Chiếc hầm bí mật

September 1, 2010 10:56

80 năm đã trôi qua nhưng câu chuyện về những ngày hoạt động của phong trào Xô - viết Nghệ Tĩnh chưa bao giờ tắt trong ngôi nhà nhỏ của nguyên Bí thư Đảng ủy Nhà máy diêm Bến Thủy - liệt sỹ Lê Viết Cường. Cũng 80 năm ấy, trong ngôi nhà này luôn tồn tại một chiếc hầm bí mật - chiếc hầm đã

Ngôi nhà nhỏ...

Nằm trong một con ngõ và ẩn mình dưới những tán cây xanh tốt là ngôi nhà gỗ hơn 100 năm của gia đình liệt sỹ Lê Viết Cường - một trong những liệt sỹ đầu tiên hi sinh tại khu vực Cồn Mô, người đảng viên ưu tú, Bí thư Đảng ủy Nhà máy diêm Bến Thủy.

Trước đây, ngôi nhà này thường xuyên là nơi tổ chức hội họp, bàn luận các vấn đề chính trị của các chiến sỹ Xô Viết. Thiêng liêng hơn, đây là nơi chứng kiến nhiều giờ khắc quan trọng của các chiến sỹ cộng sản - giây phút được chính thức đứng vào hàng ngũ của Đảng.

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