Comrade Ho Nhiep - a staunch communist soldier of his homeland Dien Chau
No matter what the circumstances, how difficult or arduous, comrade Ho Nhiep always upheld the spirit of bravery and indomitability. He was a shining example of the noble qualities of a communist.
Comrade Ho Nhiep was born in 1914 in Long An Trung village, Hoang Truong commune (now Dien Truong commune), Dien Chau district, Nghe An province. His father, Ho Lien, was a gentle and honest man. He left his official position and, together with the scholars of Dien Chau and Yen Thanh districts, established an uprising camp. His mother, Thi Thao, was a hard-working and diligent woman. Both he and his wife were respected and loved by the villagers.
The ancient village of Long An Trung was located in the North of Dien Chau district. This place had a tradition of studiousness, ardent patriotism and steadfast struggle. From the age of 8, Ho Nhiep was sent by his parents to study Chinese characters. Every day, his father told him stories about Van Than, Can Vuong, and Mr. Nghe On. Growing up, he witnessed the people being heavily exploited by the imperialists and feudalists, so Ho Nhiep soon had a strong hatred for the enemy.
In June 1925, in Guangzhou (China), leader Nguyen Ai Quoc founded the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association. In 1927, comrade Vo Mai (from Van Phan village) after attending classes at Hoang Pho School (China) returned to Dien Chau district to establish contact with a number of progressive youths in Van Phan to establish the first Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association in Dien Chau. The organization's activities attracted many classes of young people with fighting aspirations in Hoang Truong commune. Shortly after, the sub-group of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association of Hoang Truong commune was also established, including comrades such asChu Hue, Ho Hung, Chu Dam, Chu Trang...(1).
During this time, comrades Chu Trang and Chu Dam, who were from the same village, often visited Ho Nhiep's house to visit, and encouraged him to follow the revolution, introducing him to join the Hoang Truong Youth Union along with comrades Ho Tuyen and Ho Xien. "That day, the moon was dim and could not see people's faces, only their slender figures could be seen, their voices were all in the Northern dialect. Comrades Trang and Dam stood up to introduce the three brothers Tuyen, Xien and me to be admitted to the Comrades' Revolutionary Youth Association. After that, the three of us stood up and swore: ...we swear to be completely loyal to the revolution unconditionally. If in the future we commit any treachery, we will accept disciplinary punishment from our superiors. The three of us swear! We swear!..."(2). Comrade Ho Nhiep, along with comrades Chu Trang, Chu Dam, Chu Hue... went to the villages in Dien Chau district to propagate, build bases, and mobilize the masses to fight. Under the leadership of the Youth Association, the people of Dien Truong rose up to demand the return of land, reduce offerings, and denounce the crimes of the village chiefs and local mandarins...
The Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association of Dien Chau developed strongly in the form of establishing camps such as: Eo Nghet plowing camp (Quynh Luu) organized by comrade Hoang (from Thanh Hoa) including comrades Ho Tuu, Ho Tac, Ho The...; plowing camp in Mung field (Quynh Luu) including Chu Hue, Chu Truat, Ho Hung, Chu Duy; Trang Ke plowing camp (Yen Thanh) established by comrade Vo Mai including Ho Nhiep, Chu Dam, Chu Trang; Trinh Son plowing camp (Yen Thanh) organized by comrade Chu Van Dam; Truong Ven plowing camp (Quynh Luu) organized by comrade Le Ty including Le Tai, Chu Cu...
In September 1929, the Hoang Truong Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association sub-group was transformed by comrade Nguyen Phong Sac - Provisional Secretary of the Indochina Communist Party into the Indochina Communist Party Cell (abbreviated as Hoang Truong Cell), including party members such as: Ho Xien (Secretary), Chu Trang, Chu Dam, Ho Nhiep, Chu Hue, Chu Toan, Le Ty...
After the Communist Party of Vietnam was born (February 3, 1930), on April 28, 1930, the Indochina Communist Party cell of Hoang Truong commune was renamed the Vietnam Communist Party cell of Hoang Truong commune. Those who worked in the Indochina Communist Party cell were transferred to the Vietnam Communist Party cell, including comrades such as Chu Hue, Ho Nhiep, Chu Trang... Comrade Ho Nhiep and other cadres and party members actively propagated and mobilized people to follow the Party, the revolutionary struggle movement of the masses everywhere in Hoang Truong commune became stronger and stronger.
In early October 1930, the provisional Party Executive Committee of Dien Chau district decided to launch a massive struggle throughout the district. Receiving instructions from the superiors, the Hoang Truong Party Cell held a meeting to discuss the plan and assign specific tasks to each cadre and party member. Comrade Ho Nhiep went down to the villages of Hoang Ha, Cu Nai, and Ngoc My to mobilize the masses to fight.
On October 14, 1930, the Van Phan and Hoang Truong branches mobilized more than 500 farmers to raise high the red hammer and sickle flag and march to the district capital to protest for tax reduction, tax deferral, abolishment of the patrol system, and demand for land to be divided among the farmers... The protesters were suppressed by soldiers in blue uniforms mobilized by the district chief Vo Vong. They opened fire, killing and injuring many people, including comrade Ho Sy Tieng, a native of Dong Thap village (Dien Hong), who led the flag-raising ceremony. On October 15, 1930, the Hoang Truong branch held an expanded conference to draw experience in leading the demonstration and discuss plans to organize a memorial service for comrade Ho Sy Tieng.
After the demonstration on October 14, 1930, the enemy intensified repression but could not extinguish the people's will to fight. Many rallies to speak about the Party's policies under the direction of Hoang Truong Party Cell still took place successfully. Typical examples include the rally at Con Tran (Hoang Truong commune) with 190 participants, led by comrade Chu Hue; the rally at Con Cu with 170 participants chaired by comrade Ho Nhiep; the rally at De Thich communal house with 180 participants, the rally led by comrade Chu Truat at Xa Tac communal house... The rallies all had the large participation of members of the Farmers' Association, Women's Association, Red Self-Defense Force...
On November 4, 1930, comrade Ho Nhiep went to the district to discuss the struggle plan. The Dien Chau Party Committee decided to organize the second demonstration on November 7, 1930 on a district-wide scale to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the Russian October Revolution. The conference agreed to use the drumbeat of Long An communal house as a signal to gather the masses in the North Dien Chau region. Accepting the policy, comrade Ho Nhiep returned to organize a meeting at the Truong family church.(3)to carry out specific tasks, have a plan to mobilize the masses to participate in the demonstration. From the afternoon of November 6, 1930, the atmosphere in Hoang Truong commune was like a festival, comrade Ho Nhiep and comrades in the Party cell arranged people to bring documents and leaflets to the bases, prepare banners, slogans, and the militia prepared weapons for the demonstration.
As planned, on the morning of November 7, 1930, the drums of Long An communal house rang out, urging everyone to quickly return to the gathering place. The Ly Trai group, along Provincial Road 38, entered Sy market station but was stopped by the enemy, so they could not get off on time. The people of Hoang Truong group followed National Highway 1 to enter the capital. The Van Phan group went around Gian market then advanced onto Highway 1. Comrades Chu Hue, Chu Trang, Phan Uoc, Ho Tuyen, Ho Bat, Ho Nhiep, and Le Tai led the protest. Arriving at the Bung bridge intersection, the Hoang Truong and Van Phan groups merged into one, more than 2,000 people marched to the capital while shouting slogans: Support the Soviet Union, overthrow French imperialism, feudal Southern Dynasty, reduce taxes for farmers..., the momentum of the protest rose like a broken dam. Panicked by the people's struggle, the enemy opened fire frantically on the demonstrators, killing more than 30 people and injuring dozens more. Faced with such a dire situation, the demonstrators had to disperse. That same afternoon, they took 8 people to Ben Tai (Bung River) and shot them dead in order to intimidate the people's fighting spirit. Blood reddened a section of the Bung River. After the protest, the Government Committee instructed the General Committee and Party cells to organize a memorial service for the martyrs.
After the memorial service, Hoang Truong Party Cell continued to organize many small struggles in some villages. For 2 days (November 11 and 12, 1930), more than 800 farmers of Hoang Truong commune gathered at Ha market to celebrate the anniversary of the Guangzhou Commune, to remember those who sacrificed on November 7, 1930 and to denounce the crimes of the French invaders.
At the end of December 1930, the General Committee Hoang Truong divided the whole commune into 7 branches (including 5 official branches and 2 merged branches). These were branches A, B, C, D, D, E, G.(4). At this time, Comrade Ho Nhiep was working in Party Cell B and was assigned to go to villages in the whole district to establish more mass organizations such as the Red Peasant Association, Red Self-Defense Force, Communist Youth Union, Red Relief... to strengthen the Party organization and propagate and mobilize people to fight. Under the leadership of the General Department, the struggle movement of the people in the area continued to grow, causing the local tycoons and village chiefs to panic and lie still, not daring to act against the revolution. The village chief of Long An village returned the seal to the commune agricultural department, some had to run to the Western station to seek protection... many places in Dien Chau had established Soviet governments.
In April 1931, the enemy launched village sieges, swept, burned, and looted people's property continuously day and night in villages in Hoang Truong commune. Many cadres and party members were unfortunately captured by the enemy, such as comrade Ho The.(5), comrade Chu Truc, comrade Chu Toan... The French colonialists tried every way to drown the movement in a sea of blood.
At this time, the situation was dangerous, the general committee office could not be located in people's houses, had to move continuously, up high mountains far from the village, sometimes located in Dau village in Quynh Luu area, in Khe So in Yen Thanh area... Around August 1931, when the Party organization was located in Khe Chanh - a dangerous, secretive area, bordering the three districts of Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, the enemy suddenly came and surrounded and captured, some escaped, comrades Ho Nhiep, Truong Nghiem, Chu Truat, Vu Do... were all arrested. After many days of imprisonment and torture at Dien Chau prison, comrade Ho Nhiep was transferred to Vinh prison, suffered all kinds of torture but he still did not reveal anything. Comrade Ho Nhiep was sentenced to 9 years in prison, 9 years of house arrest (Judgment No. 85 dated August 23, 1931 of Nghe An Court), had all his property confiscated and was exiled to Buon Ma Thuot.
In prison, comrade Ho Nhiep still practiced martial arts day and night, fought fiercely, demanding that they resolve his demands such as: stop beatings, get sick leave, medicine, soap for bathing and washing, and give him two sets of clothes to change. “The prison chief called the warden in, we stood up to make demands, immediately the warden ordered soldiers to arrest Chu Hue, Chu Van Bien, Tran Huong, Duong Van Lan, Do Quang Ngai and me, took us to the outer prison cell, shackled our legs, and fed us bland rice for a week. They imprisoned us separately, for a total of six months. We all had our sentences increased, but I was given three years. Hue, Bien, and Huong went to Lao Bao, Lan, Do, and I went to Kon Tum.”(6)In 1932, comrade Ho Nhiep was sent to Kon Tum, then at the end of 1933 he was transferred to Buon Ma Thuot.
By the end of 1936, comrade Ho Nhiep was released from prison when the French Popular Front Government came to power. Returning to his locality, he continued to work in support groups, taking responsibility for openly fighting against corrupt local officials through reading groups and newspapers to propagate the revolution. Wards and associations were also established to help each other, contributing money to buy books and newspapers to serve propaganda work.
In 1939, the enemy searched comrade Ho Nhiep's house and discovered several copies of the newspaper Nhanh Lua and banned books in French. They arrested him and sent him to Dien Chau Prison for about 3 months, sentenced him to 2 years in prison, and then sent him to Vinh with the following charges: "1. Possessing banned books and newspapers; 2. Establishing a private school without permission; 3. Using teaching as an excuse to engage in political activities."(7).
After his prison term ended, comrade Ho Nhiep was released and quickly returned to revolutionary activities. It was not until 1944 that the local movement subsided, during which time he lost contact with the Party.
In early 1945, comrade Nguyen Duc Nang from My Quan village, Dien Yen commune came back to contact comrade Ho Nhiep to rebuild the Hoang Truong organization. The "secret Viet Minh" organization was established with comrades: Ho Phan, Chu Tuong, Chu Hieu, Chu Duy Thieu, with Ho Nhiep as the team leader. During this time, his house was the regular meeting place of the secret Viet Minh team.
In the fall of 1945, the Hoang Truong General Uprising Committee was established, including Chu Hien, Chu Tuong, Ho Hieu, Chu Duy Thieu... with comrade Ho Nhiep as its head. Comrade Ho Nhiep and the General Uprising Committee commanded the masses to fight for power in the entire general. The provisional Party cell of Hoang Truong General was established, comrade Ho Nhiep was elected Chairman of the Provisional Committee of Hoang Truong General, concurrently Secretary of the Provisional Party Cell of Hoang Truong General; Chairman of Viet Minh of Hoang Truong General.
Later, comrade Ho Nhiep continued to hold many positions in the locality such as: Chairman of the Resistance Committee of Long Chung commune, Dien Chau district; Chairman of the Resistance Administrative Committee of Hop Tien commune, Dien Chau district; Chairman of the Resistance Administrative Committee of Hung Chau commune, Dien Chau district...
After the land reform, he continued to hold many important positions such as: Member of the Executive Committee of Dien Truong Commune Party Cell; People's Council of Dien Truong Commune; Member of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Dien Chau District; Party cell leader, administrative officer of the Hanoi Department of Architecture.
Since 1966, as a retired cadre, comrade Ho Nhiep continued to live in the locality and was elected as head of the elders' association, head of the movement to promote cultural and current affairs. On October 20, 1990, he passed away.
In any position, he always fulfilled the assigned tasks well. With his great contributions to the revolution, comrade Ho Nhiep was awarded the Third Class Independence Medal (1977) by the State along with many other noble medals and badges. No matter the circumstances, how difficult or arduous, comrade Ho Nhiep always upheld the spirit of bravery and indomitability. He was a shining example of the noble qualities of a communist.
Note:
1) According to the history of Dien Chau District Party Committee, in early 1927 in Nghe An there were 4 Youth sub-groups, 2 sub-groups were established in Dien Chau alone.
2,6,7) Excerpt from the memoirs of comrade Ho Nhiep kept at the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum, pp.7, 56, 64. Comrades Ho Tuyen, Ho Xien, and Ho Nghiem were cousins and studied at the same school as Ho Nhiep.
3) Truong Dai Ton family temple relic, Dien Truong commune, Dien Chau district, Nghe An province.
4) History of the Party Committee and people of Dien Truong commune 1930-2009.
5) Comrade Ho The, Ho Nhiep's older brother, born in 1901, was a member of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association in Dien Truong until 1927. In 1931, he was captured by the enemy, tied up, hung from a rafters, and tortured to death at Long An station. He was recognized as a Martyr in 1930-1931.