Martyr Pham Van Tuoc with revolutionary will and faith in the Party in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement

Martyr Pham Van Tuoc (alias Pham Thai) was born in 1905, in a patriotic family in Van Loc village, Nghi Tan commune, Nghi Loc district, Nghe An province. His father was Pham Van Thanh, who participated in patriotic activities and was killed by French colonialists when he was young. His mother was Phan Thi Mao - a responsible, kind-hearted woman who always taught her children about humanity.

As a child, Pham Van Tuoc was sent by his parents to study Chinese with teachers at the village school in the commune, then his father sent him to his friend Nguyen Nang Canh (Tu Kep) to support him and educate him. In 1923, after Tu Kep was killed by the French colonialists for participating in the Dong Du movement, Pham Van Tuoc had to quit school and return to his hometown to help his family earn a living. In his hometown, he was taken to Vinh by teacher Tran Van Tang (who taught at Cao Xuan Duc Vinh School) to find a job and impart knowledge, guiding him on the path of revolution.

In July 1925, in Vinh city, patriotic intellectuals from Nghe Tinh gathered and established the Phuc Viet Association (later renamed the Hung Nam Association) with the mission of spreading patriotic ideology and building forces to fight against the French. Under the leadership of the Association, the movement to demand amnesty for Phan Boi Chau took place vigorously in Vinh, attracting many people from many walks of life to participate, including Pham Van Tuoc.

In 1928, the Phuc Viet Association changed its name to Tan Viet Party and operated widely in all localities. Comrade Pham Van Tuoc and comrades Nguyen Thi Xan, Nguyen Thi Thiu, and Nguyen Thi Nha were honored to be persuaded, enlightened, and admitted into the Tan Viet Party by comrades Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Nguyen Thuc Man, and Hoang Van Tam. With the assigned task of printing documents, leaflets, and revolutionary newspapers to serve the propaganda work of calling on the masses to fight, Pham Van Tuoc worked day and night with the movement.

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Pham Van Tuoc and Hoang Van Tam opened a tailor shop at home and used it as a place for Tan Viet Party members to contact. The tailor shop became a place where the village men gathered to chat. Some of the customers were Van Loc residents but there were also many people from other villages. They did not come here just to sew. The torn pants, shirts, and pieces of fabric they carried were just an excuse to meet, make contact, or discuss work, give instructions, exchange leaflets, documents, etc.

In July 1929, prominent party members of the Tan Viet Party in Nghi Loc such as Nguyen Thuc Man, Hoang Van Tam, Pham Van Tuoc, Nguyen Thi Xan, Nguyen Thi Thiu, Nguyen Thi Nha... voluntarily transferred to the Central Region of the Indochina Communist Party.

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Comrade Pham Van Tuoc was assigned the task of sewing flags and, together with other comrades, hanging them on the roofs of communal houses, tall trees, family churches, along village roads and places with many people passing by.

In November 1929, on the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia, the Central Indochina Communist Party Branch in Vinh distributed leaflets calling for:“Workers, peasants and soldiers unite following the example of the Russian October Revolution! Overthrow imperialism and capitalism, overthrow the feudal regime of the Southern Dynasty, establish the Soviet Government of workers, peasants and soldiers of Indochina! Hand over the furnaces to the workers, hand over the land to the peasants! Practice the dictatorship of the proletariat and communism!...”;At the same time, it advocated mobilizing people to organize rallies, demonstrations, hang red hammer and sickle flags, and distribute leaflets.

After the Communist Party of Vietnam was born, in April 1930, under the direction of the Central Region Party Committee and Vinh Provincial Party Committee, Nghi Loc District Party Committee was established with comrade Nguyen Thuc Man as Secretary. Comrade Pham Van Tuoc and comrade Le Huy Diep were assigned the task of propagating, mobilizing, and developing Party bases, preparing for the struggle on May 1, 1930.

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On the morning of May 1, 1930, the demonstration of the people of Nghi Loc district attracted thousands of participants. Comrade Pham Van Tuoc bravely led hundreds of farmers of Van Loc village, joined forces with the communes to gather at Con Ma Nuong (Nghi Truong commune) to fight. Panicked, the district chief Ton That Hoan mobilized soldiers to suppress. Faced with the storm-like strength of the masses, they had to retreat but sent people to infiltrate the demonstration to get the list and arrest the leaders.

In July 1930, comrade Nguyen Thuc Man was captured by the enemy, and the District Party Committee office moved from Dong Chu village to the Hoang Van family temple in Van Loc village. To avoid the printing facility being exposed, comrade Pham Van Tuoc quickly moved documents and printing tools from comrade Le Huy Diep's house to the Hoang Van family temple before being searched. Here, he single-handedly took charge of printing work. Although the secret police were searching, from the Hoang Van family temple, the Party's leaflets, documents, and newspapers printed by comrade Pham Van Tuoc were still secretly transferred by Mrs. Hoang Thi Tri (comrade's wife) to comrade Nguyen Thi Nha during Lo market sessions to the Party cells in time, encouraging and motivating the fighting spirit of the masses.

After a period of operation, the Party's printing facility at the Hoang Van family church was also at risk of being exposed. In that situation, comrade Pham Van Tuoc discussed with comrade Hoang Van Tam to promptly move it to comrade Pham Van Tuoc's house for easier operation. During this time, Mrs. Hoang Thi Tri worked day and night, rain or shine, to help her husband with printing work and to hide Party cadres.

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Every day, she took care of business to earn a living for her family, and also did the task of liaison, transporting leaflets and documents of the Party to distribute to the bases in the district. Thanks to the active activities of Comrade Pham Van Tuoc and his wife, the leaflets, documents and instructions of the Party still reached the bases and the masses in time. Although life was difficult, arduous, and dangerous, Comrade Pham Van Tuoc's family remained optimistic, committed to the revolutionary path, and maintained their faith in the Party.

After the fierce struggle of the people of Nghi Loc district on October 8, 1930, the colonial and feudal authorities vigorously swept to find revolutionary bases. At the house of comrade Pham Van Tuoc, the document printing facility of Nghi Loc District Party Committee was exposed. After destroying all the printing equipment and documents confiscated, they ordered comrade Pham Van Tuoc to be taken to Thuong Xa station to exploit information.

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Using all means such as seduction and brutal torture, the enemy still could not get any confession from the staunch communist soldier of Van Loc homeland. After the enemy's brutal beatings, comrade Pham Van Tuoc sacrificed his life on October 16, 1930, leaving behind endless grief for the Party Committee and people of his district.

Born and raised in Nghi Loc land with a rich tradition of patriotism and revolution with many excellent children, raised and educated in a family with parents who were shining examples of patriotism, comrade Pham Van Tuoc grew up and became a loyal, indomitable communist soldier, dedicating his whole life to the revolutionary cause of the Party and the People. In 1960, he was posthumously awarded the title of Martyr of the anti-French period by our State and awarded the Certificate of "Fatherland's Gratitude".

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References:

• Nghe An – Communist role models, Volume 5; Propaganda Department of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee; Nghe An Publishing House; 2015
• History of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee (1930-1945) Volume 1; Nghe An Provincial Party Committee Executive Committee.