Story of the speaker at the Independence Ceremony on September 2, 1945 in Saigon
Professor Tran Van Giau - former Secretary of the Southern Regional Party Committee, former Chairman of the Provisional Administrative Committee (UBHCLT) of the South, who gave a historic speech at the Independence Ceremony on September 2, 1945 in Saigon - lived a very long life. He passed away in December 2010 at the age of 100. In his final days, he asked his relatives to do two things: Take him to visit the place where he gave his speech on September 2, 1945 in Saigon for the last time and after his death, bring him back to his hometown for burial, next to his wife.
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| Professor Tran Van Giau. |
Historical speech
During the August Revolution, as Secretary of the Southern Regional Party Committee, Chairman of the Southern Uprising Committee, Chairman of the Southern Revolutionary Committee, Mr. Tran Van Giau directly led the first successful uprising to seize power in the South, in his hometown of Tan An province (now Long An) on August 21, 1945.
Four days later, on August 25, 1945, he and his comrades led the people of Saigon to successfully revolt and seize power. On August 31, 1945, the Central Committee sent a telegram to the Southern Vietnam Provisional Government to announce: At exactly 2:00 p.m. on September 2, 1945, at Ba Dinh Square - Hanoi, the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) will present itself to the nation, and President Ho Chi Minh will read the Declaration of Independence, giving birth to the DRV. The organizing committee of the ceremony in Hanoi will rebroadcast the Voice of Vietnam Radio so that the people of Saigon can listen directly to President Ho Chi Minh reading the Declaration of Independence broadcast from Hanoi.
With less than 2 days of preparation, Mr. Giau and the Southern Vietnam UBHCLT organized a large rally and parade in Saigon to celebrate Independence Day. More than 1 million people in Saigon and neighboring localities such as Cho Lon, Tan An, Binh Duong, Dong Nai... gathered at the ceremony site on Cong Hoa Avenue (now Le Duan Avenue) to wait for the opening ceremony.
The whole city was filled with revolutionary flags and slogans such as “Long live the Democratic Republic of Vietnam”, “Independence or Death”, “Down with French Colonialism”… written in five languages: Vietnamese, English, French, Chinese, and Russian. However, due to the bad weather and outdated technical equipment at that time, Saigon could not receive radio signals from Hanoi.
After 30 minutes, the Organizing Committee quickly consulted and assigned Mr. Tran Van Giau to represent the Southern Executive Committee to speak to the people. Mr. Tran Van Giau thought for a few minutes, quickly wrote down some main ideas, then improvised a speech in front of millions of people.
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| General Vo Nguyen Giap and Professor Tran Van Giau. Photo: Internet |
The overall content of the speech was to call on the people to unite around President Ho Chi Minh, raise vigilance, and be ready to crush the French colonialists' plot of invasion.
At the beginning of his speech, Mr. Tran Van Giau declared: “Vietnam has gone from a colony to an independent country. Vietnam has gone from an empire to a republic. Vietnam is moving forward on the path of life. However, the revival of the nation is being threatened by the enemy. The enemy is plotting a plot to put an end to the yoke of slavery on the necks of 25 million compatriots...”.
Mr. Giau advised his compatriots to be vigilant: “Rejoice in the victory, but do not be intoxicated by the victory. Because our beloved Vietnam is facing a dangerous situation. If we are not careful, our country and our people may be put back into slavery.” Then Mr. Giau asked: “Is there anyone here who recognizes a governor to rule our country? Is there anyone willing to give up and let the colonial regime return?”
After each of his questions, millions of people answered in unison: “No! No! No!” Mr. Tran Van Giau ended his speech with a call: “Citizens, be ready to fight!... Stand up! Independence Day begins now! Move forward, for independence, for freedom, move forward forever! No fortress can stop the will of the people on the road to liberation!”
Then, Dr. Pham Ngoc Thach - Minister of Health - on behalf of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam swore an oath to "Build complete independence for Vietnam". The representative of the people of Saigon continued to read the oath: Not to serve as soldiers for France - Not to work for France - Not to sell food to France - Not to lead the way for France! The Independence ceremony turned into a march of millions of compatriots on the streets of Saigon.
The French colonialists fired from high-rise buildings at the marching groups, killing and injuring 47 people. However, we were very restrained, only temporarily detaining the suspects, and did not take any revenge.
Commenting on the Independence Day in Saigon, Professor Tran Van Giau said that the desire for independence for nearly 100 years had made millions of people, as one, burn with the will to fight and sacrifice for the fate of the country. Professor Tran Van Giau said that the French colonialists had provoked on the Independence Day in Saigon, and in the following days they had provoked even more blatantly. What had to happen happened, and less than a month later, the people of the South entered the autumn resistance war, beginning a 9-year arduous resistance war against the French colonialists throughout the country.
Although the life of the Chairman of the Southern Vietnam UBHCLT later took a different turn and also achieved many great successes in historical research, philosophy, teaching..., he became a Professor, People's Teacher, Labor Hero, Ho Chi Minh Prize, but the mark of the Independence Day on September 2, 1945 in Saigon was always strong in the life of Professor Tran Van Giau. Before leaving, he visited that memorable place again.
A lifetime of loyalty
The love and fate of Professor Tran Van Giau and Ms. Do Thi Dao was quite special, given the special circumstances of the country and his life. At the age of 17 (in 1928), after passing the Baccalaureate, Mr. Giau asked his family to go to France to study. His parents agreed on the condition that he had to get married before letting him go. An educated girl the same age as him (born in 1911) named Do Thi Dao was chosen for that hasty wedding. That marriage lasted nearly 80 years, and towards the end of their lives, they loved each other more and more.
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| Professor Tran Van Giau and his wife (September 5, 1995). Photo: Internet |
From the day they got married until peace was restored to half the country (1954), for 26 years in name only, Mr. Giau and Mrs. Dao were together, but the time they spent together could only be counted in days. He studied abroad in France, joined the French Communist Party, then went to the Soviet Union to study at the Oriental School, returned to the country to participate in revolutionary activities, and was continuously arrested and imprisoned by the French invaders...
For a long time, Mrs. Dao took care of her elderly parents while her husband was busy with national affairs. They only really lived together in the North after the Geneva Agreement was signed. But perhaps it was too late for them to have the happiness of being parents! Having no children, he donated all his assets to society and his homeland, including the Tran Van Giau Award for historical research in the Southern region.
During his lifetime, Mr. Giau always spoke proudly about his wife: His successes in life had an important contribution from Mrs. Dao. Mr. Giau was the 10th in the family, but he called himself "Sau Giau" according to Mrs. Dao's "order" (Mrs. Dao was the 6th in the family).
He and she were both born in September 1911, he on the 6th, she on the 11th. For a long time, every year he celebrated her birthday (September 11th) and added his birthday (September 6th) to it “for fun”. Later, he also used her birthday (September 11th) as his own. Currently, his tombstone has his birthday written as September 11th, 1911, the same as the one on her tombstone next to it. She died in 2005, and from then on he declined rapidly and passed away in 2010.
In his final days, he was suggested a worthy resting place in the Ho Chi Minh City Martyrs' Cemetery, but his last wish was to be buried next to his wife in the place where they became husband and wife 82 years ago, Hoi Xuan Hamlet, Duong Xuan Hoi Commune, Chau Thanh District, Long An Province.