A moment of silence in the heart of the city

(Baonghean) - That building is located modestly, even a bit quietly, on one of the most beautiful and bustling streets in Vinh city - Quang Trung street. Every time I pass by there, I often remember the letter and handwriting of General Vo Nguyen Giap sent to Nghe An Provincial Party Committee.

The letter's content includes: "The location of Mr. and Mrs. Han Binh's house is also the residence of Ms. Minh Khai and Ms. Quang Thai. House number 132, street: Maréchal Foch, on the way from the station to Cau Ram. You can ask: Mrs. Nhuan, Mrs. Dinh Thi Con, Ms. Lan, Mr. Doan... Of course, you should ask Mrs. Hien, Mr. Dung. Mr. and Mrs. Han Binh also have a house in Cho Thuong". General Vo Nguyen Giap's letter was dated November 6, 2005.

General Vo Nguyen Giap's handwriting sent to Nghe An Provincial Party Committee to help determine the location of Mr. Han Binh's house. Photo: QS

Yes! The project I am referring to is the Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Memorial House in Vinh City. In 2005, when starting to implement this project, Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, Vinh City Party Committee and related units conducted many surveys to find construction locations and positions. The purpose is to pay tribute to patriot Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, to educate generations about the history of revolutionary struggle of the land with a long tradition in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland.

Why did the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee and Vinh City Party Committee ask for General Vo Nguyen Giap's opinion? Because the General's first wife was Mrs. Nguyen Thi Quang Thai, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai's younger sister. When helping Vinh City determine the former location of his wife's parents' house, the General was 94 years old, yet he still remembered every street name, every person involved. General Vo Nguyen Giap must have had deep feelings for the daughter of Vinh - Nguyen Thi Quang Thai and his wife's family to remember this place so clearly.

Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Memorial House in Quang Trung Ward (Vinh City). Photo: Dao Tuan

Before talking about the Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Memorial House in Vinh city, let's briefly summarize the formation of Quang Trung ward in the process of accompanying the city's development history. On December 10, 1927, the Governor General of Indochina issued a Decree to establish Vinh - Ben Thuy city on the basis of merging 3 urban centers. Those are: Vinh, Ben Thuy and Truong Thi. On January 18, 1930, Governor General of Indochina Pasquier issued a supplementary Decree dividing Vinh - Ben Thuy into 10 streets, from the First Street to the Tenth Street, the land of Quang Trung ward belongs to the First Street.

By 1945, after the success of the August Revolution, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born, the revolutionary government of Vinh city merged the administrative boundaries of Vinh city from 10 wards into 5 wards, Quang Trung ward area belonged to ward 1...

It can be said that since the feudal-colonial period, the land of Quang Trung ward today has been the economic-administrative center of the feudal government as well as the colonial regime; this is also the place where the French colonialists built it into an administrative-commercial center, French capitalist industry and as an objective necessity, on Maréchal Foch Avenue on First Street is the gathering place of the middle class, upper class and especially the bourgeoisie in the area, including the national bourgeoisie. Mr. Han Binh's family is one of them.

Quang Trung ward students participate in extracurricular activities at the Memorial House. Photo: Dao Tuan

Mr. Nguyen Huy Binh - Han Binh was originally from Moc village - Thuong Dinh, Nhan Chinh commune, Tu Liem district, now Ha Dinh ward, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi capital. Being an educated person with a high social status at that time, when he came to do business and live in Vinh, he received the respect of the residents in the area. Also on De Nhat street, where there was a train station and a bustling commercial area of ​​the city, Mr. Nguyen Huy Binh's children showed their deep understanding of the miserable life of the people when they were occupied and trampled under two layers of oppression. At that time in Vinh Yen - Yen Truong (Vinh), there were few families of the "upper class" middle class who had as many children as Mr. Han Binh's family who followed the revolution. He and his wife had 8 children, all of whom wholeheartedly followed the revolution.

Among them, the two eldest daughters, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai (1911 - 1941) and Nguyen Thi Quang Thai (1915 - 1944), are considered special cases in the revolutionary movement not only of Nghe An but also of the whole country in the early 20th century. Everyone knows that the husband and comrade of the patriot Nguyen Thi Minh Khai is the late General Secretary Le Hong Phong, and the husband of the female revolutionary soldier Nguyen Thi Quang Thai is General Vo Nguyen Giap. They are people who have had an extremely great influence in the movement to fight for national independence, democracy, and people throughout the 20th century and up to the present day. This is also a rare case in the history of the Vietnamese revolution.

Returning to Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Memorial House in Vinh city, this is a project built by Nghe An province and Vinh city to pay tribute to one of the outstanding and martyred sons of the homeland.

After a period of construction, the project was completed in 2012, on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the late General Secretary Le Hong Phong. The project has many items designed and arranged harmoniously and reasonably. Accordingly, in addition to the Memorial House with a construction area of ​​362m²Built in the ancient architectural style of the Nguyen Dynasty, the project also has a 68m2 guest house.²and auxiliary items such as campus, volta, bonsai, flower carpets... Especially in the center of the campus, right in front of the Memorial House is a bronze statue of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, facing south. The Memorial House is located right next to the 12/9 Cinema - which used to be the Majetic Cinema serving entertainment needs, built by the French colonialists.

The painting depicts the scene of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai (left) and her comrades participating in revolutionary propaganda at Diec Pagoda (Vinh City).

In the middle of the most bustling and noisy streets of Vinh city, just stepping into the Memorial House, one immediately feels the serenity and gentleness and everyone can find a moment of peace in their soul.

I met Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hang, the tour guide of the Memorial House on an early spring afternoon. She smiled gently and said that this was truly a quiet, soft space in the midst of the hustle and bustle. In the Memorial House, in addition to the main altar and many documents and images about the life and revolutionary career of the patriot Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, there are also displayed images and artifacts of her family members as well as comrades and teammates in the early period of the revolutionary struggle movement of the 20th century.

However, according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hang, the Memorial House is not as crowded as other places. The visitors here are mainly students in the ward. Primary schools often organize for students to join the Team at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Memorial House, in addition to extracurricular activities, learning about historical figures of Vinh city. Besides, every year on the occasion of War Invalids and Martyrs Day July 27, Vietnamese Women's Day October 20 or International Women's Day March 8, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Memorial House is bustling for a short time when groups come to offer flowers and incense in memory. After that, it returns to its original quiet and peaceful state. Perhaps this is what creates a special cultural highlight in the modern urban space of Quang Trung ward - one of the most vibrant areas of Vinh city.

First Street, Maréchal Foch Street (Ma - rê - sa Phốc) was formerly known as Train Station Street by the locals. Every day, people heard the train whistles resounding through the bustling city. I imagined that it was at that train station that General Vo Nguyen Giap met and made an appointment with his first wife, Nguyen Thi Quang Thai; and on the train leaving Vinh, the late General Secretary Le Hong Phong held hands with his wife, his comrade, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, to join the revolution, and then they lived and devoted their whole lives to great beliefs and ideals. That was the gathering place of outstanding people, of the quintessence of the nation and the era.

Quoc Son