Teacher Nguyen Huu Vien in Vo Liet and his positive contributions to the revolution

Nguyen Huu Vien was born and raised in a poor peasant family with many siblings and no land. His father, Nguyen Huu Chuoc, participated in the anti-French uprising initiated by Phan Dinh Phung. His mother, Tran Thi Hoach, was a weaver, a hard-working woman who devoted herself to taking care of her husband and children.

Despite his family's difficult circumstances, Nguyen Huu Vien was still allowed by his parents to study both Chinese and Vietnamese. When he was in second grade at the Franco-Vietnamese School, his father passed away and Nguyen Huu Vien had to drop out of school to help support his family.

In 1923, with the knowledge he had learned, Nguyen Huu Vien went to Hoa Quan village to work as a teacher to earn a living. At this time, the feudal colonialists and their lackeys were increasingly rampant. They took over all the village's public land, imposed high taxes and duties, forced people to guard the village office, cleaned the village communal house, and beat people for no reason, extremely cruelly.

Witnessing that situation, Nguyen Huu Vien and some of his brothers and classmates such as Hoang Tang Binh, Hoang Thuat, Hoang Thuyet... chose Hoa Quan communal house as a place to organize readings of progressive books and newspapers for students, discuss current events, tell stories about the Xinhai Revolution in China, the October Revolution in Russia, communism, etc. It was also from here that Nguyen Huu Vien was enlightened about communist ideals and decided to follow the path of national liberation revolution.

In Hoa Quan village, Nguyen Huu Vien taught and worked with some local brothers such as Dau Dinh Linh, Nguyen Tu Van, Le Ba Tuan,Nguyen Tu Kien... mobilize people to fight against high taxes, heavy taxes, distribute leaflets, carry torches, carry lanterns,...

On May 5, 1930, joining the people's struggle, Nguyen Huu Vien actively participated in demonstrations in Thanh Chuong district. Among them, there was a demonstration to destroy the wine shop of District Chief Phan Thanh Ky. Soldiers intended to go out to suppress but Phan Thanh Ky stopped them. At the same time, he accepted the people's demands and promised to present them to his superiors.

On May 6, 1930, Nguyen Huu Vien was admitted to the Communist Party of Vietnam. Immediately after that, he was assigned by Thanh Chuong District to be in charge of propaganda work and building bases in the Hoa Quan area. Returning to his locality, he immediately started connecting with the elite masses of Hoa Quan to develop a propaganda plan, clearly exposing the crimes of colonialists, feudalists and their lackeys, contributing to arousing patriotism. From there, he mobilized the masses to actively participate in the struggle against the oppression and exploitation of the local lackey government.

Implementing the policy of the District Committee, in the role of propaganda officers of the Thanh Chuong District Committee, on July 15, 1930, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien and Nguyen Tu Van led and directed the people of Hoa Quan village to march to the district office to participate in the demonstration. However, due to information being leaked, the demonstration was quickly suppressed.

In early August 1930, at the Nguyen Tu family church (now in Hamlet 1, Thanh Huong Commune), under the chairmanship of Thanh Chuong District Party Committee, the Hoa Quan Party Cell was established, with the code name HQ. The cell had 8 party members, including comrades: Nguyen Tu Van - Secretary, Nguyen Tu Kien - Deputy Secretary, Dau Dinh Linh, Dinh Van Tiem, Le Nhu My, Nguyen Xuan Phon, Nguyen Huu Vien and Nguyen Thi Sen. Comrade Nguyen Huu Vien was assigned to be in charge of propaganda work.

As a teacher, through his classes, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien actively integrated propaganda and denouncement of the crimes of the colonial and feudal governments and their lackeys into his lectures, thereby effectively mobilizing people of all walks of life to participate in the revolution.

On August 10, 1930, the Hoa Quan Party Cell led the people of Hoa Quan, Thanh Khiet, Dong Hoa and the people of the villages surrounding Thanh Qua station to participate in a demonstration to protest against the French soldiers coming to the village to loot.

Under the leadership of the Party cell and the active participation of comrade Nguyen Huu Vien, the struggle movement of the Hoa Quan people continued to rise. Promoting that spirit, the Hoa Quan Party cell led the masses to participate in the demonstration to rob the district office.

On the night of August 31, 1930, the drums of Hoa Quan village were brought to the top of Sung Bo mountain to await orders. The militia of the villages blocked all roads, cutting off the enemy's supply route to Thanh Chuong district, protecting and guiding the demonstration.

At 1 a.m. on September 1, 1930, as planned, when the drums of command sounded one after another, the crowd marched towards the district office with red flags, hammers and sickles, spears, clubs, etc. The overwhelming momentum frightened the soldiers and henchmen at the district office, who quickly fled. The demonstration ended in victory. The enemy government collapsed, and in its place was the formation of the Soviet government.

The victory of the demonstration on September 1, 1930 in Thanh Chuong had the contribution of Nguyen Huu Vien. With the enthusiasm of a communist, he promoted the development of the revolutionary movement, contributing to the creation of the Nghe Tinh Soviet 1930-1931.

The activities of comrade Nguyen Huu Vien and the communists in Hoa Quan made the colonialists and reactionaries in the area afraid. In early 1931, powerless before the strength of the masses, Village Chief Phan Ba ​​Uyen, Chief of the group Le Ba Dung, Deputy Village Chief Nguyen Tu Don... asked the Western soldiers of Dai Dinh station to suppress, and at the same time increase the number of porters. Their goal was to hunt down the leaders, suppress the families of communist party members and the revolutionary masses.

Knowing that Nguyen Huu Vien was one of the key cadres of the Hoa Quan Party Cell, they classified him as an extremely dangerous subject and sent secret agents to search everywhere. They burned and destroyed the houses of comrades Nguyen Huu Vien, Nguyen Tu Van, Nguyen Tu Kien,...

The brutal actions of the enemy caused many losses to the Hoa Quan Party Cell and made its operations difficult. The comrades in the cell remained steadfast and calm, finding ways to fight against terrorism. During a campaign of suppression and pursuit, party members and revolutionary masses were captured one after another by the enemy, such as Mr. Dau Dinh Linh, Mr. Le Ba Tuan, etc.

Loyal mass party members such as comrades Nguyen Huu Vien, Nguyen Tu Van, Phan Doan Dua, Nguyen Quoc Ha and a number of other comrades temporarily took refuge in the mountains and forests to conduct secret activities. The Hoa Quan revolutionary movement temporarily subsided. The enemy on the one hand implemented martial law, built more guard posts, and arrested cadres who returned to the village at night to distribute leaflets and receive food...

In early 1931, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien was appointed to join the Thanh Chuong District Executive Committee, in charge of Propaganda and Head of the Support Committee to help the Dong Luan, Ngoc Son and Yen Lac branches stabilize the situation and find solutions to operate during difficult times.

While operating secretly and closely with the masses, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien cleverly blinded the enemy, on the one hand, continuing to promote the revolutionary movement, on the other hand, restoring the grassroots party organization and organizing the fight against the enemy.

With those active activities, in late March and early April 1931, Thanh Chuong District continued to mobilize comrade Nguyen Huu Vien to participate in the plan to restore the Ngoc Lam, Hoa Quan and Thanh La areas. While finding ways to restore the area, he used the Red Self-Defense Force to suppress the tyrants and bullies, and to consolidate the Party Cell, making the masses excited and confident.

From mid-1931 onwards, the revolutionary movement in Thanh Chuong temporarily subsided. The colonialists and their henchmen concentrated their forces to attack the Soviet zone in Thanh Chuong. The District Party Committee encountered many difficulties in communicating with the Provincial Party Committee, and many party bases in villages and communes were continuously destroyed. The District Party Committee withdrew to Ngoc Lam, ready to accept the fierce and fierce struggle with the enemy.

From August 1931, due to the information of 02 traitors in Ha Giang Party Cell (Quang Xa), the District Party Committee office was surrounded, some cadres were caught in the enemy's net. The communists in Thanh Chuong had to fight in extremely difficult circumstances. The District Party Committee could not contact the people, the District Party Committee office had to move to Ro Con (Ngoc Lam mountain).

The soldiers and the lieutenants penetrated deep into the mountains and forests to hunt down the General Committee's offices and block the supply routes for the cadres. Rice and salt were running out. Living in the open, having to move frequently, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien and other cadres and party members such as Nguyen Tu Van, Phan Doan Dua, Nguyen Quoc Ha,... had to endure hunger, cold, illness,... However, everyone tried to strive, persevered to stay, ensuring that communication between the Party and the people was not interrupted.

Despite the extremely tense and difficult situation, and the colonial government's relentless pursuit, with the protection of the masses, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien and the party members persisted in their activities, finding ways to restore the base, reconnecting with each other, determined not to let the movement be paralyzed. In that context, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien was trusted by the District Party Committee and introduced to Veu village (Anh Son) to connect with each other to build the party base, and to participate in the Executive Committee of the Anh - Thanh Party Cell.

At the end of December 1931, Bang Col Thanh Chuong and Anh Son sent soldiers to hunt down and shoot dead a number of comrades. The situation was very dangerous, but comrade Nguyen Huu Vien and a number of party members continued to hold out. On February 21, 1932, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien discussed with Nguyen Quoc Ha to go to Phuc Son to find a plan to escape. However, due to being surrounded, the two comrades were arrested by the enemy on February 22, 1932, taken to Anh Son, and then detained at Thanh Chuong Prison.

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In his autobiography, Nguyen Huu Vien wrote about his days in Thanh Chuong Prison as follows:
“Oh my, it was so miserable, lying in tightly packed shackles, when I wanted to turn over, all the brothers nearby had to turn over too, I could only lie on my side, I couldn’t lie on my back, in less than two hours, the slugs were crawling all over my body. 3 days later, they called for confession, if I refused, they tied me up with bamboo tubes, forced me to kneel from 7am to 11am, occasionally they sent soldiers in to beat me, doing this for more than a week, they brought out a stack of papers, letters from the brothers in Hoa Quan commune…”.

The French colonialists and their henchmen used every trick to make comrade Nguyen Huu Vien confess. However, after more than 3 months, they could not get any information from him. The communist soldier Nguyen Huu Vien always maintained his brave and steadfast fighting spirit. Unable to do anything, they transferred him to Vinh Prison and put him in cell 2. Here, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien was brutally tortured by secret agents, but to no avail. All information about the Party organization and revolutionary bases was kept secret.

On July 9, 1932, the Southern Court of Nghe An province sentenced comrade Nguyen Huu Vien to life imprisonment, on charges of being a communist prisoner and participating in the assassination of the enemy, according to sentence number 172. During his imprisonment, the secret police continued to use all means to exploit information, but once again they were helpless before comrade Nguyen Huu Vien's perseverance.

On January 12, 1933, he was exiled to Lao Bao Prison, Quang Tri Province, with the prison number 603. In 1936, his sentence was reduced to 20 years of hard labor. Here, he and other communist soldiers actively fought against the imperialist prison regime and achieved certain results: "In Lao Bao for more than 5 years, participating in several struggles, the regime was improved, the fight to remove shackles and chains was victorious".

In 1938, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien was exiled to Buon Ma Thuot Prison, Dak Lak Province, with prisoner number 2719. Here, the prison regime was extremely harsh, the French colonialists brutally beat and used cruel torture on other comrades right in front of them in order to threaten, terrorize mentally, and crush the will to fight and resist of comrade Nguyen Huu Vien and other political prisoners.

However, the years of hardship in prison could not make him submit, on the contrary, it deepened his will to hate the enemy and maintain his will to fight. The persistent and fierce struggle in prison crushed all the enemy's evil plots and tricks, contributed to preserving the Party's and the organization's secrets, developed the struggle movement, and tempered comrade Nguyen Huu Vien's strong political will.

After the Japanese coup against the French on July 30, 1945, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien and about 20 comrades from Nghe An: Bui Tuan, Tran Huu Quan, Nguyen Si Duc... were released. Immediately after returning to their homeland, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien and Nguyen Huu Ngoan participated in seizing power in Thanh Chuong district on August 23, 1945.

Next, he and Nguyen Van Cung participated in leading and commanding the successful seizure of power in Hoa Quan commune and established the Provisional Revolutionary People's Committee. After the August Revolution in 1945, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien was elected Head of the Popular Education Committee, in charge of Culture and participated in the Standing Committee of the Farmers' Association of Hoa Quan commune.

In October 1946, Thanh La commune merged with Hoa Quan, Dong Du, Thanh Khiet communes to form Dong Thanh commune. Comrade Nguyen Huu Vien was elected Vice Chairman of the Viet Minh Front of Dong Thanh commune. From 1947, he held various positions such as: Head of Commune Police (1947), Vice Chairman of the Commune Administrative Resistance Committee (1949), Deputy Secretary of Dong Thanh Commune Party Cell (1950) and Chairman of the Dong Thanh Commune Administrative Resistance Committee (1951).

With his capacity and practical experience, in any position, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien has excellently completed assigned tasks, making an important contribution to the construction and development of the local economy, society and education.

In May 1954, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien was assigned by the District Party Committee to work as an enemy propaganda officer, then became Party Cell Secretary and Head of the Construction Board of Dyke 42.

In November 1956, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien was elected to the Executive Committee of the Thanh Chuong District Labor Party Committee, holding the position of Vice Chairman of the District Fatherland Front, in charge of Religious affairs.

On March 8, 1958, the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee issued Resolution No. 42/QN-TU on the establishment of the Military Service Experiment Station Party Cell in the districts. Accordingly, the Thanh Dong Medical Station Party Cell was established with 3 party members: Nguyen Huu Vien, Nguyen Huu Phung and Ha Dinh Tham. Comrade Nguyen Huu Vien was appointed to hold the position of Party Cell Secretary. In his new position, he continued to make positive contributions and led the Party Cell to excellently complete the assigned tasks.

On August 12, 1963, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien retired according to the regime. After retirement, he continued to contribute to his homeland as a member of the Fatherland Front Committee of Thanh Chuong district until October 1973. Due to old age and poor health, he passed away on January 5, 1985 (ie December 15, Giap Ty year), at the age of 89.

Comrade Nguyen Huu Vien was a loyal Party member and veteran revolutionary cadre, who made many contributions to the Party and the Vietnamese revolutionary movement during the two resistance wars against France and the US. He always played a pioneering and exemplary role, leaving an extremely important mark on the organization and unit where he worked. In recognition of these contributions, the Party and the State awarded Comrade Nguyen Huu Vien many noble titles: First and Third Class Medals of Resistance against France and the US, National Salvation, and posthumously awarded the Third Class Independence Medal.

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Nearly 90 years old, joined the Party since its founding, more than 75 years of revolutionary activities, was sentenced to life imprisonment, arrested and imprisoned for 13 years in 5 imperialist prisons, but no matter the circumstances, comrade Nguyen Huu Vien always showed himself to be an exemplary, genuine communist, wholeheartedly serving the Party and the country; respected and loved by comrades, friends and people.