The reason why President Ho Chi Minh's first Will has the words "Absolutely confidential"

The exhibit at the Ho Chi Minh Museum is not the original Will.

However, this is a direct backup copy of the original - currently stored at the Central Party Office Archives.

President Ho Chi Minh's will, written in late 1968, on display at the Ho Chi Minh Museum. Photo: Viet Van

According to the museum's documents, in the early 1960s, our people's resistance war against the US to save the country became increasingly fierce. After the failure of the "Special War" strategy, the US Empire frantically implemented the "Local War" strategy in the South and the first "Destructive War" in the North.

Faced with an increasingly tense situation, in March 1965, the 3rd Party Central Committee held its 11th Conference, determined to defeat the invaders. During this time, President Ho Chi Minh felt his own health decline significantly.

On May 10, 1965, Uncle Ho wrote a special document, which he called "A few words to leave behind" or "A few words... summarizing a few things". This is also his Will.

Re-enactment of Uncle Ho writing his Will at the Ho Chi Minh Museum. Photo: Viet Van

In the memoir "Missing Uncle Ho Even More" (Thanh Nien Publishing House, 1999), author Vu Ky - Uncle Ho's personal secretary during his lifetime, recounted the first day Uncle Ho wrote that Will.

He wrote: “At exactly 9 o'clock, Uncle Ho sat down to write attentively. He must have pondered the issue for a long time. The office on the stilt house was quiet. The wind was cool and gentle, with the faint fragrance of garden flowers... At that very moment, Uncle Ho put pen to paper and wrote the first lines of the "Top Secret" document to leave to future generations.”

Not wanting people to worry about his health, especially in the context of the whole country's resistance, in the first lines, Uncle Ho clearly wrote "On the occasion of his 75th birthday". On the left margin of the document, Uncle Ho also left a note "Absolutely confidential".

After completing the first Will on May 14, 1965, Uncle Ho put it in an envelope. At 9:00 p.m. that day, Uncle Ho handed the envelope to comrade Vu Ky and said: "Keep it carefully, remember to give it back to me this time next year."

From then on, before each birthday each year, Uncle Ho continued to write, revise and supplement his Will.

The will was written by Uncle Ho from May 10, 1965 to May 19, 1969, on his birthday.

According to comrade Vu Ky, during that time, Uncle Ho spent 28 sessions, most of which lasted about 2 and a half hours each, writing his Will.

After Uncle Ho passed away, on September 9, 1969, during the memorial service for President Ho Chi Minh, General Secretary Le Duan was moved to announce Uncle Ho's Will. This is a complete Will compiled from the Wills that Uncle Ho had written, edited, supplemented or replaced before.

Ho Chi Minh's Testament - Special edition printed for the 1969 State Funeral on display at the Ho Chi Minh Museum. Photo: Viet Van

All the details of the Testaments remained secret until 1989, when conditions permitted, the Central Executive Committee of the Party (term VI) officially announced them in full.

On August 19, 1989, General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh signed and issued Notice No. 151-TB/TW, announcing a number of issues related to Uncle Ho's Will and the date of his death.

Accordingly, in 1965, Uncle Ho wrote a three-page Will, typed by himself, with the date May 15, 1965 at the end. The Will was signed by Uncle Ho and comrade Le Duan, First Secretary of the Party Central Committee at that time.

The announcement stated: "In 1968, Uncle Ho wrote and added a number of paragraphs, including six handwritten pages. In which, Uncle Ho rewrote the opening paragraph and the paragraph about "personal matters" written in the 1965 version, and added a number of paragraphs. These are paragraphs about the work that needs to be done after our people's resistance against the US and national salvation was completely victorious, such as: reorganizing the Party, taking care of the lives of all classes of people, exempting agricultural tax for one year for agricultural cooperatives, rebuilding cities and villages, restoring and developing the economy and culture, strengthening national defense, preparing for national reunification...

On May 10, 1969, Uncle Ho rewrote the entire opening paragraph of his Testament, including one handwritten page. In 1966 and 1967, Uncle Ho did not have any separate copies.

Currently, the original copy of Uncle Ho's Will has become a national treasure and is being kept at the Central Archives of the Communist Party of Vietnam, preserved by the Central Party Office Archives under a special regime.

Laodong.vn

Source: https://laodong.vn/van-hoa-giai-tri/ly-do-ban-di-chuc-dau-tien-cua-chu-cich-ho-chi-minh-co-dong-chu-tuyet-doi-bi-mat-1508077.ldo