The secret bunker
Eighty years have passed, but the story of the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement's activities has never faded in the small house of the former Party Secretary of the Ben Thuy Match Factory - martyr Le Viet Cuong. For those 80 years, a secret bunker has also remained in this house - a bunker that...
Eighty years have passed, but the story of the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement's activities has never faded in the small house of the former Party Secretary of the Ben Thuy Match Factory - martyr Le Viet Cuong. For those 80 years, a secret bunker has also remained in this house - a bunker that...It sheltered the revolutionary soldiers of the past and continues to witness the many changes in the course of history.
The little house...
Nestled in an alleyway and hidden beneath lush green trees is the more than 100-year-old wooden house of the family of martyr Le Viet Cuong - one of the first martyrs to sacrifice his life in the Con Mo area, an outstanding Party member, and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ben Thuy Match Factory.
In the past, this house was frequently used as a meeting place for Soviet soldiers to discuss political issues. More sacredly, it witnessed many important moments for communist soldiers – the moment they officially joined the ranks of the Party.
Finding old documents about martyr Le Viet Cuong is difficult because war and time have erased almost everything. However, in the stories of his relatives, they always mention him with deep affection and pride.
Now over 60 years old, Mr. Le Luu Tinh, Mr. Cuong's grandson, still hasn't forgotten the story his father told him: Originally a worker at the Ben Thuy match factory, my grandfather was an early revolutionary and was soon trusted and admitted into the Indochinese Communist Party.
From being a party member and later the Party branch secretary, he directly encouraged his comrades to join the Party and participate in the Trường Thi - Bến Thủy workers' protest movement, "at that time, all activities had to be kept secret." My grandfather, despite holding the position of Party Committee Secretary, was unknown to anyone in the family.
The strangers whom the family suspected at the time were none other than key figures in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement. From those secret meetings, many workers' demonstrations took place. In Ben Thuy alone, the demonstration commemorating International Workers' Day on May 1, 1930, by workers of the Truong Thi factory, the Ben Thuy match factory, and farmers from Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc, and Thanh Chuong districts created a widespread impact.
Tragically, at the height of the revolutionary movement, when Soviet power had been established in many localities, on the night of April 30, 1931, during a secret meeting to prepare for a demonstration on International Workers' Day, the Party Secretary of the Ben Thuy Match Factory was shot dead by the French along with five other fighters. At the time of his death, Martyr Le Viet Cuong was just over 30 years old, his youngest child not yet one year old. The place where they fell, Con Mo, now has a memorial monument.
And the secret cellar
The answer lies within the three-room house, where for the past 80 years, despite bombs, natural disasters, floods, and numerous repairs, generations of descendants of martyr Le Viet Cuong's family have strived to preserve and protect it. Measuring 80cm wide, 1.2m deep, and 80cm long, the bunker is a secret known to few. From the outside, it's difficult to distinguish the bunker from the house floor because it's solidly constructed and meticulously plastered.
 |
Mr. Tinh and his family's secret cellar. |
However, with just a slight raise of the arm and a push of an iron rod, the hatch opened wide enough for a person to crawl through. Pointing to the bunker, Mr. Tinh continued: "During revolutionary activities, when the enemy pursued us, my grandfather would quickly run back and hide in this bunker. Whenever my grandmother saw him hiding there, she would quickly fan a pot of charcoal on top of the bunker and stand with her legs spread apart. The French, who were superstitious about women who had just given birth, thought she was standing there fumigating them with charcoal and turned back. My grandfather and others escaped danger many times thanks to that very 'Vietnamese woman's' trick."
After the martyr Le Viet Cuong's sacrifice, the secret bunker continued to serve its purpose in the wars against the French and the Americans. His descendants followed in their father's footsteps and the family tradition, enthusiastically volunteering for the army. His only son, Le Viet Hoang, also died while participating in the local revolution at the Ben Thuy Ward Committee headquarters in 1967. "Although the bunker is no longer in use, we try to preserve it; it's also a way to educate our children and grandchildren about revolutionary traditions and family traditions," Mr. Linh said emotionally.
My Ha
