SENIOR GENERAL VO NGUYEN GIAP REMEMBERS

Journal of Third World Studies, Fall 2003 by Currey, Cecil B

Dieu persuaded me to join the Tan Viet party also [but we found it to be too conservative for our tastes and so] we laid the foundation of the first communist cell within that party.

Question: It sounds as if you were interested in journalism. Was that the case?

Answer: Yes. I soon found a job at the Tieng Dan newspaper. The editor in chief was Huynh Thuc Khang. Tieng Dan was the first important progressist newspaper in central Viet Nam.

When I wrote articles, I signed them with different names, such as Van Dinh and Hai Thanh. It was self protection because I was constantly spied upon by the French Deuxieme Bureau (equivalent to your F.B.I.) Still, at Tieng Dan I had opportunity to learn all aspects and problems of journalism, from world situations to commentaries to social analyses by way of investigations and reports. I wrote my articles with great care in choosing the best words as in the veracity of the facts. Most of my articles were published. Meanwhile, it happened that some of them were carefully censored, such as my article on "Trading firms with capital over one million dong." This article unveiled the French capitalist exploitation of Viet Nam.

Question: What was the next important phase of your life, General?

Answer: It began after the failure of the Nghe-Tinh Soviets. French administrators increased their terrorist policies. By the end of 1930 I and a certain number of other militants were arrested. The sort of person included employees, peasants, workers, brain workers, and so forth. Among them was Professor Dang Thai Mai, my brother Vo thuan Nho, a young girl named Nguyen thi Quang Thai, and Lai, one of Quang Thai's friends. Quang Thai was 15 years old, a school girl from the Lycee DongKhanh. When sent to Hoa Lo, she did not yet know me.

Punishmemts were severe. Even teachers at the Quop Hoc were arrested and many of them received sentences of six or seven years. At first, I got a suspended sentence of two years because there were as yet no proofs against me, but at last I did get two years. Quang Thai and Lai got three years, Professor Dang Thai Mai received four years. We were all sent to the penitentiary of Lao Bao, in the mountains, next to the Laotian border. Many prisoners died there in the prison because the climate was so insalubrious.

Thirteen months later, a governmental order decided to reduce all sentences under four years. Vo Nguyen Giap, Nguyen thi Quang Thai, Lai, and other people were released from Lao Bao, one after the other. The court determined that I would have to go back to a forced residence in An Xa. Shortly afterwards, however, I came back to Hue, in the hope of reengaging myself with the Tieng Dan newspaper. But on the second day of my arrival, the French resident in Hue forbad me to stay there. So I returned to An Xa.

But life in a small village was not for me. I decided to go to Vinh to look for a job. I met again Professor Dang Thai Mai. I had known him formerly as a member of the Tan Viet. I lived in his house, close to the residence of the sisters Nguyen thi Minh Khai and Nguyen thi Quang Thai. In Vinh, I got a job as an accountant on Marechal Foch street and also gave private lessons in mathematics and French. Quang Thai was among my students. Then Professor Dang Thai Mai and his family decided to move to Ha Noi, and I chose to go with them.