Martyr Hoang Vien - the inheritor of the Soviet spirit into practice in Hue

Comrade Hoang Vien (also known as Hoang Van Vien, Hoang Trong Vien, Huynh Van Viet), was born in 1917 in Trung Ha village, Quang Xuyen commune, Phu Vang district, Thua Thien province (now Trung Ha village, Phu Gia commune, Phu Vang district, Thua Thien Hue province). Growing up in a situation of "lost country, broken home", witnessing the people having to endure a miserable life, a double yoke of oppression contributed to urging the young people of Phu Vang hometown to soon take up the path of revolutionary struggle. Martyr Hoang Vien is one of such examples.

Comrade Hoang Vien was born into a middle-class peasant family. His parents, Mr. Hoang Trong Hien and Mrs. Pham Thi Lan, were both farmers with progressive patriotism. With the family's support to study Chinese and Vietnamese at the village school, Comrade Hoang Vien soon showed himself to be intelligent, quick-witted, eager to learn, and compassionate.

In response to developments in the world and the country, the provincial committees of communist organizations were successively established in Thua Thien Hue: the Indochinese Communist Party of Thua Thien Hue (July 1929), the Indochinese Communist Federation (January 1930). In April 1930, under the chairmanship of comrade Nguyen Phong Sac, a conference with representatives of the two communist organizations convened declared: unifying the two communist organizations, the Indochinese Communist Party and the Indochinese Communist Federation of Thua Thien province, into the Party Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam of Thua Thien province. Because the localities had not yet established provisional district committees, the Thua Thien Provincial Party Committee assigned members of the Executive Committee to be in charge of the movement in the districts. Comrade Le Ba Di was in charge of Phu Vang, Phu Loc and Huong Thuy districts.

Immediately after its establishment, the Thua Thien Provincial Party Committee held its first meeting to discuss, assign tasks, and propose a number of specific work directions related to the work of: propagating to the people about the establishment of the Party Committee, awakening revolutionary ideals among workers, farmers and intellectuals; mobilizing the masses to organize struggles to celebrate International Labor Day, May 1. The first resolution of the Thua Thien Provincial Party Committee stated:“Expand the student, worker, and farmer movement to prepare for May Day for 15 days from April 22 to May 7, 1930 to mobilize the masses, and on May 1 to preserve forces.”[1].

A special thing is that before the Thua Thien Provincial Party Committee was established, in January 1930, the Indochinese Communist Federation of Phu Vang - Phu Loc District Party Cell was established, with comrade Le Ba Di as Secretary. The establishment of the Indochinese Communist Federation cell was very important, contributing to the propaganda of patriotic youths in the two districts in general and Phu Vang district in particular to be ready to follow the new revolutionary path. Comrade Hoang Vien, although only 13 years old at that time, was very agile and fluent in reading and writing, so he was chosen by the patriotic youths in the village to participate in activities such as distributing leaflets and hanging the Party flag in the locality during this time.

Receiving instructions from the Provincial Party Committee, comrade Le Ba Di rushed to Phu Vang to prepare conditions for the struggle movement to celebrate International Labor Day on May 1st. With the trust and guidance of comrade Le Ba Di, on the night of April 30th and the morning of May 1st, 1930, comrade Hoang Vien was one of two people assigned to hang the Party flag on the top of the casuarina tree in Trung Ha market [2]. Next, he also enthusiastically participated in the work of distributing leaflets. The red flag and leaflets calling on farmers to fight for tax reductions... had a positive impact on a part of the local masses, creating momentum for strengthening the farmers' movement in the spirit of the first Resolution proposed by the Provincial Party Committee.

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Later, in the book “General Le Duc Anh - Life and revolutionary career” (Memoirs), the late General Le Duc Anh also wrote: “… since childhood, I have been close friends with Hoang Van Vien, he is 3 years older than me, everyone still calls him Viet… Viet is the young boy who eight years ago (in 1930) entrusted me with hiding the revolutionary flag. And, on the night of April 30, early morning of May 1, 1930, I secretly gave the flag to Viet to hang on the top of the casuarina tree at Truong Ha market on Tam Giang lagoon…”.

In August 1930, when news of the struggle movement in Nghe Tinh reached Thua Thien Hue, the Provincial Party Committee initiated a movement to support the Nghe Tinh Soviet and oppose the enemy's terror policy on a province-wide scale. Receiving the task assigned by their superiors, key party members went directly to rural areas to mobilize farmers, gather them into the Farmers' Association, and prepare for a new struggle. Comrade Hoang Vien's family was often the place where comrade Le Ba Di stayed and held meetings when he returned to the locality to lead the movement to support the Nghe Tinh Soviet.

In September 1930, under the leadership of party members, the people of Trung Ha coordinated with the people of neighboring communes to organize a rally on the sandbank south of Moc Tru village. At the rally, the party members denounced the crimes of the French colonialists against the struggles of the people of Nghe Tinh. As usual, comrade Hoang Vien and a number of young people were chosen by the party cell to distribute leaflets in this rally. The people shouted out the slogans printed in the leaflets in unison, creating a vibrant atmosphere of struggle. The rally demonstrated the class solidarity, strong fighting spirit as well as the revolutionary awareness of the people of Trung Ha in particular and the people of Phu Vang in general under the leadership of the Party.

Panicked by the revolutionary momentum of 1930-1931 throughout the country, the French colonialists and their henchmen tried every way to brutally suppress it. In Phu Vang, most of the core party members fell into the hands of the enemy.

In 1935, comrade Hoang Vien and some comrades sympathetic to the Party in the district such as Tran Thanh Chu, Nguyen Thanh... officially joined the Party. Comrade Hoang Vien was introduced by comrade Le Ba Di, admitted to the Party and entrusted with the task of being in charge of the two communes of Su Lo and Quang Xuyen. Through his active activities, comrade Hoang Vien educated and enlightened many patriotic youths to participate in the revolutionary movement, and at the same time built more Party bases in the communes.

In 1938, in response to the growth of the revolutionary movement throughout the district, as well as the practical requirements of the struggle of the entire province, the Provincial Party Committee sent comrade Phan Dat to preside over the establishment of the Phu Vang District Party Committee. Comrade Tran Thanh Chu was elected as Secretary. Comrade Hoang Vien was a member of the District Party Committee and Secretary of the Trung Ha Party Cell.

In September 1938, implementing the Provincial Party Committee's policy of opposing the new tax policies of France and the Southern Dynasty government, Phu Vang District Party Committee proposed a policy of leading all classes of people to demonstrate to demand the cancellation of this policy. Under the leadership of comrade Hoang Trong Vien, the people of Trung Ha, together with the people of the communes in the two communes of Su Lo and Quang Xuyen, organized a large rally on the sandbank between Trung Ha and Duong Mong. Comrade Hoang Vien took on the role of speaker at this rally. After comrade Hoang Vien finished his speech, the people shouted the slogans in unison:

- Against the project of increasing land tax!

- Promulgate freedom and democracy…

The demonstration left a great echo in the revolutionary movement in Hue at that time.

Since October 1939, the French colonialists and the Southern Dynasty government have implemented a policy of terror and repression on a large scale throughout the province. Knowing the great role of comrade Hoang Vien in the Phu Vang revolutionary movement, the enemy hunted him down and put him under house arrest in a "re-education camp". Later, when he was released (time unknown), comrade Hoang Vien continued to contact the organization to continue his activities.

Implementing the directive "Japan - France fighting each other and our actions" of the Party Central Committee on March 12, 1945 and the direction of the Standing Committee of Thua Thien province on May 23, 1945, Phu Vang District Party Committee established the district Viet Minh Front. Comrade Hoang Vien was elected as one of the 6 members of the Phu Vang Viet Minh Executive Committee. Under the leadership of the Committee, Phu Vang people enthusiastically participated in the organizations. On August 10, 1945, the atmosphere of preparing for the uprising was increasingly rising throughout the province. The Provincial Party Committee organized an expanded conference and decided to organize the uprising. Immediately after the conference, the Phu Vang Viet Minh Executive Committee urgently met and decided to establish the District Uprising Steering Committee and assigned its members to directly take charge of the movement in the communes. Comrade Hoang Vien was assigned by the organization to be in charge of Quang Xuyen commune.

On August 20, 1945, under the direction of comrade Hoang Vien, the people of Quang Xuyen marched in neat ranks to demonstrate their power. Every time they reached a village, the group stopped to give a speech, forcing the village chief to obediently hand over the bronze seal and books. After the leaders of the people of Quang Xuyen commune coordinated with the communes to seize power in the entire district on August 22, 1945, comrade Hoang Vien and the Uprising Steering Committee continued to lead the people of the district to march to the capital Hue. On August 23, 1945, the people of Phu Vang participated in and contributed to the victory of the August Revolution in the entire province.

After the success of the August Revolution, Comrade Hoang Vien continued to participate in revolutionary activities in the locality and was assigned the position of Chief of Quang Xuyen. In 1947, he died while on duty. He was posthumously awarded the Certificate of Merit by the State under Decision No. 1319/QD-TTg dated August 12, 2015. In 2008, the late General Le Duc Anh donated money to build a memorial house for Comrade Hoang Vien right on his family's house. The memorial house has become a red address in the traditional education activities of the local people.

Joining the revolution early, comrade Hoang Vien was a shining example of patriotism and national pride. His death at the age of 31 was a great loss to the Phu Vang revolutionary movement. The name and contributions of comrade Hoang Vien contributed to adding more color to the golden history of our nation's struggle to defend the country.

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Note:

1] The early days of establishment and construction of the Thua Thien Party Committee (Handwritten memoir, completed on May 27, 1966) by comrade Le Viet Luong, provisional alternate member of the Central Region Party Committee, first Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee of Thua Thien Province. Documents stored at the Central Party Office Archives and the Thua Thien Hue Provincial Party Committee Archives, pre-1945 document collection.

References:

- History of Phu Vang District Party Committee (1930-2015), Thuan Hoa Publishing House, 2015

- History of Vinh Phu commune party committee (1930-2015), Thuan Hoa Publishing House, 2015

- History of Vinh Thanh commune party committee (1930-2015), Thuan Hoa Publishing House, 2015

- General Le Duc Anh - Life and revolutionary career" (Memoirs), National Political Publishing House, 2015

- Story and documents provided by comrade Hoang Vien's family.