Talking with Uncle Ho's adopted daughter in France

Elisabeth Helfer Aubrac - the daughter of a French revolutionary was fortunate to be adopted by Uncle Ho as his goddaughter in 1946.

"Uncle Ho is great because of his simple and humane things. And I remember him every day of my life" - Ms. Elisabeth Helfer Aubrac - who was adopted by Uncle Ho as his goddaughter in France shared.

The small apartment in the 9th arrondissement of Paris of Elisabeth Helfer Aubrac and her husband is filled with Vietnamese artifacts. The French woman with noble and kind features was born in 1946 - the year President Ho Chi Minh came to France as a distinguished guest of France to attend the Fontainebleau Conference.

Mrs. Elisabeth Helfer Aubrac with the small ball given by Uncle Ho on her birthday.

And it was the bond between her father - the French revolutionary who made many contributions to the struggle for peace in Vietnam, Raymond Aubrac, and President Ho Chi Minh that created the opportunity for the bond that connected the life of little Elisabeth Helfer Aubrac with her godfather "Ho Chi Minh", with Vietnam.

Mrs. Elisabeth Helfer Aubrac recounted:"I re-read the book my father wrote and listened to him tell it, because at that time, I was just born. In 1946, when he went to France to attend the Fontainebleau Conference, Uncle Ho met my father, a former republican commissioner in Marseille, a member of the French National Assembly.

President Ho Chi Minh's gifts are carefully preserved by Elisabeth Helfer Aubrac in a glass cabinet.

My father invited President Ho Chi Minh to visit his family and accepting my father's invitation, Uncle Ho moved into our house and garden from early August to mid-September 1946. On August 15 of that year, my mother gave birth to me, named Elisabeth. Uncle Ho came to the Port-Royal maternity hospital in Paris to visit mother and child, gave gifts and accepted to be my godfather. He called me by the intimate name Babette".

Mrs. Elisabeth proudly showed us a small gift, a round ball symbolizing immortality, beautifully engraved with flowers, that Uncle Ho gave her on her birthday. The gift – although some of the small carved edges were broken when little Babette played with it as a child – is still carefully preserved in a glass cabinet in the living room. Perhaps it was the impression of that special ball from a young age that made Mrs. Elisabeth passionate about round objects, especially stone, symbolizing immortality and the future.

Photo of Uncle Ho holding his adopted daughter Elisabeth Helfer Aubrac.

During her childhood, little Babette often drew pictures and wrote letters to her adoptive father. Despite being busy and in the fierce war, Uncle Ho always replied, sometimes with a short letter, sometimes with a photo with a message of affection and his signature, sometimes with greetings and messages through the Aubrac family's friends who had the opportunity to meet Uncle Ho in Hanoi. He also sent his adopted daughter Babette a boy riding an ivory buffalo, which she kept as a precious keepsake in her life.

Mrs. Elisabeth Helfer Aubrac was moved to show us the most special gift that President Ho Chi Minh sent her during the last meeting between her father and Uncle Ho around 1967, an ivory silk fabric to make a wedding dress when her adopted daughter got married. The fabric still retained the ivory yellow color and softness of Ha Dong silk, inside was a small piece of paper with the words "Van Phuc Silk Village, Ha Dong, Hanoi" written on it.

Photo of Uncle Ho sent to his adopted daughter Elisabeth.

Mrs. Elisabeth said: "President Ho Chi Minh was truly great in his way of life imbued with humanity, with simple, very "human" things. He was close and convincing to everyone he faced. Unlike the style of a leader or politician or diplomat, President Ho Chi Minh was close to all classes from workers to farmers.

I always think of him every day and I feel a close connection with the people and the country of my respected godfather. I have been to Vietnam with my father Raymond Aubrac several times. My husband and I are teachers and it is a coincidence that my husband comes to Vietnam twice a year to teach at the French-Vietnamese Center for Management Training CFVG in Hanoi. We are very happy and delighted that many Vietnamese students come to visit and consider this as a Vietnamese home."

Ms. Elisabeth Helfer Aubrac also proudly recounted the connection of her father, revolutionary Raymond Aubrac - a close friend who always stood side by side with the Vietnamese people in the two resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism.

Now 70 years old, Elisabeth Helfer Aubrac still remembers and is proud of the fate that connected her with Uncle Ho.

Mr. Aubrac made many positive contributions to the cause of Vietnam's renovation and the fostering of friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and France. He was the one who helped sign the first Trade Agreement between Vietnam and France (1955); exchanged messages between Hanoi and Washington to determine the unconditional end of the US bombing of Vietnam (1967); called for an end to the bombing of the Red River dikes (1972); represented the UN Secretary General in implementing the UN's assistance program for the reunification of Vietnam (1976); requested McNamara to accept the transfer to Vietnam of the map of the minefields at the 17th parallel (1979) and implemented many technical cooperation programs to help Vietnam by the UN, FAO and France since 1976...

Mr. Raymond Aubrac passed away in 2012 and to commemorate his contributions, the President posthumously awarded him the Ho Chi Minh Medal that year.

This year, at the age of 70 - the exact number of years to mark the anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's official visit to France and his attendance at the Fontainebleau Conference, Ms. Elisabeth Helfer Aubrac still remembers and is proud of the fate that connected her with the great leader whom she affectionately calls "Uncle Ho" as the Vietnamese people do./.

According to VOV