'Printer' Pham Ba Phung in Ben Thuy during the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement
Pham Ba Phung worked as a porter at Ben Thuy port. He participated in many activities to fight for workers' rights. He was also one of five people who printed documents for the revolution during the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement.
Pham Ba Phung was born in 1901 in Yen Dung Ha village, Yen Truong commune, Hung Nguyen district, Nghe An province (now Ben Thuy ward, Vinh city). His father was Mr. Pham Ba Dieu (often called Co Than) and his mother was Mrs. Tran Thi Ngang. His family had many children (4 boys, 4 girls) living in a dry sandy land, agricultural production of one rice crop and one summer crop per year; the harvest depended on nature. His parents worked all day "to the ground, to the sky" but "still did not have enough food to eat, not enough clothes to wear". His siblings could not go to school and had to go to the fields to help their parents.
After World War I (1914-1918), the French colonialists built Vinh - Ben Thuy into an industrial center of North Central Vietnam. Realizing the importance of Ben Thuy Port, in 1924, the French colonialists dredged and expanded the port to accommodate large ships, making it the second most important port after Hai Phong Port. They occupied land from farmers in Vinh city to build factories. In 1926, Vinh - Ben Thuy had more than 20 factories built. In addition, the French colonialists also occupied land from farmers in Yen Dung village to build Vinh Airport.
By 1929, the number of workers in Vinh - Ben Thuy increased sharply to more than 4,000 people; the largest number were workers at the Truong Thi Railway Repair Factory (nearly 1,000 people), the Sipha Association's Match Factory (750 people), and the Samanal Sawmill (300 people)...
The workforce in the factories and ports in Vinh - Ben Thuy mainly came from two sources: First, workers from other places, mainly from the North. They were skilled workers who, due to difficult lives, went to work for the capitalists, often called "blue-shirt workers". They worked in a concentrated area, so it was called "Northern workers' quarters".
Second, the farmers of Vinh – Ben Thuy villages had all their land taken by the French colonialists to build factories; farmers in neighboring areas such as Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc (Nghe An province), Nghi Xuan and Duc Tho (Ha Tinh province). These people were called “brown-shirt workers”.
Like other households in the village, Pham Ba Phung's family lost all their land. Pham Ba Phung had to apply for a job as a porter at Ben Thuy port. His younger sisters worked at the Match Factory.
At the age of 20, Pham Ba Phung started a family and his children were born one after another, the economic burden weighed heavily on his shoulders. In addition to the time working as a porter, he worked in the fields at home to help his parents. His peers in the village all applied to work as factory workers such as: Le Doan Suu, Le Mao, Nguyen Phuc, Nguyen Loi, Le Viet Thuat, Pham Ba Chau,...
On July 14, 1925, at Con Meo Mountain (behind Quyet Mountain range, Vinh - Ben Thuy), the Phuc Viet Association was founded by a number of patriotic intellectuals such as Ton Quang Phiet, Tran Mong Bach, Tran Phu. The Association advocated gathering patriots among the people to overthrow French colonialism and restore independence for the country. Vinh - Ben Thuy was the center of the Association.
By 1929, the Association had spread to almost all factories, schools, and villages such as Yen Dung Thuong, Yen Dung Ha, Loc Da, Duc Thinh, Yen Hau, etc. Many people applied to join the Association. The core of the Association in the factories (Match, Saw, Truong Thi Railway Repair) were Le Mao, Le Viet Thuat, Nguyen Phuc, Nguyen Loi, Pham Ba Chau, etc.
Pham Ba Phung was enlightened with patriotism early on. In particular, he had a brother-in-law named Le Viet Thuat (married to his sister Pham Thi Hai) and a cousin named Pham Ba Chau. The three brothers often met and discussed the political situation and especially the suffering of workers in factories. The meeting place was at his Pham Ba church, a red-tiled house built by his grandfather Pham Ba Hao (born 1862) to worship his ancestor Pham Ba Hinh. Pham Ba Hinh, due to his contributions in the war against the Qing army, was granted a royal decree by King Le Hien Tong (1740-1788) in the year Canh Hung 44.
Pham Ba Church became a place where members of the Phuc Viet Association met on holidays, New Year's Day, and death anniversaries. Pham Ba Phung soon joined the Phuc Viet Association and when the Communist Party of Vietnam was born (February 3, 1930), he quickly became a party member.
During this time, in the Tenth Quarter, there was a Street Chief named Cao Kien who embezzled the house tax money of the people in the quarter. The tax assigned by the French Embassy was 204D, but Cao Kien collected up to 750 dong (tiled house: 3)D/house, large cottage: 1.4D/house, small cottage: 0.8D/home). Pham Ba Phung and his comrades in the Association mobilized the people in the street to submit a petition to the Embassy. The petition was signed in a circle so that no one knew who was the mastermind. The result was the overthrow of Cao Kien and the appointment of Pham Ba Chau as Street Chief and Le Mao as Deputy, at the same time forcing Cao Kien to return the money he had illegally collected from the people.
In 1927-1928, in Vinh - Ben Thuy, two organizations, Thanh Nien (Vietnam Revolutionary Youth) and Tan Viet, coexisted, trying to eliminate all prejudices and disagreements to gradually unify goals and actions.
In 1929, the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) was established in the North. Comrade Nguyen Phong Sac and comrade Tran Van Cung returned to Nghe An with comrade Vo Mai to establish the Central Region ICP. Comrade Nguyen Phong Sac paid special attention to the Vinh - Ben Thuy workers' movement. Le Mao, Le Viet Thuat, and Le Doan Suu were chosen by Nguyen Phong Sac to be the core of the ICP organization among the Vinh - Ben Thuy working class.
At the end of 1929, Le Viet Thuat was chased out of Truong Thi Factory by the foreman and applied to work as a porter at Ben Thuy Port. Every day, Pham Ba Phung went to work with Le Viet Thuat.
After the Communist Party of Vietnam was born (February 3, 1930), the struggle movement of the people of the whole country in general and Nghe Tinh in particular developed strongly. Responding to the struggles of the people of the whole country, Nghe An Provincial Party Committee launched a mass movement to celebrate International Labor Day (May 1, 1930).
Pham Ba Phung and his fellow porters at Ben Thuy Port joined factory workers and farmers from villages to protest and bring their demands to the Vinh Consulate. The protest was suppressed by the French colonialists, killing 6 people and injuring 18 others. On May 12, 1930, Pham Ba Phung and 400 porters coordinated with 300 workers at Thai Hop Sawmill, Lao Xien, under the leadership of the Red Union, to strike and bring their demands and protest against the suppression on May 1, 1930.
After that, workers from factories in Vinh - Ben Thuy organized a struggle to raise demands such as: Match (May 10); Truong Thi train (May 31); Thai Hop saw (June 15); City innkeeper (June 18); Match workers and farmers of Yen Luu village (June 27); Ben Thuy wine (July 28)... On the occasion of the anniversary of the Paris Commune (July 14, 1930), together with comrade Nguyen Loi (Party Secretary of the Match Factory), Nguyen Phuc (Deputy Secretary), Pham Ba Phung mobilized more than 600 workers and farmers from Yen Dung Ha commune and De Thap street to gather at Nia pagoda with the people of Yen Dung Thuong to rally. In February 1931, the comrades organized for the people of Yen Dung Ha and De Thap street to go to Dam Mu Nuoi to celebrate the Lunar New Year with the people of Yen Dung Thuong.
Because he was often at the forefront of the struggles, Pham Ba Phung and many other party members were fired. On September 27, 1930, the Central Region Party Committee issued a notice calling on the masses to demonstrate and demand that the French colonialists and their lackeys: "Do not touch the workers and peasants of Nghe Tinh"; "Do not fire the workers of De Thap Street".
After the February 19, 1930 demonstration of Hung Nguyen farmers, the French colonialists frantically suppressed the struggle movement of the Nghe Tinh people in a sea of blood. They relentlessly hunted down the Party's leading cadres. In addition, they increased their posts in areas where the movement was strong, increased their soldiers, coolie groups, and established gangs from commune to canton. On the other hand, the French colonialists organized the issuance of surrender cards, the procession of yellow flags,...
By April 1931, the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and the Central Region Party Committee were captured one after another by the enemy, and many key comrades were killed. Comrades Nguyen Duc Canh (captured in April 1931), Le Mao (died in May 1931), Nguyen Phong Sac (died in May 1931), Nguyen Phuc and Nguyen Loi were all shot.
On April 22, 1931, the Central Region Party Committee Conference decided to dissolve the Vinh Provincial Party Committee, establish the Ben Thuy Regional Party Committee and the Vinh Regional Party Committee directly under the Central Region Party Committee. Pham Ba Phung was added to the Propaganda and Agitation Committee, he was in the printing team of 5 people:
- Nguyen Trung Phu (aka Xuyen)
- Mai Trong Tin (aka Thanh)
- Pham Can (aka Lam)
- Le Thi Mai (wife of Thai Van Giai - a cadre of the Regional Party Committee after betrayal)
- Pham (Ba) Phung (aka Phuong - took the name of his second daughter)
Pham Ba Phung's house was used as a printing facility for the Regional Party Committee. This was a large garden with a Pham Ba family temple, so it was easy to disguise and hide from the enemy. The surrounding trees were dense and near the fields, so in case of trouble, it was easy to escape.
Comrade Mai Trong Tin (from Duc Tho, a member of the Regional Party Committee) often wrote leaflets for the printing group. Every day, he had to sit on the loft of the buffalo pen, his wife Pham Ba Phung brought him food at mealtimes, and only went out at night to get some fresh air. After about 2-3 months, Mai Trong Tin was transferred to Nghi Loc district.
In the Pham Ba family temple, there were 4 long incense dresses used to disguise themselves from the secret police when there was a disturbance. On the night of July 14, 1931, when the printing team was working, they were surrounded and arrested by the coolies and soldiers of Hung Nguyen district. Comrade Nguyen Ngo Dat and Pham Ba Phung escaped, they captured comrade Nguyen Xuan Thanh (son of Nguyen Ngo Dat) and confiscated all the printing equipment, 4 long dresses and 7 packages of printed documents that had not yet been delivered. The leaflets were arranged into 7 packages, each numbered 1-7, written in Quoc Ngu, inciting people to protest and criticizing the 2 governments for forcing people to pay heavy taxes (Report of Hung Nguyen district chief No. 1597ES dated July 17, 1931).
Two days later, Pham Ba Phung returned to the church and was arrested. They brought Nguyen Xuan Thanh to meet him for confrontation, but neither of them confessed a word. Pham Ba Phung was imprisoned in Vinh Prison. On September 22, 1931, the Governor of Nghe An, Nguyen Khoa Ky, increased Pham Ba Phung's sentence to 9 years of hard labor and 3 years of house arrest, exiled to another province.
On January 21, 1932, Pham Ba Phung was taken by the French colonialists to Da Nang by ship. On February 11, 1932, according to Judgment No. 124, Pham Ba Phung was sentenced as such, but Sateh - Resident of Central Vietnam had the opinion that those imprisoned for 7 years or more would have their property confiscated. His family's property was confiscated along with 882 dong. (Party funds) and are not refundable.
In mid-1932, Pham Ba Phung was sent to Kon Tum Prison. The French colonialists sent all political prisoners with heavy sentences here to slowly kill them. In late 1930 to early 1931, the French colonialists built Highway 14 to connect to Buon Ma Thuot. They forced Nghe Tinh prisoners to work on this road. In late 1931, nearly 300 prisoners in Kon Tum went to work on Highway 14 and only more than 80 survived to return to prison. Later, because the prisoners organized a strong struggle, the prison guards became less harsh.
In December 1933, Pham Ba Phung was transferred to Buon Ma Thuot prison. On the occasion of Tet 1934 and French National Day 14/7/1936, Pham Ba Phung's sentence was reduced by 2 years. Official dispatch No. 3091 dated 20/7/1936 from the Buon Ma Thuot Consul to the French Consul in Vinh reported that Pham Ba Phung and 10 others (Tran Xy, Hoang Than, Nguyen Van Toan (Hoc Trang), Nguyen Doan Xuong, Le Xoan, Nguyen Bac, Uong Duong, Hai Nhiep, Nguyen Can, Vo Trong Bang) were brought back to Vinh to be released.
During the time Pham Ba Phung was in Vinh Prison (late 1931), the Central Region Party Committee only had comrade Le Viet Thuat. The Party bases from the region to the locality were almost completely destroyed. To preserve the Party cadres, Pham Ba Phung's father, Pham Ba Dieu, and comrades such as Nguyen Thi Due (liaison)... built a hut in the family's plowing camp (Co Than camp) for comrade Le Viet Thuat to hide. Every day, Mr. Pham Ba Dieu often visited the plowing camp. From this place, Le Viet Thuat printed many documents to send to the base to stabilize the morale of the masses.
At 7:00 a.m. on December 8, 1931, comrade Le Viet Thuat's shack was surrounded by the enemy. The coolies and soldiers captured him and two female comrades, Tran Thi Minh Chau and Nguyen Thi Due. Here, they seized many documents and 19 bullets (Secret telegram of Chanh Liem, the Central Region Billet, sent to the Central Region Resident on December 8, 1931).
After 6 years in 3 French colonial prisons, Pham Ba Phung returned home with both ears deaf, coughing up blood and malaria. His family had to take medicine for a long time to get well. With his health temporarily stable, Pham Ba Phung and the newly released party members organized activities to rebuild the revolutionary movement.
On March 27, 1938, in Yen Thai village (De Thap ward), Pham Ba Phung, Pham Ba Chau and some newly released comrades held a meeting at the village communal house. The comrades established a committee to help each other in life. Each member should pay 0.2DEach clan elects a representative to inform the members of their clan when something happens, and assigns tasks as follows:
- Nguyen Phuong: village chief
- Clan representatives: Cao Hy, Pham Nguyen, Nguyen Khac Khien, Nguyen Duy Hy (Do Huy)
- Secretary: Tran Kinh (drafting documents)
- Treasurer: Pham (Ba) Phung (keeps the village's money)
In 1941, Pham Ba Phung went to Laos to do business, but after 3 months he returned home and continued his revolutionary activities. Pham Ba Phung participated in the seizure of power in August 1945. In 1949, Pham Ba Phung was a delegate of the Vinh town Party Committee.
Due to a relapse of stomach pain, his children were still young, his eldest son joined the army to participate in the Dien Bien Phu campaign, and his family's difficult circumstances, unable to afford medicine, Pham Ba Phung passed away in March 1955 at the age of 54.
During his revolutionary activities, Pham Ba Phung had the support of his wife, his hard-working and patient wife, Mrs. Le Thi Tu (also known as Mrs. Phung). She was born in 1903 and was a worker at the 1920 Match Factory. She actively participated with the factory workers in the struggle against the harshness of the boss. When the printing office of the Regional Party Committee was located in the house, she was the one who took care of meals and protected the cadres.
When Pham Ba Phung was captured and exiled to Buon Ma Thuot by the enemy, she had to take care of her four young children and her elderly parents-in-law alone. She was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Government for her family's contribution to the revolution and she herself received preferential treatment for her revolutionary activities from 1927 to 1931.
Promoting the family's revolutionary tradition, Pham Ba Phung's children (4 boys, 4 girls) and grandchildren have made many contributions to the cause of protecting and building the country. Most of them are officers in the armed forces, and have been awarded many noble Orders and Medals by the Party and Government.
