Comrade Nguyen Van Cu: The youngest General Secretary in the history of our Party

Portrait of comrade Nguyen Van Cu.

In 1927, Nguyen Van Cu went to Hanoi to study and passed the entrance exam to Buoi School (now Chu Van An High School). Here, Nguyen Van Cu was enlightened about the revolution, participated in many patriotic activities, read Thanh Nien newspaper and the work Duong Kach Menh by leader Nguyen Ai Quoc. In early 1928, Nguyen Van Cu was admitted to the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association. Due to his patriotic and revolutionary activities, in May 1928, Nguyen Van Cu was expelled from school and returned to his hometown to teach in Ha Lo village, also known as Gio Dong village, now in Dong Anh district - the outskirts of Hanoi to find a way to contact the organization. During his time teaching here, Nguyen Van Cu met many senior revolutionaries, influential people who left a deep impression, including comrade Ngo Gia Tu - a future leader of the Party. In August 1928, Nguyen Van Cu was arrested by secret police, detained for 12 days and then released.

At the end of August 1928, the Northern Branch of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association secretly met in Hanoi and proposed the policy of sending members to "proletarianize" mines, factories, and construction sites. At this time, Nguyen Van Cu was being monitored and supervised by French secret police, so comrade Ngo Gia Tu - Secretary of the Provincial Branch of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association of Bac Ninh province sent and introduced to comrade Nguyen Duc Canh - Secretary of the Hai Phong City Branch in charge of the entire mining area - to send Nguyen Van Cu to the Northeast coal mining area to operate, mainly in the Vang Danh mine area.

Protectorate College près du Grand Lac - Protectorate High School near West Lake - Buoi School (later Chu Van An School). Located in Buoi village, on Route du Village du Papier (now Thuy Khue Street).

On June 17, 1929, the Indochinese Communist Party was born. Nguyen Van Cu, Le Van Luong,... were the first party members to be considered for admission to the Party when they were only 17 years old. In September 1929, Nguyen Van Cu was withdrawn to Hai Phong to be in charge of building a liaison station of the Central Indochinese Communist Party with foreign countries, via sea routes, and was later assigned by comrade Nguyen Duc Canh to assist the Hai Phong Provincial Party Committee.

After the Conference to establish the Communist Party of Vietnam (1930), a strong organizational arrangement took place in the country, from communist cells of predecessor organizations to cells of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the development of new cell organizations. Under the direct leadership of comrade Nguyen Duc Canh, comrade Nguyen Van Cu actively infiltrated the entire Quang Ninh mining area to operate. At the end of 1930, comrade Nguyen Van Cu proposed and was approved by the Northern Regional Party Committee, he stood up to establish the Special Zone Committee of the mining area and was appointed as the representative of the Northern Regional Party Committee next to the Special Zone Committee.

Headquarters of Tin Tuc newspaper - the mouthpiece of the Indochina Democratic Front.

On February 15, 1931, on his way from Cam Pha to Hon Gai, comrade Nguyen Van Cu was arrested. The French secret police detained him in Hon Gai and Hai Phong prisons and finally sent him to Hoa Lo - Hanoi. In mid-May 1931, Nguyen Van Cu and many comrades were sentenced to life in exile by the Hanoi Criminal Council and exiled to Con Dao. Upon arriving in Con Dao, Nguyen Van Cu was imprisoned by the enemy in Banh 2 along with comrades Le Duan, Pham Van Dong, Hoang Quoc Viet, Ha Huy Giap, Luong Khanh Thien, Le Thanh Nghi and Nguyen Van Linh... In Con Dao, he systematically studied Marxism-Leninism, read classic works and participated in the leadership of Banh 2 under the leadership of the prison's secret cell.

Van Phuc Village, Ha Tay (now Hanoi) - Safe zone of the Northern Regional Party Committee during the period 1939 - 1945 (Source: National Museum of History).

In 1936, due to the victory of the French Popular Front, the government of the French Popular Front issued a general amnesty for political prisoners in Indochina. After more than 5 years of exile in the hell on earth of Con Dao, in November 1936, comrade Nguyen Van Cu and many comrades were able to return to the mainland and were released.

At the end of 1936, comrade Nguyen Van Cu went to Hanoi to connect with comrades to continue activities and restore the Party's base after years of white terror by the enemy. Comrade Nguyen Van Cu, Tran Quy Kien, Nguyen Van Minh (a person trained from the Communist International) established the Initiative Committee, gradually attracting to the Committee new cadres who had been released by the enemy to operate in Hanoi. Under the leadership and assignment of the Initiative Committee, the Party organization was gradually restored in Hanoi, Hai Phong and other provinces and cities. In March 1937, the Conference to establish the Provisional Northern Regional Party Committee was convened. At this Conference, comrade Nguyen Van Cu was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the Regional Party Committee, and was assigned by the Regional Party Committee to be the representative of the Regional Party Committee to the Central Party Committee.

At the end of August 1937, according to the assignment of the Provisional Party Committee of Bac Ky, comrade Nguyen Van Cu and comrade Hoang Quoc Viet went to Saigon to attend the Central Executive Committee Conference held from August 25 to September 4, 1937 in Ba Diem, Hoc Mon, Gia Dinh. Attending the Conference were comrades: Le Hong Phong, Ha Huy Tap, Nguyen Van Cu, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Vo Van Tan, Nguyen Chi Dieu and a number of other comrades. At the Conference, comrade Nguyen Van Cu was assigned by the Central Committee to read a report on the Party's mass activities. He criticized the shortcomings and mistakes in the principles of mass organization, leading to the Party's isolationism and isolation. Also at the Conference, comrade Nguyen Van Cu and comrades Ha Huy Tap, Nguyen Chi Dieu, Vo Van Tan, and Le Hong Phong were elected to the Central Standing Committee with comrade Ha Huy Tap as General Secretary.

In September 1937, comrade Nguyen Van Cu, in his capacity as a member of the Central Standing Committee, went to Hanoi to convene a conference to establish the Northern and Central Regional Committees, with comrade Hoang Van Non as Secretary and Nguyen Van Cu as Standing Committee. The Northern Regional Committee only existed for a short time and then dissolved to establish the Northern Regional Committee and Central Regional Committee. In addition to focusing on restoring and developing the Party's organizational system and mass organizations, in his capacity as the highest leader of the Party in the North, comrade Nguyen Van Cu and comrade Truong Chinh organized and directed the Party's public press activities, mainly through the newspaper Le Travail (Labor). It was the newspaper Le Travail that gathered forces to demonstrate power to welcome Godart - the representative of the French Government to Indochina to inspect the situation.

When the movement for people's livelihood and democracy was rising throughout the country, in early 1938, from Hanoi, comrade Nguyen Van Cu secretly went to Saigon to attend the 5th Conference of the Party Central Committee. He stopped by Hue to meet comrade Le Duan to discuss the establishment of a secret and safe communication line from Hanoi to Saigon to present to the Central Conference.

On March 29 and 30, 1938, the 5th Conference of the Central Executive Committee met in Tan Thoi Nhat village, Ba Diem, Hoc Mon, Gia Dinh. The Conference decided to establish the United Democratic Front as proposed by comrade Nguyen Van Cu; to protect and strengthen the Party's organizational system, to bring the Party into public activities; to thoroughly fight against the Trotskyites; to issue a Resolution on the Defense of Indochina and to mobilize soldiers.

The conference discussed thoroughly and unanimously elected the Central Executive Committee consisting of 11 comrades, including comrade Nguyen Ai Quoc who was in Moscow; elected the Standing Committee consisting of 5 comrades; the Secretariat consisting of 3 comrades (Nguyen Van Cu, Ha Huy Tap, Le Hong Phong) - this was the new organ of the Party - with comrade Nguyen Van Cu as General Secretary.

As a direct participant of this Conference, comrade Le Duan assessed: “Although Cu is 5 to 10 years younger than us and Le Hong Phong and Ha Huy Tap, he is an outstanding intellectual of the Party, very sharp and politically sensitive, and has the ability to unite and persuade his comrades. He is a communist with pure moral qualities, respected by everyone.”

Thus, comrade Nguyen Van Cu became the 4th General Secretary of the Party when he was not yet 26 years old - the youngest in the Central Executive Committee, and had not received formal training in China and the Soviet Union. He must have been a great mind, a noble communist personality and an extraordinary will to win the trust of the collective of communists who had been seasoned in the struggle.

After the 5th Central Conference, the French secret police knew that comrade Nguyen Van Cu had replaced comrade Ha Huy Tap as General Secretary, so they organized a vigorous search to capture him. Therefore, he secretly returned to Hanoi to direct the Party's public press through the Tin Tuc newspaper group, directed the publication of the Dan Chung newspaper and the Dan Chung group in Saigon. In Hanoi, although operating secretly, he, together with the Bac Ky Regional Party Committee and the Hanoi City Party Committee, organized a large rally in Hanoi to celebrate International Labor Day on May 1, 1938 at the Exhibition Area. This was the biggest event in the country during the period of struggle for people's livelihood and democracy in the years 1936 - 1939 led by the Party. In addition, he directed the Regional Party Committee to send people to run for election to the Bac House of Representatives, directed many activities of the Bac Ky Democratic Youth Union, and wrote many important articles.

While working in Hanoi, he received a report from the Central Committee that many Party leaders had been arrested in Saigon, and Trotsky's elements had increased their provocations against the communists, so he secretly entered Saigon.

After Tet, he immediately went to Hanoi, secretly operating in many places to direct the revolutionary movement in Hanoi and regularly contacted the Central Committee in Saigon. During this time, he wrote hundreds of articles with a strong fighting spirit, especially the article "The Democratic Freedoms of the People of Indochina" and completed the very famous work "Self-Criticism in the Bolshevik Spirit" around June 1939 and sent someone to bring it to Saigon for publication in July 1939, causing a great stir. To this day, "Self-Criticism" is still a work of great historical value and profound theoretical and practical significance.

When World War II broke out, on September 28, 1939, the Governor-General of Indochina issued a Decree implementing the French President's decree banning communist propaganda throughout Indochina, ordering terror and hunting down revolutionaries. Grasping the situation, in September 1939, General Secretary Nguyen Van Cu and the Party Central Committee directed the entire Party to retreat into secret activities, build many secret bases, and send cadres abroad to contact leader Nguyen Ai Quoc.

The situation was so urgent that General Secretary Nguyen Van Cu secretly left Hanoi for Saigon to prepare for the sixth Central Conference. Arriving in Vinh, comrade Nguyen Van Cu met with the Central Party Committee, met with the Secretary of the Nghe An - Ha Tinh Inter-Provincial Party Committee Dinh Van Di to instruct the tasks that needed to be done for the Party Committee and boarded a train to continue to the South. Dinh Van Di had betrayed the Party at this time so he immediately reported to the French secret police. Because the trip was carefully prepared, although the secret police were actively searching for him, comrade Nguyen Van Cu still arrived safely at the Central base. With the active help of the Central Party Committee comrades and leaders of the Southern Party Committee as well as the Saigon - Cho Lon City Party Committee, comrade Nguyen Van Cu completed the draft of the Party's new policy document to present to the sixth Central Conference for discussion.

From November 6 to 8, 1939, at Eighteen Vuon Trau Villages, Tan Thoi Nhat Commune, Hoc Mon District - Gia Dinh, the 6th Conference of the Party Central Committee, chaired by General Secretary Nguyen Van Cu, had in-depth discussions to propose new policies for the Party. The Conference decided to turn all public and semi-public activities of the Party into secret. The Conference also decided on the slogan of struggle, the form of struggle, the goals and revolutionary forces, the front issue and the government issue in the future, as well as unifying the will and actions of the entire Party. It can be said that the 6th Central Conference recorded the initial step of the Party returning to Ho Chi Minh's thought during the Party's founding period, changing its strategic direction when the domestic and international historical context changed rapidly, recognizing the acumen and creativity of the young General Secretary.

Immediately after the Conference, the delegates returned to their localities to implement the resolution on the new policy of the Central Committee, while General Secretary Nguyen Van Cu stayed in Saigon - Gia Dinh to direct the work of the entire Party. At this time, the French colonialists implemented a policy of white terror, hunting down communists. In the early morning of January 17, 1940, at house number 312 Nguyen Tan Nghiem Street (after 1954 it was Phat Diem Street and now it is Tran Dinh Xu Street), the French secret police surrounded and arrested General Secretary Nguyen Van Cu and comrade Le Duan along with many revolutionary cadres. Bazin, the head of the Southern secret police, directly interrogated and brutally tortured comrade Nguyen Van Cu but all to no avail.

At the end of 1940, comrade Nguyen Van Cu and comrades Le Hong Phong, Ha Huy Tap, Le Duan, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Vo Van Tan,... were held in many trials by the colonial government and convicted in many different sentences. When the Southern Uprising broke out and failed, on March 25, 1941, the Saigon Military Court convicted him of being the one who drafted the Resolution to establish the Anti-Imperialist United Front, "advocating violence", "bearing spiritual responsibility" for the Southern Uprising and sentenced him to death.

On the morning of August 28, 1941, General Secretary Nguyen Van Cu, along with comrades Vo Van Tan, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and many other revolutionary leaders were executed by the enemy at Nga Ba Giong, Tan Thoi Nhat commune, Hoc Mon district, Gia Dinh province. He died at the age of 29.

Gieng Nuoc Hospital (now Hoc Mon District Hospital) - where the French executed comrade Nguyen Van Cu (Source: People's Police Newspaper).

As the Party's General Secretary when the national democratic revolution was at its peak, comrade Nguyen Van Cu was an outstanding communist and an excellent theorist of our Party. He fought uncompromisingly to expose the Trotskyites, enhance solidarity and unity within the Party, promptly direct the strategic shift to the new period, and was a shining example of revolutionary morality.

In 2012, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of General Secretary Nguyen Van Cu, comrade Nguyen Phu Trong - General Secretary of the Party Central Committee was moved to comment on his predecessor: "A talented young leader of the Vietnamese revolution, an excellent student of President Ho Chi Minh, an outstanding son of the nation, who fought and sacrificed his whole life for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland, for the happiness of the people". On this occasion, our Party - State built a memorial area including a monument, a memorial house, and a very spacious campus in his hometown. Bac Ninh Provincial Political School, many schools, parks, and streets of Bac Ninh province were named after comrade Nguyen Van Cu. Previously, since 1976, to commemorate comrade Nguyen Van Cu, Bac Ninh province built a relic site for Nguyen Van Cu.

Across the country, there are many streets, schools, and cultural works named after the youngest General Secretary of the Party: in the capital Hanoi, the beautiful road from Chuong Duong Bridge to the Cau Chui roundabout in Gia Lam is named after Nguyen Van Cu. Also in Gia Lam district, there is a high school located in Da Ton commune named after Nguyen Van Cu; in Ho Chi Minh City, District 1 and District 5, there are Nguyen Van Cu streets and a high school in Hoc Mon district named after the General Secretary of the Party.