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Interview of Le Thi (Duong Thi Thoa)

Born in 1926 in a privileged background in Hanoi (she was the daughter of Duong Quang Ham, a teacher at Truong Buoi), Le Thi joined the Viet Minh as a young woman at the end of the Second World War, first as a member of the Women’s National Salvation Association (Doan Phu Nu Cuu Quoc). During the August Revolution, she actively participated in the seizure of power from Japanese troops, and on September 2nd, 1945, she had the honor of being one of two young women to hoist the Viet Minh flag on Ba Dinh Square during the declaration of independence. Later on, at the start of the Indochina War in late 1946, she recounts the sixty days she spent in Hanoi during the battle for the city. She gives many details concerning the ways in which the Vietnamese were able to hold on for so long in the capital, explaining how she and her comrades delivered information, food and other supplies to the fighters; how they printed and distributed instructions and propaganda from the Party; how they moved around the city, sometimes avoiding, other times interacting with the French; and finally how she was ordered out of the city and into the countryside. In the Viet Bac area from 1947 until 1950, Le Thi describes the many difficulties (disease, injuries, unsanitary conditions, hunger, fatigue) she and other female cadres had to go through, including discrimination, as she came from an urban and privileged background. After a brief period of collaboration with Tran Quoc Hoan, she was sent back to Hanoi in 1950, where she laid low for a while. She still engaged in clandestine activities for the Party, however, all while continuing her studies after receiving a scholarship.

Interview of Le Thi: Part 1 and Part 2