Temptation could not bribe communist soldier Le Hong Phong

Today, September 6, marks the 120th birthday of revolutionary Le Hong Phong (September 6, 1902 - September 6, 2022). Le Hong Phong was the second General Secretary of the Indochinese Communist Party from 1935 to 1936. Knowing that he was a senior leader of the Party, the French colonialists sought every means to arrest and kill him. During the arduous days of revolutionary activities, having to endure extreme torture from the enemy, the communist soldier remained steadfastly loyal to the Party.

General Secretary Le Hong Phong. Photo.

“If I do not bring glory to the country, I will never return to the Fatherland.” That was what Le Hong Phong said before going to Thailand to contact the communists. After meeting Nguyen Ai Quoc in Guangzhou, China, Le Hong Phong joined the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association, becoming one of the first cadres of the Vietnamese revolution to be equipped with Marxist theory.

He received comprehensive military and political education at military schools in China, the Soviet Union and the Communist International's Oriental University. In 1931, following the directive of the Communist International, Le Hong Phong returned to Vietnam to restore and develop Party organizations. At the First Congress of the Indochinese Communist Party held in March 1935, he was elected General Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the Indochinese Communist Party.

Notably, although he did not directly attend the Congress, Le Hong Phong's role and guiding ideology were demonstrated in the process and results of the Congress. The Congress's election of Le Hong Phong in absentia to the position of General Secretary (General Secretary) affirmed his contributions and prestige in building the political line and restoring the leadership of the Indochinese Communist Party.

Le Hong Phong also made many contributions to the press front during his participation in leading the revolution in the provinces of Southern Vietnam, which was to unify the Party's viewpoints on the democratic struggle. Through ideological and theoretical activities, Le Hong Phong explained, propagated, and promoted the viewpoints, policies, and guidelines of the Indochinese Communist Party, correcting vague and distorted perceptions on strategic and tactical issues among a section of Party members and the masses.

With his sharp pen, he also actively participated in the struggle to expose false and reactionary arguments, strengthening solidarity and unity within the Party. In that ideological struggle, he demonstrated his acumen, political courage, steadfastness and scientific theoretical knowledge; making an important contribution to building and strengthening the Party in terms of ideology and organization, leading to the victory of the Vietnamese revolution in the Democratic Front period, which was also an active preparation for the historic victory of the August Revolution in 1945.

Le Hong Phong when he was arrested in 1939 (Photo: hoalo.vn)

On June 22, 1939, Le Hong Phong was arrested by the French colonialists in Cho Lon and sentenced to 6 months in prison and 3 years of house arrest in Nghe An. Despite being strictly housed and closely monitored, he was not discouraged, regularly kept in secret contact with the organization and the Party, and spent time writing articles, secretly sending them to the Party's newspapers, demonstrating the tenacious fighting spirit of a staunch revolutionary.

Concerned about the freedom of the communists, in January 1940, he was arrested by the French colonialists for the second time and detained at the Saigon Central Prison. During nearly a year of detention, torture and abuse, the French colonialists still could not find a reason to sentence him to death. They forced him to “take spiritual responsibility” for the Southern Uprising, sentenced him to 5 years in prison and 10 years of house arrest. At the end of 1940, they exiled him to Con Dao.

The Big Prison (Maison Centrale de Sai Gon), where the French colonialists imprisoned comrade Le Hong Phong (Photo: hoalo.vn)

Knowing that Le Hong Phong was a high-ranking Party official, the French colonialists tried every way to bribe, entice, and torture him with the most brutal tortures. Unable to shake the spirit of the communist soldier, nor find a reason to sentence him to death, the French colonialists imprisoned him in the tiger cage, the harshest place of solitary confinement.

Prisoners were kept in a 5 square meter room, lying on a cement floor, shackled and often tortured. When the enemy whipped his body until it was bruised, blood flowing from his head and face, Le Hong Phong still calmly held a bowl of rice with blood on it, calmly sat down to eat with the determination to live to "live and fight".

Fellow prisoners who witnessed Le Hong Phong's indomitable courage commented: The enemy's swords and spears can cut steel, but they will buckle when they cut the courage of a communist.

The brutal imprisonment regime of the French colonialists caused Le Hong Phong's health to deteriorate. Intent on killing Le Hong Phong, they did not give him medicine or allow him to be treated by a doctor. At noon on September 6, 1942, on his 40th birthday, General Secretary Le Hong Phong breathed his last. Before his death, Le Hong Phong left a message: "Please tell the Party that, until the last minute, Le Hong Phong still believed in the glorious victory of the revolution."

A cell in Con Dao Prison - where the French colonialists held comrade Le Hong Phong in solitary confinement (Photo: hoalo.vn)

Le Hong Phong's revolutionary life is a shining example of brave fighting spirit, steadfast loyalty, and devotion to the revolution, unshaken by storms, unbridled by temptations, and never defeated by the enemy's whips. His example helps us understand more deeply the value of independence, freedom, and peace that previous generations have exchanged for with their blood and bones.

Especially in the current situation, when we are promoting the building and rectification of the Party and the political system; resolutely preventing, repelling, and strictly handling cadres and party members who have degraded in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle, and who show signs of "self-evolution and self-transformation", the example of General Secretary Le Hong Phong will give cadres, party members, and people more faith in the revolutionary cause, the will and courage to overcome material temptations, maintain the qualities, morality, and character of a revolutionary soldier, and wholeheartedly strive to serve the Fatherland and the People./.