Viet members in the localities to switch to communist organization and activities. During the period of 1936-1939, the people here rose up to carry out the movement to fight for democratic rights. The stick - an artifact currently displayed at the Provincial Museum - tells the story of Mr. Nguyen Huu Ngoan, a Phong Coc villager, who used it to fight against the Westerners when they came to search the village for revolutionary documents. Or the teapot of Mr. Trinh Xuan Lien, used to hide documents of comrade Nguyen Xuan Thuy in 1936... These images are very ordinary, very rustic, but remind us of the event on September 14, 1936, when the Frenchman Bernardet and a group of soldiers entered Phong Coc village under the pretext of arresting smuggled alcohol and tobacco to search for and discover documents and revolutionary bases there. While they were searching the house of a family next to comrade Trinh Xuan Lien's - where the Party's secret documents were kept, some members of the village's Mutual Aid Committee promptly transferred these documents to another safe place, and at the same time sent people to beat drums to alert the masses to come and stop the actions of the French soldiers...

It was the solidarity and ingenuity of the people of Phong Coc village that, despite being protected by the rulers, the colonialist Bernard was eventually sentenced to five months of suspended imprisonment and expelled from Central Vietnam. That victory made the masses more confident in the Party's leadership.

A letter with many messages

Coming to Thanh Hoa Provincial Museum, re-reading President Ho Chi Minh's "Call for General Uprising", we understand more about the historical moment in 1945. That was the moment that decided the fate of the nation, "All compatriots, please rise up and use our own strength to liberate ourselves" was spread everywhere before the August General Uprising, calling on all people to "Forward! Forward! Under the Viet Minh flag, compatriots, courageously advance".

That call urged the people of the whole country to rise up and carry out a general uprising. The August General Uprising in Thanh Hoa took place quickly and concisely, within just one week and mainly concentrated on two days, August 18 and 19, 1945. “It was a quick uprising to seize power, with little bloodshed and little damage. The great victory of the August Revolution in 1945 had a great contribution from Thanh Hoa - a province with a large land area, a large population, and an important strategic position in the country. It was also a victory of the will and spirit of the entire people to rise up for the goal of national independence!” (Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Nhat, former Director of the Institute of History - now the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences). Above all, from then on, the people of Thanh Hoa completely trusted the leadership of the Party, united with the whole country to fight against the two great enemies, French colonialism and American imperialism, to gain independence, freedom and national unification.

Each artifact has its own story. They are invisible “witnesses”, helping us understand the past better, connecting the past - present - future. It is not only the story of the activities of revolutionary soldiers but also the story of Thanh Hoa land and people overcoming the dark night, under the light, under the leadership of the Party, daring to stand up, participating in the revolution, leading the Vietnamese revolution from one victory to another.

Article and photos: Kieu Huyen

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/khi-hien-vat-nbsp-ke-chuyen-lich-su-255358.htm