Historical memory

The Hue City History Museum is currently located at 268 Dien Bien Phu Street. Photo: Chau Le

From choosing Vinh Giang as the base of the Provincial Party Committee

These artifacts and historical relics, like messengers from the past, carry within them stories, sentiments, and memories of the people and land of Hue through different historical periods. Today, these artifacts and relics continue their mission of telling stories about the tenacious, intelligent, and creative struggle of the army and people of Hue City.

In February 1942, Comrade Nguyen Chi Thanh escaped from Buon Ma Thuot prison and returned, establishing contact with grassroots party organizations in the province. In July 1942, recognizing the positive and strong changes in the party branches, Comrade Nguyen Chi Thanh (as the former interim Provincial Party Secretary) convened a conference at Vinh Tu swamp (Quang Dien) to disseminate the Resolution of the 8th Conference of the Central Executive Committee of the Party "On the establishment of the Viet Minh Front, putting the issue of national liberation first, issuing a resolution to gather the masses, establishing the Viet Minh Front at all levels" [1].

The conference elected the Provisional Provincial Party Committee Executive Board consisting of 5 comrades: Comrade Nguyen Vinh (Nguyen Chi Thanh), Le Minh, Le Hai, Tran Ba Song, Hoang Tien, with Comrade Nguyen Vinh as Secretary. Subsequently, provisional district committees were successively established and gradually went into effective operation, especially the Phu Loc District Committee which directed and participated in many vibrant revolutionary activities and became a locality with a solid revolutionary base of the province (the Nghi Giang Party Branch operated at Comrade Le Minh's house). Recognizing the favorable operating conditions, Comrade Nguyen Chi Thanh and the comrades in the Executive Board decided to move the headquarters to operate in Vinh Giang commune (now Vinh Loc commune). Comrade Le Minh's house [2] in Nghi Giang village, Vinh Giang commune (old) was used as the headquarters of the Provisional Thua Thien Hue Provincial Party Committee from 1942 to 1945.

The reason Vinh Giang was chosen as the location for the provisional Provincial Party Committee was its convenient transportation, especially by waterway. From here, it was possible to travel by river to Cau Hai Lagoon to reach ferry terminals such as Truoi, Da Bac, Vinh Hien, and the Tu Hien estuary. Road access was also convenient, with inter-communal roads (now National Highway 49B) passing through the center of the communes, leading to train stations, bus stations, and ferry terminals in areas like Nong, Truoi, Da Bac, Cau Hai, Nuoc Ngọt, Thua Luu, Lang Co, Bach Ma, and on to Hue… facilitating monitoring, easy travel, and quick and safe escape to the mountainous regions.

We went to Comrade Le Minh's house to use as our headquarters.

Speaking of Comrade Le Minh's house, it was like many other houses used as a family residence, built by his grandfather, Mr. Le Tu Dat, around the 18th century. Inside, there were furniture such as tables, chairs, cabinets, benches, wooden beds, and other household items. The Provisional Provincial Party Committee of Thua Thien Hue was established under extremely difficult conditions, lacking the necessary facilities and equipment, and operating in secrecy. Therefore, this house was chosen as the main headquarters of the Provisional Provincial Party Committee from 1942 to 1945.

Since 1942, the house has become a meeting place to plan the printing of documents for distribution to the bases, newspapers such as "Driving the Enemy", "For the Country", "For the People", leaflets, and Party regulations were also printed from this house [3]. At the same time, it was a liaison office, connecting the activities of the Central Vietnam Regional Party Committee with the provinces and cities, and also a place that marks the years of activity and leadership of the revolutionary movement of Comrade Nguyen Chi Thanh.

During those years of operation, precious mementos and household items are still preserved, bearing witness to the activities of communist party members and loyal revolutionary fighters of the Provisional Provincial Party Committee, such as lamps, pots, bamboo tubes, trench coats, and suits...

Having weathered numerous historical upheavals and vicissitudes, the house of Comrade Le Minh – the headquarters of the Thua Thien Hue Provincial Party Committee during the period 1942-1945 – and the artifacts preserved at the site are powerful testaments to the activities of the Provincial Party Committee. It was from this house that directives and policies from the Central Party Committee in general and the Provincial Party Committee in particular were promptly implemented to guide the revolutionary movement in Thua Thien Hue. The activities of the Provincial Party Committee during this time laid the groundwork for organizing the Provincial Cadre Conference at Cau Hai Lagoon, deciding to establish the Nguyen Tri Phuong Viet Minh, and deciding to launch the August Revolution of 1945 to seize power, as well as during the two resistance wars against France and the United States.

[1] ) Phu Loc District Party Committee, History of Phu Loc District Party Committee (1930 - 1975), National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 1998. Page 68.

[2] He was born and raised in Vinh Giang commune, Phu Loc district, Thua Thien Hue province (now Vinh Loc commune, Hue city); he joined the revolution in 1936 and the Party in 1938. From the 1940s, he was one of the key figures participating in the historic Cau Hai Lagoon Conference that decided on the General Uprising in the August Revolution of 1945 in Thua Thien Hue.

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