After the liberation

Difficult return of a guerrilla fighter
16/10/75

He had returned to his home town later than many of his friends. The flags with the yellow star
on a red and blue background were already fluttering on all the houses. It was difficult for him to find
his way around again after ten years. Since he had separated from his family, Saigon had changed a lot.
He was amazed at the many people, the many vehicles. He himself was now sitting in a Japanese car.
His comrades had told him that they had found the car in the courtyard of the villa that had been occu-
pied by his unit. The owner, a wealthy doctor, was said to have disappeared. He had allegedly fled in
American helicopters. His comrades also said that the car, like the house, had been in a terrible state
when they moved in. But now, a month later, it was afloat again. A comrade who already knew his way
around Saigon a bit better offered to help him find his family. They no longer lived where he had left
them. He only knew the new address and held in his hand the small piece of paper given to him by a
distant relative in the liberation army as he drove in amazement past the many new houses in Phu
Nhuan, where there used to be large rice fields. Two- to three-storey concrete houses, one built next to
the other, right on the road, with a big iron sliding door so that even a car could drive into the house.
These kinds of houses had existed before, but in this part of town on the road to the airport they were
newer and looked as if the people had recently become rich. There were also little stalls by the side of
the road where girls sold cigarettes, beer, Coca Cola and other colourful drinks that he had first seen
here.

His comrade knew approximately where to find the alley with the parents' house. We only had
to ask twice. His facial expression was a bit worried, as if he didn't quite know whether all his pride in
having contributed to the great historic victory – as it was called in the propaganda – was appropriate.
Ten years ago, he was just about to graduate from high school when the war ministry sent the draft
notice. If he had to join the army, then he would join the guerrillas, he and his friends had vowed. There
had been a terrible row with his father at the time. It only took his father's offer to buy him out of the
draft so that he could start studying at the law school to make his decision firm. He disappeared that
very evening and was never seen again by his family.

139

"Answer at the weekend whether permission is possible or not".
20/10/75

Today, the day on which we had the highest hopes for cooperation with the Red Cross, brought
disappointment. It was preceded by Dr Hung's promise that a decision on the terre des hommes Social Medical
Centre would be made on 15 October. I had also made the answer to the question of whether it would make
sense to wait here any longer dependent on this decision.

In the afternoon, we had to wait for an hour at the Red Cross, although we were told that we could see
Dr. Hung in a moment. The representative of the International Red Cross was also waiting with us. Just as we
were about to give up and go home, Dr Hung welcomed us and the International Red Cross. In the same room,
but in different corners. Apparently, both had been in a meeting and had interrupted it for us. Only when we
entered the director's room was the air conditioning turned on and tea served as usual.

In order not to have to ask again abruptly how terre des hommes was doing in Vietnam, I made the
precise telegram from Milo Roten of terre des hommes in Germany, which also demanded a precise answer, the
reason for my coming. At first, Dr. Hung steered the conversation towards other things. Did we already have
the medicines from the port? I could only answer in the negative and told him about the administrative dif-
ficulties. He was obviously a little depressed that his letter of recommendation had not been more successful.
Then I showed him the telegram from Milo Roten, and immediately afterwards I presented him with my
proposal for a letter of reply, which only listed dreary prospects. Minutes of silence passed. Dr Hung did not
manage to utter a sound. To Margrit, it seemed as if he was close to crying. As if all his efforts to keep the
international organisations here had now failed. Because of the resistance or because of the difficulties we
didn't know and he couldn't tell us about. Perhaps it was one of the most human encounters, without much
talking. He wanted to take the telegram and my proposed answer and present it to someone, perhaps Dr Thu,
in the next few days. But I said I had to reply. Five days had already passed without an answer. I could only ask
terre des hommes by telegram for a few more days' delay. That was like a straw for him. Just like my suggestion
to already make a detailed plan for the nutrition centre with some of the staff. He assured me that he would
finally give me an answer at the weekend: Yes or No. But as if the No outweighed the Yes, he returned my
telegram and answer. Apparently it was not necessary to show them to anyone else. Shocked, depressed and
sad, we drove to the post office to post the telegram with the request to wait. "Answer at the weekend, whether
permission possible or not."

We went to see Kutin in Go Vap, hoping he would know more about the reasons for the difficulties, the
rumours of military fighting on the Cambodian and Chinese borders, or anything else. Kutin lived in seclusion
from the revolution in his children’s village, but reported that a meeting of all orphanage directorates had taken
place this morning, according to which all orphanages in the Saigon area were to be nationalised with
immediate effect. He knew less than we did about larger movements behind the scenes. However, he knew
about the bad relations between the international and the national Red Cross. I made him understand that the
national Red Cross was doing everything they could and that they had a lot of good will. But the resistance was
elsewhere. Among other things, Kutin reported that the military administration had even forbidden both the
national and the international Red Cross to display the Red Cross flag. In fact, we now noticed that we had not
seen the flag on the building for some time.

We returned from Go Vap already in the night. Over dark cross-country roads, where we had to watch
out like hell for pedestrians and unlit bicycles, we felt like we were in the countryside. The next settlement was
also like a small village with rural life. Only near the city of Saigon did we see the first cars. But over huge
potholes past the former Cong Hoa military hospital, we reached the brightly lit city again, but without much
hope of being able to spend much more time here in a meaningful way.



140

A mixture of joy and plagued sense of responsibility
25/10/75

My suitcases are almost packed and I no longer have any great expectations since yesterday, once again
and perhaps for the last time in a long series of visits to the Red Cross, we now asked Dr Hung about the final decision.
This decision was ‒ as to be expected ‒ still not made. Dr Hung had nothing to offer, neither a yes nor a no, but
repeated that he still had not found a cadre. It seemed as if there was something standing in the way of cooperation
with the Red Cross that was difficult to clear up, or at least did not claim Dr Thu's particular interest.

In a mixture of joy at being able to join Siriporn in Thailand and a plagued sense of responsibility wondering
if all possibilities had now been exhausted, I returned to the Centre. But here, new perspectives suddenly opened up.
A secretary at the Centre, who had been assigned to take care of the formalities for several shipments of medicines
at the port and the airport and had been in contact with a higher cadre at Bo Y Te for this purpose, brought the
information that at Bo Y Te, the minister – namely Dr. Hoa – had already been ruling since 15 September. And that
the Minister herself had requested that the formalities for terre des hommes be completed quickly.

I spent the evening formulating a letter outlining the most necessary steps to make the Centre functional
again. In the morning, I gave it to Khuong for translation, who was to prepare it confidentially at home. At the same
time, I set out to probe the situation at Bo Y Te, which had apparently changed unnoticed by the public. A senior
cadre, Dr Ho Hai, is in charge of foreign relations as well as relations between the medical and social sections of the
Bo Y Te Xa Hoi va Thuong Binh (Ministry of Social Medicine and War Invalids), as it is to be called now after all. His
desk was in an office where various officials of the old system were still working. We had to wait for him for a moment
so that the officials of the old system could also enlighten us a little. In fact, Dr Ho Hai has personal contact with the
Minister almost every day. However, she resides in her private house and very rarely comes to the Bo Y Te. Almost
all the more important documents, however, are signed by her. The structure of the military administration is
dissolving, but it is still there. In front of the building, Ban Y Te Xa Hoi (Office of Social Medicine) of the Military
Administration Committee is still written in yellow letters on a red background. Dr Vinh Hung, who had given the
order to take over, is still there and signs documents very often in front of the minister. So one has the impression
that the military administration is slowly disappearing and the civilian ministerial administration with overlapping
responsibilities is just as slowly moving in.

Dr Ho Hai is a doctor who has been in both the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. A very
friendly young man, and according to his co-workers, with the flair of a southern farm boy. He is quite well informed
about terre des hommes and confirms to us that the plan is for the social section of the Bo Y Te Xa Hoi va Thuong Binh
to take over responsibility for terre des hommes. When I complain about the current situation, he shows a lot of
understanding and smiles. However, he does not say or promise more than he is willing and able to say. Our request
to arrange a meeting with the minister, however, is immediately fulfilled. He reaches for the phone and dials her
number. Although she does not want to receive us at the moment because she has so much work to do, she asks to
present all the problems to her in a letter.

The new developments do not yet make sense to us. Both Ba Nhiem and the Red Cross had made it clear
that it would be the Red Cross that would take over responsibility for terre des hommes. Now it is clearly the former
Ministry of Social Affairs. The group of minister and deputy minister are considered to be in favour of the South Viet-
namese solution, whereas we had the impression with the Red Cross that they were more in favour of a unified solu-
tion. Was Dr Thuunsuccessful as a NorthVietnamese candidate for the post of Minister of Healthandhas Ms Honow
stepped back into the limelight as she had been in the FNL? All questions are open, and it is almost unbelievable that
the North Vietnamese role should diminish. But there are some indications that it should. Also that Madame Binh was
shown in the newspaper a few days ago together with the North Korean ambassador to the Republic of South
Vietnam.

141

A semi-independent solution for Southern Vietnam?
27/10/75

If the visible signs and the unconfirmed rumours are to be believed, some basic structures of
the political organization seem to be emerging from the chaotic situation in the political system, which
confused the spirits of all innocent Saigonese in the weeks and months after the revolution.

All indications at the moment are that a semi-independent Southern solution will emerge.
Madame Binh is now obviously in Saigon. The former FNL lady Minister of Health, Dr Hoa, who was not
heard from in the weeks and months after the revolution, is now clearly in office. The higher cadres in
the ministries that are slowly building up are obviously almost exclusively South Vietnamese
revolutionaries. It seems that the South Vietnamese National Liberation Front has succeeded in
occupying crucial posts, although military power lies with the North Vietnamese Bo Doi. This was
apparently possible because the South Vietnamese FNL, which naturally wants to take the fate of the
South into its own hands and not just be an appendage of the Hanoi government, can count on the
support of all its members, but also of the South Vietnamese population. The South Vietnamese
population, which did not belong to the FNL, also hopes for a milder form of government than that of
the North, which is seen here as extraordinarily rigid, disciplined and ultimately even unproductive.

South Vietnamese revolutionaries also seemed to deny the Bo Doi of the North the right to give
orders in the specific encounter. It is said to have happened in a Phuong in Phu Nhuan that three Bo Doi
of the South, who were still sitting in a café at curfew, rejected the order of three patrolling North
Vietnamese Bo Doi to go home now. The North Vietnamese would have nothing to say to them, at most
the An Ninh Nhan Dan, that is, the "People's Security", which is the local government's People's Police.
Finally, the North Vietnamese Bo Doi had to call this authority, which was also composed of people from
the South. Only then did the South Vietnamese Bo Doi, who were still holding out in the café, obey the
order.

Moreover, rumours are growing at the moment that the resistance army of the old regime,
which recently engaged in heavy fighting near Kontum and is also said to have troop formations in the
greater Saigon area, has demanded the withdrawal of the North Vietnamese soldiers behind the 17th
parallel. This would thus confirm the old rumour that one day the South Vietnamese FNL and the
resistance army would reach a compromise. It would indeed not be out of the question that the re-
sistance army, which of course fights in principle on a losing position, can in this way achieve a
termination without punishment and losses. And the FNL can use this leverage with Hanoi that peace
would be secured by a North Vietnamese withdrawal, to impose its own South Vietnamese solution and
does not need weapons assistance from Hanoi.

The will for a South Vietnamese solution can also be seen in the fact that to this day the North
Vietnamese Workers' Party (Dang Lao Dong) has not really established itself in the South. I do not even
know where the headquarters of this party is in Saigon. There is also no official South Vietnamese organ
of this party, but there is the official organ of the National Liberation Front, the daily newspaper Giai
Phong – Liberation. Recently, it was even reported from Bien Hoa that a meeting had taken place there
to recruit members for a "Liberation Party". Afterwards, Bo Doi conducted house searches on all those
who had participated in the meeting. This incident is interpreted to mean that the North Vietnamese Bo
Doi wanted to prevent the formation of an FNL party. If this is at all true, however, one would like to
think that this attempt to recruit members for such a party was a regional initiative without the
approval of the FNL leadership. Otherwise, such meetings would also have been held in Saigon and
would have been recognisable in the newspapers.

142

All the newspapers of the revolutionary authorities in Saigon, on the other hand, are extremely careful
not to show any contradiction between the FNL and the Hanoi government. Thus, a lot is reported about
North Vietnam. Le Duan's state visits to Romania, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union
are always presented as if there were representatives of the government of "our country". When
headlines speak of "Our Government", one always has to look very carefully in the text to see which
republic it is, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam or the Republic of South Vietnam. In view of the
different political tendencies, it is of course understandable that a smooth solution in the political
construction of the South as well as in the construction of the administration cannot be easily achieved.

Here in the South, there is also the opinion that the North is following Soviet policy too closely,
while the South is striving for greater neutrality within the socialist countries. This applies above all to
the relationship with the People's Republic of China. Many of the higher cadres in the South have
travelled or trained in both the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. At present, the desire
for the greatest possible neutrality is also expressed in the film theatres. There are films from
practically all socialist countries, for example, from the Soviet Union, from East Germany, from
Romania, from the People's Republic of China, from North Korea, from Laos and from Cuba. It is also
striking that neither the Soviet ambassador nor the Chinese ambassador have arrived here so far, but
the ambassadors from two developing countries, India and North Korea, who in principle are also trying
to pursue an independent policy for their country, have. It is very possible that the different ideas of
Moscow and Beijing will also influence the question of how long and in what way a South Vietnamese
solution is possible.

The tensions can even be found in the South Vietnamese FNL. For example, a senior cadre of
the Social Department of the Bo Y Te Xa Hoi va Thuong Binh has clearly criticised the Ho Chi Minh City
Social Department (So Thuong Binh Xa Hoi) even to outsiders, characterising its lack of organisation
with the word bouillabaisse (fish soup). However, the ministry's power is apparently not yet enough in
this case to force reshuffles in the So Thuong Binh Xa Hoi's staff structure. So the tug-of-war will
continue for a while, and the people will have to wait a little longer. However, the prospects for an end
to military administration are now favourable. Supposedly, there is already an order for the provinces
to end it with immediate effect. And insiders hope for the end of military administration for Ho Chi Minh
City on 1 November.

143

"You've probably been here so long that you believe the stories".
29/10/75

Conversation with Mr. Lafosse at the French Embassy: In contrast to the widespread opinion
among the population that there will be a South Vietnamese solution, the view here is that official
reunification will be announced for 1976. When I pointed out some factors arguing for specific South
Vietnamese political unity, Lafosse replied with a laugh: "You've been here also so long that you're
starting to believe these stories." Also, he said, the Indian and North Korean ambassadors to the
Republic of South Vietnam are not ambassadors residing in Saigon. The Indian ambassador had been in
Saigon for only two and a half days and had not even had the opportunity to meet his predecessor, who
is still in Saigon.

Interesting was also information from the northernmost part of South Vietnam. There, the
annexation – at least as far as the currency is concerned – has already been carried out. While in other
parts of South Vietnam the money of the Bank of Vietnam was distributed and legally valid on the day
of the currency reform, the exchange into North Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh Dong took place on the same
day in the provinces of Thua Tien and Quang Tri. This means that a characteristic of state sovereignty,
namely monetary sovereignty, has already been blurred or crossed the boundaries of the 17th parallel.

144

Gunfire and rumours of battle
30/10/75

One day before the supposed end of military administration for the cities of South Vietnam,
including Saigon, rumours are increasing about intensified fighting by the resistance army of the old
regime. A few days ago, there had been a serious attack at the airport of Bien Hoa in which many Bo Doi
had died. A 24-hour curfew was imposed in that area for one day. Allegedly, the people of Saigon are
talking about the day of the great struggle and liberation. What is true about all this is difficult to deter-
mine, especially since the newspapers are understandably silent about such incidents, even if they had
happened. But there is no doubt that the liberation army is gearing up for urban guerrilla warfare.
These days, one can see with one's own eyes Bo Doi practising hand-to-hand combat with machine guns
at the ready. As this is all very unfamiliar and martial to the cityscape, people passing by are somewhat
afraid of possibly being involved in an accident. In fact, the sides have now reversed. Now it is the
liberation army that sits in the cities, while the old regime's resistance army is entrenched in the forest
and the flat countryside. The liberation army probably lacks the training for such a confrontation,
because before it controlled almost no town in South Vietnam. The establishment of the new economic
regions may also pose a threat to the new regime as long as the resistance army is still operating in the
flat countryside. For it seems quite inconceivable that the sections of the population now willing to
engage in new agricultural activities with persuasion, a little material help and no economic basis in the
city, will be particular friends of the Liberation Front. The inadequate conditions in the supply and
infrastructure of the new economic regions can really become a breeding ground for dissident groups
that collaborate with the resistance army, so that the sides are reversed, as it were, in terms of military
strategy.

145

1/11/75

The expected 1 November brought nothing new, not even the end of the military
administration, which is still partially in place. But it was the first time in many months that Ho Chi Minh
City was disturbed by the rumble of gunfire for several hours in the morning. Exercises by the FNL
army? Or attack by the old system's resistance army? That was the question. As I was about to retire
after lunch, I was jolted from sleep by very close machine gun fire and hand grenade explosions. Margrit
cynically remarked from above whether the street fighting for which the Bo Doi had been practising
was about to begin. It remains unclear what all this is about, but it sounds threatening.

















































146

Clarification for terre des hommes
6/11/75

On 4 November, the great moment had come when we had the honour of seeing Dr Thu. He
came to the Centre – announced one day before – with the Secretary General of the Red Cross. As it
turned out later, Dr Thu is not only the President of the South Vietnamese Red Cross, but also the head
of the Ban Y Te Xa Hoi of the Republic of South Vietnam. He introduced himself as a representative of
the military administration, making his post the highest coordinating body for medical-social affairs in
the military administration. This still exists partially in some ministries in Saigon, while it seems to have
ended in the provinces – in Danang for a very long time.

According to his own statements, Dr Thu had gone to high school and university in France,
worked as a doctor in Saigon for two years before spending 30 years with Viet Minh and FNL. His
openness about his life story is unusual for cadres who usually keep quiet when asked such questions.
He acted like a man of the world, wore shoes, shirt over trousers, sunglasses, smoked Ruby Queen and
had the whiff of a good perfume about him. He was sympathetic to our problems and explained that
they now wanted to correct the mistakes. He also addressed Ba Nhiem by name, who at this point was
not even informed that the end of his reign had now come.

We were also told that it was now the Red Cross that would supervise the activities of the
Centre, but it was not a matter of taking over the management. This decision had been agreed with the
Minister, Dr Hoa. After about two months of transition, the management would finally be taken over by
the Ministry of Social Affairs once its status as a ministry was official and qualified cadres were
available. Dr Thu also visited the Centre, but did not seem very impressed by everything. Apparently,
he was used to more important facilities of international standard. His interest in the staff's
explanations was also not very high.

The question of staff salaries was to be clarified immediately. This required an official
authorisation for terre des hommes to withdraw larger sums of money from the bank. This was done the
next day. I met at the Red Cross with Mr. Nam, who drafted the authorisation, which had to be signed
by Dr. Thu. For this we went to see him in his office, a private house apparently taken over by the state
in a good residential area, protected by guerrilla fighters. The house must have belonged to a very
wealthy Vietnamese – with beautiful decorations, Vietnamese art, a small water pool in the living room,
etc. Dr Thu, the new occupant, obviously didn't attach much importance to that, it looked like bachelors
lived in it. Dr Thu was sitting in the living room sofa at a low table full of cigarette butts, talking to a
cadre. When we arrived, the visitor disappeared and Dr Thu had the jovial tone again. He had everything
read out to him and then signed without further discussion.




147

6/11/75
Ariel always seems best informed about the resistance movements and the politics of the old

system's resistance army. So far, however, his information has rarely been confirmed. Ariel explained
that the ultimatum of the resistance army would end on the 11th, according to which the North
Vietnamese army had to leave the South by then. Otherwise, there would be an uprising along the lines
of the Tet Offensive. The FNL faction in the South also agreed with the content of the ultimatum. If I did
not leave the country in a few days, I would not be able to do so again until January.

148

11/11/75
Today a plenary meeting of the staff of the Social Medical Centre took place, which was also

attended by members of the Pedagogical Centre. The reason was the communication about the new
legal situation of the Centre due to the decision to entrust the Red Cross with the supervision. I asked to
name members of the staff who could be suitable to form a management committee for the transition
until the Red Cross has appointed a management.

From this developed the proposal to elect a group of four people, regardless of programme or
area of responsibility. This proposal was eventually implemented, with several people being elected,
most of them also very respected by me. However, three of them declared that they were not willing to
take up the post, actually those who enjoy the most respect among the staff, but who were tired of the
power turmoil and political-strategic considerations. What remained were Ms Anh, Mr Man and Ms Bich
Thuy. All three have good will to do something meaningful with the Centre, even if they are by no means
selfless idealists who think exclusively of their poor fellow human beings.


149

Negotiations for reunification
12/11/75

The rumour-mongering of all those who wanted to know about a southern solution for Vietnam,
probably expressing more their own anti-communist hopes, was shattered at the weekend. Big
headlines in Tin Sang on 10 November read: The two parts South and North open friendship talks on the
unification of the country. A meeting with senior officials of the revolutionary forces of the South had
met over the weekend: 24 cadres of the FNL, 9 of the Alliance of Popular Democratic and Pacifist Forces,
nine of the Provisional Revolutionary Government, two from its advisory staff and 21 patriotic intel-
lectuals. From their circle, they have chosen a group of 25 people, whose names and pictures were
presented in the newspapers, as well as a pale group from North Vietnam, whose composition had
apparently already been decided. The South Vietnamese group is led by Pham Hung, who has long
haunted people's minds as the grey eminence of immediate reunification, but has hardly made a public
appearance. Pham Hung is a member of the Political Section of the Central Administrative Committee
of the Vietnam Workers' Party, Party Secretary of the Workers' Party branch in South Vietnam and the
Party's delegate to the FNL. The group representing the South is quite well selected. It also includes
patriotic dignitaries from the churches, including the Cao Dai sect, as well as other representatives such
as Ms Binh, who had been seen here as outspoken advocates of a Southern solution. The delegations are
to hold talks on general elections and the establishment of joint ministries. The newspapers the follow-
ing day, Tuesday, were still full of reactions from the South about the will for rapid unification, about
meetings welcoming this development, and about statements by important public figures such as
Saigon Archbishop Binh. He obviously seemed very happy about the development as well.

This morning, we were unexpectedly caught in considerable traffic jams, as the streets around
the Independence Palace were closed off. On the former Cach Mang, now Giai Phong Street, students
and women in festive dress, with flags of the North and South and banners lined the road. I couldn't
quite see why. The banners merely expressed the welcome of reunification. Apparently someone was
expected from the airport. The BBC did not report anything more specific in the evening. Only that a
delegation from the North had come to talk about reunification. The Minister of Social Affairs from
North Vietnam is also said to have come. The work programmes that the deputy minister had been
carrying out in the South so far have reportedly been stopped. Everything points to an early resolution
of the reunification issue, and the BBC even wanted to know that this should be resolved by the
beginning of the new year.

On the streets decorated with flags from the South and the North, one sees a lot of unusually dressed
soldiers or policemen in white parade uniforms with round caps, as one also knows from Russia.
Apparently there is an order to fly the flags until 25 November, the expected time for negotiations. The
security forces seem a bit nervous. There is a lot of shooting in the city, especially in the evenings.
Maybe the security forces come from the north and are not yet used to the bustling life of Saigon. Maybe
tomorrow the newspapers will report more details about what is to happen now and who has come.

150

The task now is to build socialism
18/11/75

While the population goes about its business as usual, one of the most important meetings in
Vietnam's recent history is apparently taking place at the Independence Palace: the Reunification
Conference. The North's representatives had arrived unexpectedly a few days ago, as the newspapers
reported, and were welcomed by enthusiastic crowds. They hardly knew why they had been sent to the
arterial road to the airport with flags until North Vietnamese President Truong Chinh drove past. The
area around the Independence Palace is cordoned off. A plethora of cars are parked in the spacious
garden, and the daily newspaper pictures suggest that the conference is taking place there. Actually,
without much security. If there really was a danger that the old regime's resistance army was planning
an attack on Saigon, then the conference venue would probably have been kept secret.

In the cityscape, however, not much special is visible – apart from the full flagging with the
flags of both countries. Only the offices are working at half strength, because apparently the higher
officials of the Liberation Front are also deployed at the reunification conference. The publicity of the
conference indicates that it also has a political-propaganda purpose, namely to prepare the population
for reunification. Every day there are full pages of pictures showing the leaders in conversation or in
friendly embrace. Every day there is also a statement about the results of the day. The people are
informed about developments in the evening Hoc Tap. The signs are for immediate reunification. One
wonders when the FNL flag will disappear and the slogan of neutrality, which is still on the letterheads
of the Republic of South Vietnam, will be deleted. For now it is clearly about building socialism, as one
can read and hear everywhere. Truong Chinh has also apparently already answered some of the public's
questions, namely that an election is to be held for a constituent assembly, which is to determine,
among other things, issues such as the future capital, flag, political institutions, etc. It is also beginning
to dawn on many people who had nothing to do with the revolution that reunification is the historical
consequence of the belated victory in the struggle for independence of all Vietnam.

Pham Hung, previously known only to insiders and elected head of the delegation of the group
from the South, is increasingly pushing himself ahead of Nguyen Huu Tho, the leader of the FNL. The
pictures in the newspaper show him as a jovial older gentleman and are meant to give the lie to the
rumours that he is one of the tough and uncompromising cadres.

Meanwhile, the people have come to terms with the new situation. Our domestic helper, Chi Ba,
no longer rails so strongly against the revolution, but acknowledges that it is much more careful and
deliberate than the Viet Minh in 1945. Of course, there are the constant meetings, and the rising prices
still arouse their anger. Meanwhile, the price of meat has risen to more than 2400 old piasters, or more
than three dollars a kilo. However, the rumours of an attack by the old regime's resistance army seem
to have died away.

Unless something happens these days, the crisis seems to be over. Obviously, however, there is
still fighting in the highlands. Insider cadres have also warned us not to use the road to Dalat. It is not
safe at the moment. But these dangers are far away.

In the political institutions of South Vietnam, there is uncertainty at the moment about how to
proceed. For the military administration – apart from Saigon – is now almost over, and the civil
administration of the Republic of South Vietnam has been laboriously built up. Now the structure seems
to be different again, with united ministries or parallel offices. Some people also refer to the
"Government of Vietnam" without further ado, in order to leave open whether it is the government of
South Vietnam, the government of North Vietnam or the military administration.


151

Inventory of the dwelling-house
24/11/75

This morning, a visit arrived that had already been announced on Saturday morning by a small
letter dropped off at the neighbour's house: the Office for Foreign House and Land Ownership. It was a
Bo Doi, apparently with an official of the old system. They wanted to inventory the house. I did not
immediately agree because I had heard from other people that various revolutionary groups had
already confiscated houses without having a legal basis for doing so. So I asked for a paper from the
MMC. However, the Bo Doi was able to identify himself as a representative of the Office of Foreign House
and Land Ownership. The presence of the house owner, who lived next door, was not wanted.

A few questions were asked: Whether we had a family book, who lives in our house, how much
rent we pay, etc. Finally, the two asked to have a tour of the whole house, during which the official
wrote down everything in detail, including the fans on the ceiling. Back in the living room, he wrote
everything down in a big inventory list, then had the Bo Doi sign it, then me, and handed me a copy as
a receipt, so to speak.

The conversation was in Vietnamese, very polite but firm. I was told that I could live here as
long as I wanted, nothing would be done. Only when I left would the office come. My remark that the
owner of the house had been asking me to leave for a long time because he wanted to take it back,
astonished the Bo Doi very much. He already had a house, what did he need a second one for? I asked if
the owner could get his house back. That seemed doubtful, but he could apply for it.

Margrit was supposed to leave tomorrow, which was also the reason that the office knew about
our address. Because the names of departing passengers are posted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and various other places. Today, however, when she wanted to take her suitcases to Air Vietnam – as
usual one day before – she was told that her flight had been postponed for one day because a previous
flight had been cancelled. Allegedly, this was a security measure triggered by the fact that Truong Chinh
was flying back to Hanoi. But it could also be because the Thai authorities had been serious about their
warning to stop operating Saigon-Bangkok evacuation flights if the Thai regulations for transporting
emigrants were not respected, such as having a ticket to continue to one's home town and not just a
ticket to Bangkok. This also affects me because I don't have a Thai visa in my passport. Thai authorities
are not yet back in Saigon.

152

Bitterness of the population
1/12/75

In the meantime, after the respect, the great fear of the Bo Doi has also been lost. If the stories
are to be believed, the population is disappointed and angry with the uniformed liberators. They are
seen – at least according to negative propaganda – as thieves and occupiers. Previously shy in front of
a glass of juice, they now sit broadly reclined in armchairs, and many do not disdain alcohol in larger
quantities, as well as the girls who previously had it off with the Americans. Rumour has it that the most
famous striptease girl from the Thieu era was seen with a high-ranking North Vietnamese officer.
According to the rumours, however, the flirting is not very successful, because the South Vietnamese
girls do not care much for the uncouth soldiers from the North. They are often even considered
downright stupid, and this is all the more annoying because they buy the market dry and cause prices
to rise while the South Vietnamese population becomes poorer than ever. The clothes market, i.e.
selling one's own clothes, has meanwhile become a traffic obstacle, especially on Ham Nghi. In addition,
there are stories about the unconcerned cruelty of the Bo Doi when they don't like something. It is
already known that hand grenades are used against bicycle thieves. Ariel saw another bicycle thief, at
whom a Bo Doi was aiming his gun, but without hitting him. So the Bo Doi followed him with his jeep,
which quickly caught up with the bicycle. The cyclist fell, the jeep continued and the man's skull was
completely ripped open by the jeep's running board. Dead, of course.

Similarly, the report of another incident: A cyclist had been stopped by a traffic policeman for
using the old regime's drill to work. The policeman ordered him to go home and change his clothes.
Otherwise, he would be given a chargeable warning. Thereupon, the cyclist angrily stopped a jeep
carrying Bo Doi at another place and stood right in front of the car. Asked why he was doing this, he in
turn asked: "Why are you still using US jeeps after the revolution? He had just been warned not to wear
military fatigues of the old regime. In response, the Bo Doi stepped on the gas at the wheel and ran over
the cyclist. The last story seems almost a little implausible, but illustrates the bitter attitude of a large
part of the Saigon population.

There are almost no possibilities to complain about assaults. It is also not promising because
the complainant belongs to the Nguy, the reactionaries, while the perpetrator represents the
revolutionary population. The clashes between the population and the Bo Doi are increasing, although
the few foreigners are seldom witnesses, because they quickly flee to safety. If the authorities do not
help to discipline the army soon, there is reason to fear even worse things. On Sunday, there was a bit
of a crash in the distance. I later learned that grenades had been thrown into a people's assembly in Hoc
Mon, where many Bo Doi were also present. More than 20 people were said to have been killed. But since
such things do not appear in the newspapers, one can only learn about them from rumours, and
whether they are true or not is often difficult to verify.

153

Situation in orphanages
2/12/75

The situation in the orphanages of Ho Chi Minh City has changed considerably in the meantime.
I visited three of them today, which I had known for a long time and which had also been supported by
terre des hommes for a long time. The following developments are evident:

„Concentration: The authorities seem to be trying to concentrate the orphans in a few well-
functioning institutions. In doing so, the orphanages are specialising in certain age groups. Reportedly,
there are now only 12 orphanages in the entire Saigon-Cholon-Gia Dinh area. Ky Quang, for example,
has already been closed down, with the former director keeping only three children as adopted
children. Lam Ty also seems to be facing closure.

„Shortage of professionals: The shortage of professionals seems to persist in the homes that
still exist. Dieu Quang, for example, makes a sad impression, as it did before. The staff is neither
committed nor motivated, and there is a lack of training. Nothing else is to be expected, considering
that the now state-regulated salary is only 300 old VNP (plus food and accommodation) and has so far
only been paid to one third of the employees for the month of November.

„Higher state material aid: For each orphan the state now provides 3000 old VNP, rice and milk
– where necessary. This is far more than before the revolution, when the Ministry of Social Welfare gave
1200 VNP and no one rice etc. In return, there used to be many humanitarian organisations, but their
contributions were not very transparent and were a source of corruption.

„State supervision: All orphanages are – as it is said – nationalised. However, this is an
exaggeration so far, because the old religious managements mostly still exist. They are merely
monitored by the authorities, much more so than before. This control is also necessary because the
homes are completely dependent on state aid. Apart from cottage industries, no other sources of
income – for example from humanitarian organisations – can be expected.

„ Lack of medical care: There is a lack of own doctors and medicines. The orphanages have to
follow the local facilities like the normal population, i.e. they have to visit the hospitals. However, the
requirement to show up at the hospital only with recommendations from Khom and Phuong does not
apply to the orphanages.

„Stronger responsibility of the local government: The social department of the Quan have
meanwhile gained a relatively important position also in controlling the orphanages. So in the social
sector, there are mainly three authorities that the orphanages have to deal with: The Social Department
of the Ministry of Health, the Social Department of Ho Chi Minh City and the Social Department of the
respective Quan.

„Less return to families: The wave of return to families that reduced the number of orphanage
children immediately after the revolution seems to have decreased. However, in the case of closed
orphanages, it has remained unknown where the children have gone. Therefore, this problem remains
open for further research. Perhaps boarding schools for pupils or agricultural cooperatives have been
formed where the older orphans have been grouped together.

„ Abandoned children: The great material difficulty of the population still leads to a large
number of children being abandoned. Apparently, however, they are not handed over to orphanages
because the directorate is likely to refuse to take them in without permission from the higher authority.

154

Children are usually found in rubbish heaps or on the street, or even dumped in front of the orphanage.
So it is practically the social welfare office that finds them and assigns them to one of the orphanages.
In the orphanages seen today, however, such cases were not very numerous.

„Policy remains secret: The decisions of the social authorities are usually surprising for the
orphanages. They are not privy to the planning and often do not know the justifications for certain
measures. The head of the Ky Quang orphanage could not say where her 60 children had gone when I
asked several times: "The government took them away." The separation scenes between the children
and their previous educators are said to have been very painful.

155

Whohas thepower today?
3/12/1975

The data available here is far from sufficient for an investigation of who took power with the revolution in
South Vietnam. It can only be attempted to revise the picture of the popular revolt with a few comments.

„ Those coming from the progressive parts of the South Vietnamese bourgeoisie: these are people from
larger well-known families in Saigon or other cities, often with considerable education, especially in France. Some of
them had already joined the old Viet Minh since Ho Chi Minh's declaration of independence in 1945 and have thus been
part of the underground for 30 years. Often they moved to the North when the country was divided in 1954, where they
continued their political and cadre training and prepared for the day of liberation. However, there are also
representatives who joined the FNL later, for example after the Tet Offensive. Finally, there are individual members of
the former Third Force who advocated a pacifist and neutralist direction during the Thieu regime, and thus can only
consider themselves as belonging to the revolution after liberation. It is mainly these descendants of the progressive
bourgeoisie who seem to occupy the higher official positions and ministries in the city of Saigon. Often, a bourgeois way
of life can still be discerned, although in many cases they had continued their education in communist countries,
especially Russia and China, while working underground. The political position on reunification is nuanced, obviously
depending on how long each group has been involved in the liberation of South Vietnam. The idea of reunification is
naturally most current among those representatives who lived in the Viet Minh tradition, who had a lot of contact with
Hanoi or even lived there, and who became cadres of the North Vietnamese Workers' Party, whose South Vietnamese
branch is still very sparse.

„Soldiers of the North Vietnamese army: The overwhelming number of the regular Bo Doi army are North
Vietnamese, although there are also many in command positions who come from South Vietnam. The majority of the
Bo Doi, however, are relatively uneducated and, for South Vietnamese tastes, simplistically indoctrinated people. Their
prideinHanoi,NorthVietnamandsocialismcomesacrossassuperficialtotheSaigonesepeopleandiseventuallybelied
by their actions, their desire to buy etc. now. The soldiers have almost exclusively security and police duties and rarely
appear in politics and administration – apart from the position as doorkeepers etc. However, there are senior officers
in the army who come from North Vietnam and also work in certain administrative posts, especially in security, or
control South Vietnamese comrades.

„South Vietnamese guerrilla fighters and FNL members: As far as they are simple guerrilla fighters, they also
have almost only security functions or also the task of protecting higher-ranking prominent persons. However, as far
as schooling is available, South Vietnamese guerrilla fighters and FNL members are also employed in local
administration and in the authorities. Mostly, however, they lack the appropriate training, which is why the learning
process now taking place is only enabling them to fulfil their tasks adequately. Basically, however, these are the real
combatants of the South Vietnamese conflict, who had to suffer a lot and are often also marked by scars and physical
disabilities.ButsincetheyhadnodirectcontactwithNorthVietnam,theyarehardlytrainedinpoliticaleducation.They
also lack vision and ease in dealing with people. Their doggedness has often turned the Saigonese people against the
revolution.

„Technical assistance from North Vietnam: Since liberation, a number of skilled workers have come from
North Vietnamto be employed in middle management positions. Their influence is not insignificant indirectly because
they come with experience of building a socialist country and help reduce the shortage of cadres in the middle
administrative ranks.

The actual power of the various groups is difficult to assess, especially since the role of the individual groups
also varies from region to region. In the provinces, for example, there is a clear dominance of the soldiers of the North
Vietnamese army and the fighters of the FNL. In Saigon, where the Provisional Revolutionary Government is based, the
first group from the South Vietnamese bourgeoisie is also very significant. This is probably why the liberal style of life in
Saigon is always rightly emphasised. However, it can be assumed that political power lies primarily with a grouping of
these descendants of the bourgeoisie, especially if they have contacts with Hanoi and the Workers' Party, and with the
representatives of the North Vietnamese army. The importance of the FNL has diminished because other organisations
have emerged which, together with the FNL, represent the South Vietnamese contribution to the revolution.

156

The economic situation is getting more unpleasant
6/12/75

The economic situation of the population is getting more and more unpleasant and is probably
one of the most important reasons why the attitude of broad circles against the revolution is quite
strong, although they are resigned to their lot. Meanwhile, a Honda motorbike costs double and triple
what it used to, reportedly around a million old VNP, and the price of bicycles has also reached around
200,000 piasters. On the other hand, cars are quite cheap because hardly anyone can afford the
expensive petrol prices (500 piasters per litre) on the open market anymore. Most serious, however,
are the price increases in the food market. Meat prices are between 2000 and 3000 piasters per kilo.
Even a kilogram of onions costs 2000 piasters. An egg costs a whole 85 dong and half a kilo of tomatoes
250 piasters. All these are products that do not depend on imports, which are blocked anyway. It is
claimed that these shortages are the result of farmers producing only for their own needs because of
the government-set prices, and that the larger state-run enterprises such as chicken farms do not want
to function properly. On the other hand, family incomes have improved only slightly. The government
has somewhat normalised the salary system, albeit unevenly. Normal salaries for the Nguy range from
10,000 to 40,000 piasters of the old system. On the other hand, the big incomes no longer exist because
more or less all wholesale trade and transport are nationalised. I say nationalised and not socialised
because the producers or workers are almost not involved in the decisions. All government decisions
and measures actually leak out more than they are made public, often they come completely
unexpectedly and you only realise the significance when everything has already happened. And anyone
who grumbles and is caught doing so, which happens, can be sent to the Hoc Tap, the political training
courses, which often also involve physical labour.

However, Bo Doi's rigid policy has at least led to fewer security problems caused by thieves and
burglars. The hand grenades against bicycle thieves have apparently not failed to have a deterrent
effect. In the meantime, detonations are rarely heard in my neighbourhood. So one may conclude that
there is now less to do in the security area. Also, the rumours that there is fighting on the plains have
diminished. It seems that the revolutionary government is safely controlling the situation.

157

Facts will count: the basis for further cooperation with terre des hommes
9/12/75

One of the most important meetings between the Red Cross and terre des hommes took place
today, attended by Dr Hung, member of the Central Committee of the Red Cross, pharmacist Nam,
Secretary General of the Red Cross, and myself as coordinator of terre des hommes.

In the conversation, the issues that had only been touched upon during Hung's visit to the Social
Medical Centre were now discussed in a decisive manner. In addition, Mr Nam prepared a protocol to
be considered as a basis for future cooperation between the Red Cross and terre des hommes. In detail,
it deals with the following points.

„Bank proxy for the Executive Committee: After much hesitation, the Red Cross has put its
signature under my letter to the bank, which also contains the signatures of the three persons of the
Executive Committee, who can only withdraw money together. As additional security, the Red Cross
has asked that terre des hommes inform the Red Cross of the amount by telegram every time a transfer
is made to Vietnam. The Executive Committee is in turn asked to send confirmation of receipt of the
sum to Europe. In addition, the Red Cross asks the Executive Committee to provide a monthly statement
of accounts, as will also be sent to terre des hommes. In addition, the Executive Committee's attention is
drawn to the fact that an audit may be carried out unexpectedly at any time at the Social Medical Centre.

„Admission criteria for the nutrition centre: The Red Cross has agreed to the admission criteria
developed by Ms Anh. Once the Red Cross delegates complete the Executive Committee of the Social
Medical Centre, the admission of new children can begin. Also, the old well-fed children can be brought
back. A list to this effect has been submitted by me.

„Staff salaries: The Red Cross agrees that salaries should range between 40 and 80 dong (i.e.
20,000 and 40,000 piasters of the old system). The Executive Committee is to present a detailed list for
all staff to be decided before the end of December. This will include back pay for the month of
November. However, this salary arrangement will be considered temporary until the final salary
arrangements for the whole of Vietnam are decided and promulgated. People without a clear job
description, that is, who are still without work at the Centre, are to receive at least the minimum salary
of 20,000 piasters.

„Distribution of relief goods: The relief goods that have arrived at the Centre have not yet been
fully counted. The Executive Committee will therefore hand over a complete list, especially of
medicines and clothes, to the Red Cross at a later date, so that the Red Cross can carry out the
distribution centrally.

„Expansion of the nutrition centre: The crèche will be expanded to a maximum of 100 beds in
the old building. At the same time, however, the new building is to be planned and carried out. The end
of 1976 is envisaged as the date for completion. terre des hommes is to buy a plot of land for the Red
Cross, finance the building costs and the initial equipment, and undertake to cover the running costs
for three or five years, always with the possibility of continuing the financing. The Red Cross wants to
show me a possible building site as early as next Thursday. An architect will be appointed to prepare
the plans. The plans are to be submitted first to the Executive Committee, then to terre des hommes in
Europe, for examination. The Red Cross will also work with the Executive Committee to calculate the
running costs. The Red Cross seems to want to implement the possibility of international cooperation
in this tripartite alliance between the Red Cross, the Executive Committee and terre des hommes. The
new nutrition centre is to be called the "terre des hommes Nutrition Centre". State control in planning,

158

in staff recruitment and in day-to-day operations, it is said, will only have the purpose of ensuring that
the projects remain within the framework of state planning policy. My wish to maintain the
multidisciplinary character of the Social Medical Centre is accepted. Medical and socio-educational
aspects should continue to stand side by side on an equal footing. I have emphasised that at least one
representative of terre des hommes, Milo Roten, should come to Vietnam when the contract is signed,
which I expect to happen in February/March 1976. However, it also seems that Hung's and also Nam's
desire to come to Europe is equally strong. Apparently it would be good if terre des hommes would
extend an invitation and pay the travel costs – perhaps in cooperation with the International Red Cross.
Apparently, a visit by terre des hommes is also expected for the inauguration.

„Re-opening of the Centre in Dalat: I pointed out that it will certainly be much easier for terre
des hommes to motivate donors to start new projects if it is ensured that the Dalat Centre is up and
running again. Hung promised to go to Dalat later this month with Mr Son, representing the Dalat
Centre, to assess the situation. I believe he understood well my allusion that no further new
construction is possible until the existing new buildings are back in operation. In Dalat, the Red Cross
is of course also awaiting the continuation of construction work for the third phase of expansion.

„Orphanage cooperative: I made it clear that the construction of the nutrition centre and the
establishment of the orphanage cooperative should be implemented with a slight time difference. This
means that when the terre des hommes representative comes to Vietnam to sign the contract for the
nutrition centre, the details of this second project will be discussed first. It is much more complicated
to implement anyway and requires the selection of very good staff. I dropped the idea of having health
stations and maternity wards built in the new economic regions because there is nothing spectacular in
it for the donors. In any case, there is still no detailed idea of this project from either side. However, the
Red Cross agrees with the basic idea of this project as I have set it down in a working paper: The
combination of elements of an SOS village, a kibbutz, the traditional Vietnamese village community and
socialist production cooperative.

„Help for children with heart disease: Hung, as well as I, cannot yet see the dimensions of a
continuation and expansion of the socio-medical service that the Centre is currently providing for the
children with heart disease who have returned from Switzerland. It is true that there is a working paper
for the development of this project and I have also suggested that the service currently provided by the
Centre might simply be added as a social service to Cho Ray Hospital, which is in the process of re-
building its cardiology department. But Hung would like to talk to Mr Tung from the Centre about this
issue again in detail tomorrow. They also want to clarify how the upcoming operation for a pacemaker
can be carried out this month.

„Import of relief goods for the Social Medical Centre: The Red Cross is apparently very much
in favour of us importing all medicines, milk and other relief goods from abroad because of the glaring
shortages in Vietnam. The proposal to import the goods directly from Bangkok to Saigon was met with
much understanding, as the other route via Moscow and Hanoi is more complicated. The Red Cross
agrees that the imports should go through the Red Cross and then be passed on by the Red Cross to the
Social Medical Centre.

„Permanent delegate: The question should be clarified according to whether there is a specific
work that requires the permanent presence of a terre des hommes representative. For example, this
would perhaps be useful during construction. However, no one really wants to decide the question at
the moment. It is pointed out, however, that the conditions in Hanoi cannot be a yardstick for future
policy in Saigon, that is, all of Vietnam.

159

„Contractual partners: The question as to who should become a contractual partner of terre
des hommes and which ministry would later be a signatory was answered evasively. Everything
indicates that it will still be the Red Cross that signs the future contracts, i.e. the task of contacting
international organisations has been delegated to the Red Cross by whatever governmental authority.

„What happened to the milk: Under the pretext of having to answer the donors' questions, I
asked about the use of the many tonnes of milk powder. It has been processed into tinned milk and
entered the large pool of Red Cross relief supplies, so it is distributed to needy small children, sick
people and orphans in the new economic regions as well as in the city of Saigon.

„What will happen to the 150,000 D-Mark: The Red Cross still has no clear plans. Dr. Hung
reported that he planned to have a discussion with the orphanages soon about the use of these funds. I
asked that both points be included in the minutes of the conversation.

As always, the conversation took place in a very friendly and almost comradely atmosphere,
although not without diplomacy, unfortunately often interrupted by telephone calls and enquiries
through the office. Both interlocutors also have their heads full of other problems. The general
impression remains that it is mainly about the dollars, but that on the other hand it is clear that this
cannot be done unilaterally, but that there must be some kind of cooperation to motivate the donors.
Therefore, concessions are also made to the donors' wishes as long as they do not run counter to the
general principles of government policy. On the one hand, for example, it has been criticised that the
five million US dollars promised by the International Red Cross for next year is rather little; on the other
hand, it is repeatedly emphasised that Vietnam is dependent on the expertise of the international
representatives. Perhaps one of the many examples of politeness. The facts will count.

I was also told that a small farewell tea was planned for me with Dr Thu on Thursday. One
cannot deny that although the representatives of the Red Cross try to communicate their point of view
diplomatically and indirectly, on the other hand they try very hard to show their good will and do it to
the liking of the representatives from abroad. terre des hommes should probably also serve as a kind of
prime example. Because with the International Red Cross, the problems in cooperation have been quite
big so far, and the SOS Children's Village is not very flexible with its ideas in principle with regard to
future project design. It may be that the example of terre des hommes and the possibilities of cooperation
should also motivate other organisations to enter into cooperation with the Red Cross in a similar way,
but perhaps with even more financial strength. Due to the continuous presence of terre des hommes in
Vietnam, it seems that much more is expected from cooperation than from aid with a few tens of
thousands of US dollars from other sources.

***

160

Collapse and new beginning

Comments on Walter Skrobanek's Vietnam Diary
By Rüdiger Siebert

Grandpa's war? Of course. So long ago, what happened in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s. This
became clear to me again recently after a lecture. I had spoken about Marx to Money and the
breathtaking changes in contemporary Vietnam, and had inevitably reported about the war before
that, and I had mentioned Agent Orange. During the questions that followed, a young man spoke up.
What was Agent Orange? I paused, took a breath, and before I started to explain, I gave thanks that the
question was shared at all: that a young person in this country is not only willing and curious to take an
interest in Vietnam, but is honest enough to reveal gaps in his knowledge as a questioner. Both are
rather the exception these days.

Agent Orange? The grass has long since grown over it in Vietnam, the deceptive grass of
supposed normality. The fact that children in the Mekong Delta are still being born with deformities
where Agent Orange leaked into the groundwater does not fit into the picture of the new era that even
the higher-ups in today's Vietnam like to paint in bright colours. Let us note: Agent Orange is the
collective name for about 70 million litres of chemical defoliants containing 170 kilograms of pure
dioxin, sprayed over the Ho Chi Minh Trail and Vietcong stations in Indochina between 1961 and 1971,
with obvious carcinogenic effects and damaging the genetic material with long-term consequences
lasting for generations. The devilish stuff was produced in American, but also in German chemical
factories and dropped from US aircraft and the aircraft of the allied South Vietnamese army to expose
Vietcong hideouts.

Agent Orange was a household term for a whole generation of startled, outraged, publicly
demonstrating young people around the world, to which they could pin their opposition to war and
American involvement. Thirty years later, a young man who is now the same age as the protesters back
then asks what Agent Orange is. I tried to give as unemotional an answer as possible and told him about
the sad pictures in a remote village in the Mekong Delta. There, defoliation poison had been dumped
particularly heavily and frequently on the land and the people. The number of babies born with mental
and physical disabilities is still extraordinarily high today and is most likely a result of the poison that
has penetrated the human genetic make-up. Grandpa's war is still being suffered by grandchildren and
great-grandchildren; and most people in Vietnam no longer know the term Agent Orange.

The assessment of Vietnam is a question of age. For the 68ers, the Vietnam War became the key
event of their politicisation, a drive of their consciousness process, a scene of their projections, dreams
and misunderstandings. The fronts were clear. The American aggressor on the one hand, the
Vietnamese struggle for freedom and independence on the other. This could be chanted succinctly and
with media effect with Ho-ho-ho-chi-minh. From the German left's point of view, the hope for a more
just world was transferred to faraway Vietnam. Television provided the images for free. It was the first
war that not only took place somewhere in the world, but – at that time still with a certain time delay –
was shown in moving and moving pictures on domestic TV windows in every corner of the world. That
was new. It aroused and enraged people far away from the action. It drove people into the streets. So
very different from today, when only a catastrophic natural event with Western tourists among the
victims causes television to trigger the spontaneous need to help, to get involved, to want to do
something out of the helplessness of not being able to bring the dead of the tsunami back to life. The
Vietnam War was also, and in the political consequences of the polarisation of a shaken youth in Europe
and a torn society in the USA, a television war. The images of war were not yet as interchangeable and
worn out as they are today.

161

For people like Walter Skrobanek, it was a war without the media filter and without the protective,
comfortable distance of political wishful thinking somewhere far away from the bombs. He was on the
spot. He was someone who wanted to help directly. As an employee of terre des hommes, the
organisation that was born 40 years ago out of the Vietnam War in the helplessness of Western people
not to be able to end the atrocities, but to make life a little more hopeful again for some of the most
defenceless among the victims: war-damaged children. Walter Skrobanek had become acquainted with
the corrupt, hypocritical catholic bigot regime of South Vietnam; he knew about the machinations of
the Americans' allies and understood early on that this war could not be won by the West. The American
government and its generals, trapped in the black-and-white grid of the East-West conflict, were
incapable of recognising that the resistance from the communist North against the Western-occupied
South was a nationalist liberation struggle in continuation of the successful expulsion of the French,
who had already been crushingly defeated in the mountain fortress of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 after almost
a century of colonial paternalism. The Vietnamese finally wanted to become masters in their own
country again. This was denied to those in the South by Western intervention, which drove hundreds
of thousands into the Vietcong's underground struggle. However, the fact that the North Vietnamese
were also fighting a proxy war, in which the interests of the Soviet Union and its vassals intervened,
that China also insisted on its influence – all this made the scenario of the war more complicated than
some Western sympathisers and demonstrators wanted to admit.

Walter Skrobanek was one of the realists. He had not come to Saigon as a newcomer. Years
before, he had studied the culture, religion and politics of Southeast Asia, had written his doctorate on
political Buddhism in Thailand. His life and work were indissolubly linked to Asia. His Thai wife Siriporn
not only accompanied him to Saigon for his job at terre des hommes, but was also a wide-awake, socially
committed comrade-in-arms for balance and justice, who was always able to convey Asian sensitivities
from her own experience and knowledge and to clarify the view from Asian eyes. After years of
atrocities, the end of the war – however achieved – appeared to be the end of suffering. The Americans
had withdrawn their troops in 1973. Before that, the "Agreement on the Restoration of Peace in
Vietnam" had been signed. The invasion of Saigon by North Vietnamese troops on 30 April 1975 was
perceived as an act of liberation. Hopes were high for a peaceful new beginning under unified leadership
with a communist stamp.

Walter Skrobanek reports on this in his diary of those days in April 1975. The sheets had remained in
the drawer for decades. He had saved the publication for his retirement. In the months following his retirement
from terre des hommes, he wanted to take stock and process the extensive material he had collected on many
journeys. He wanted to take his time and distance to sift through and evaluate the material. He wanted to leave
behind something from his wealth of experience that would be valid for years and days to come. Walter
Skrobanek no longer had the time to make a selection himself. He died in Bangkok on 9 October 2006, only a
few months after his 65th birthday.

His wife Siriporn sifts through the archives. The diary from Saigon is one of them. It is one of the
contemporary testimonies and historical sources that keep recent history alive through the direct involvement
of the chronicler. Decades later, the tensions, doubts and hardships remain depressingly fresh. It is an object
lesson in how, within a few days, a timid hope for peace is transformed into a realisation of new abuses of
power. It is astonishing how quickly Walter Skrobanek, who wants to ensure the survival of "his" children with
the help of terre des hommes, sees through in the direct happenings what the new masters and their followers
are doing. The re-education camps, the mass flight of the boat people, the denunciations are all events and
developments of the following years. But the course of that communist rule of repression and exclusion was
quickly apparent to Walter Skrobanek and his wife Siriporn. He wrote about it in immediate distress and as a
sufferer of continued corruption and duplicity. This makes this diary a snapshot in a flood of images and shows
developments through the magnifying glass of active participation. Day by day, the extent of disappointment

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becomes more visible. First Siriporn has to leave Saigon, then Walter Skrobanek.

In 1976, he set up the terre des hommes office in Bangkok, which from then on coordinated the projects
in Southeast Asia. It becomes the hub of terre des hommes activities – and the centre of an extensive network of
numerous partners and friends. Like hardly anyone else, Walter Skrobanek followed the socio-political
development of Southeast Asia so continuously over decades. He was closely connected to the partner
organisations, had information from the very bottom, namely where the effects of big politics were and are felt
by the little people. He visited them again and again, took on strenuous journeys in order to not only deepen
his insights from a metropolitan perspective, but also to explore inaccessible regions with whom terre des
hommes can and should cooperate.

During my travels in Southeast Asia, I often visited Walter Skrobanek and enjoyed the hospitality in
his home. He provided the informative interlocutors, helped with background understanding and paved the
way for me to the children's village on the River Kwai. There I met the abused and violated children whose fates
provided the material for my novel "The Island in the Black River. The Story of a Sold Childhood in Thailand".
By the way: In the series "Books for an Earth of Humanity" published by terre des hommes, the novel is still
available today and remains unfortunately the topic on child labour.

In November 1997, we explored Aceh together, the Indonesian crisis province in the north of Sumatra.
At that time, I was banned from entering Indonesia for the second time. Journalists who were critical of the
Suharto regime were not welcome in the kingdom of 17,000 islands. Aceh, with its militant, Islamic-based
resistance against the paternalism and exploitation by the central government and its army, was an area of
tension. I will never forget the scene: I had flown from Singapore to Medan, entering Suharto's repressive state
through the back door, so to speak. It had worked. Walter Skrobanek, who had arrived earlier, greeted me at
the airport. I felt gratitude. The friendly embrace was conspiratorially comforting. In the weeks that followed,
we met with activists in the struggle against oppression from Jakarta, men and women who were not waging
this struggle with guns, but in the spirit of enlightenment. They were involved in grassroots projects of
education and health education and support for women and street children. It was a tense journey. Some of the
meetings took place under conspiratorial circumstances. Walter Skrobanek risked being picked up by the
police and the army. At that time, white faces like us were rare in Aceh. The explanation that we were just
harmless tourists would not have stood up to serious scrutiny. Walter Skrobanek had often been in such
situations. What always amazed me was that he did not lapse into frustration, which would have been a good
reason after his Vietnam experiences.

More than three decades after the end of the war, the leadership in Hanoi practices communist power
maintenance and secures the economic space of capitalist interests with state control, again benefiting close
cadres. Critics call them the "red capitalists". The battlefields of yesteryear have become the marketplaces of
today; and goods are still unfairly distributed. Ho Chi Minh is now only an icon on the socialist domestic altar.
Mammon rules. Walter Skrobanek has followed this development closely. Once again, a terre des hommes office
was set up in Saigon, which is now run by a Vietnamese staff member and supports projects that help children
to have a better future. Also deformed children as late victims of Agent Orange. Walter Skrobanek never
wasted much time in theoretical debates on principles, although he was certainly equal to them with his
intellectual tools. Walter Skrobanek was someone who, after a house collapses, does not bemoan the
misfortune and remain sitting on the rubble, but lends a hand and looks for comrades-in-arms and encourages
them to build a new house with many rooms, in which above all the disadvantaged and those suffering from
questionable progress find their home. This also applies to Vietnam.

***

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Documentation

Excerpts from the terre des hommes information for donors in 1977

Vietnam - Our contribution to reconstruction and world peace

In Vietnam, terre des hommes projects have grown historically. Directly child-related, they
represent two important offers of help in the field of rehabilitation work, namely:
- the rehabilitation of malnourished orphans
- the rehabilitation of paraplegic children.

Both projects are now firmly integrated components of the framework plan of the Ministry of
War Invalids and Social Welfare of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The projects that have been co-created and supported by European terre des hommes
representatives since the end of the 1960s are now exclusively in Vietnamese hands. The majority of the
Centre's experts and other staff were already part of the terre des hommes team before 1975. In Vietnam,
the terre des hommes "help for Vietnamese self-help" could be realised. The so-called Vietnamisation of
the projects worked surprisingly well, the objectives remained unchanged and corresponded to the
terre des hommes charter. (...)

Chronology

1971
The International Federation terre des hommes opens a Social Medical Centre in former Saigon

with the following tasks:

Help for sick children: Every day, more than 100 children from poor families receive free
outpatient treatment at the polyclinic. Free distribution of medicines, but also of powdered milk and
baby food. The terre des hommes team includes two Vietnamese doctors and two Vietnamese and
German nurses.

Help for malnourished children: Inpatient treatment for 80 undernourished or malnourished
children from South Vietnamese orphanages and poor families.

Follow-up care: Vietnamese and German staff provide medical, social, educational and
vocational follow-up care for the Vietnamese children and young people repatriated from Europe. The
entire follow-up costs of the Centre are borne exclusively by terre des hommes.

1972
terre des hommes begins negotiations in Vietnam to build a rehabilitation centre for paraplegic

children and young people in Dalat (Vietnam).

The last group of children from rescue operation are sent from Vietnam to the Federal Republic
of Germany. This time it includes only eight war-injured paraplegic children whose chances of survival
are extremely low due to the lack of treatment possibilities in their own country.

1973
The Social Medical Centre in Saigon expands its scope. Sociological, educational and medical

experts from Vietnam, the Federal Republic of Germany, Switzerland and France are implementing a
new concept for terre des hommes work in Vietnam. This includes:

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Orphanage programme
Socio-medical teams regularly visit more than 20 orphanages in South Vietnam.

European experts conduct training and further education of orphanage staff in courses lasting several
months in the orphanages.

Vietnamese and European nurses from the Centre work in orphanages for several months and
try to improve the situation in these institutions. For these reasons, terre des hommes partly pays the
salaries of the orphanage staff, finances necessary spatial changes in the orphanages and contributes
to the follow-up costs of these facilities.

Help for poor families
This is considered an alternative programme to orphanage work and has its origins in the

observation that many poor large families give up their children to the orphanages solely for economic
reasons. It mostly involves material support for families, but is accompanied by education, guidance
and counselling activities.

Vietnamese architects begin planning work on the rehabilitation centre for paraplegic children
and young people in Dalat.

terre des hommes poster in 1975: Vietnamese children, injured in the war, forgotten in peace
time. terre des hommes is helping.

1974
After almost four months of construction, the first construction phase of the Dalat

rehabilitation centre is completed. The school-age children and some young people from the Bad
Oeynhausen Pedagogical Centre (Federal Republic of Germany) are repatriated to the new Centre in
Vietnam. European specialists continue to take care of the repatriated children in Vietnam, in close
cooperation with Vietnamese colleagues.

The orthopaedic workshop attached to the Centre (it is set up by a Swiss orthopaedist) starts
operating. In addition to the repatriated children, the Dalat Centre also takes in new paraplegic girls
and boys from the country. Due to a lack of treatment options, even a girl from Cambodia comes to the
Dalat Centre. The entire construction and follow-up costs are covered solely by donations from terre
des hommes.


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1975
Staff and children of the Dalat rehabilitation centre are forced to evacuate to Saigon by the

government of the time and are all taken in at the terre des hommes Social Medical Centre in Saigon.

The entire health system in South Vietnam collapses, doctors and nurses leave the hospitals.

terre des hommes flies 13 seriously ill children to Laos for medical care. They are cared for and
treated by Vietnamese and European professionals in a small provisional terre des hommes centre in
Vientiane.

On 30 April 1975, the 30-year war in Vietnam ends with the victory of the communist troops.
Saigon becomes Ho Chi Minh City.

Even during the revolution, the work of terre des hommes for the needy children in Vietnam
continues.

In mid-May, the continuation of terre des hommes work in Vietnam is discussed between
representatives of the Vietnam Peace Committee and the European terre des hommes delegate in Hanoi.

The result: Vietnam is still interested in cooperating with terre des hommes in the spirit of the
Charter.

Due to the reorganisation of the social and health care system in southern Vietnam, the Social
Medical Centre in Ho Chi Minh City is experiencing a shift in focus:
The primary task of the terre des hommes centre is now the rehabilitation of malnourished orphans.

At the end of the year, the European staff leave Vietnam voluntarily. The project is handed over
to the Vietnamese partners.

Dr. Huynh-thi Mai-Xuan, a Vietnamese doctor, takes over the further coordination tasks of terre
des hommes in Vietnam.

months after the revolution, the 13 paraplegic children and their two Vietnamese companions
are repatriated to Ho Chi Minh City with the help of the Vietnamese Red Cross.

The International Federation terre des hommes ships a one-off rice shipment (200,000 Marks)
for orphanages in southern Vietnam via the Vietnamese Red Cross.

1976

The terre des hommes Centre in Ho Chi Minh City now takes in over 150 malnourished orphans.
We regularly receive quarterly reports from the Centre. Talks on further cooperation take place in October
in Hanoi between terre des hommes and the Vietnam Peace Committee.
Result: terre des hommes is still a welcome partner to support programmes for orphans and physically
disabled children.








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Glossary

Anh : tdh employee, socialworker, in charge of the Programme for Poor Families.

Ao Ba Ba : Simple cotton blouse with short flaps and long sleeves.

Ao Dai : Long traditional dress for Vietnamese women.

Ardin, Michael : Swiss tdh employee, physiotherapist in Dalat Centre.

Ariel, Dr. : tdh employee, Indian-French doctor.

Bac Ho : “Uncle Ho”, reverential and common name for President Ho Chi Minh.

Ban Xa Hoi : Social welfare office

Ban Y Te Xa Hoi : Office for health and social affairs

Bao Loc : Smaller city in Lam Dong Province in the Central Highlands north-east of Saigon at

half-way to the provincial capital Dalat.

Ben Luc : Town in Long An Province, where an orphanage is located.

Bich Thuy : tdh employee, in charge of administration.

Bien Hoa : City with the US airbase of the same name, 30 km east of Saigon in Dong Nai province.

Binh, Ms Nguyen Thi Binh: Foreign Minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG).

Binh Dong : Location in District 8 of Saigon.

Bo Doi : Literally ‘troops’, meaning the armed forces of the FNL and the Northern Vietnamese

Army.

Bo Y Te : Ministry of Health

Bui Giang : (1926-1998) Writer and acquaintance of Skrobanek.

Bui Thi Me : State Secretary Ministry of Health, Social Affairs and War Veterans of the PRG.

Ca Mau : Province at the southernmost tip of Vietnam

Centre : With a capital C, usually means the Socio-Medical Centre of tdh.

Chau Doc : Town in An Giang Province in the upper part of the Mekong Delta.

Chi Ba : Domestic helper at Skrobanek‘s in Saigon.

Chi Mai : FNL cadre.

Cholon : Chinese district of Saigon.

Con Son : Con Dao, island lying about 140 km off the Mekong Delta in the East Sea and used as a

convict island.

Crèche : toddler home, terre des hommes-project.

Dalat/Da Lat : Capital of Lam Dong Province, at 300 km north-east of Saigon.

Dalat Pedagogical Centre: terre des hommes project.

Danang/Da Nang: Large port city in Central Vietnam on the Han River, at 961 km north of Saigon.

Dieu Quang : Orphanage supported by tdh, located in Phu Lam, Saigon.

Dispensary : Health post or pharmacy, tdh project.

Dong : Vietnamese currency unit; also VNP or piastre.

Dung : tdh employee, in charge of the Binh Dong daycare centre in District 8.

Dung/Đưng : tdh employee, Maria’s husband.

FNL : Front National de Liberation – National Front of Liberation.

Gallasch, Börries : Journalist, correspondent of the Spiegel, a weekly German magazine.

Gia Dinh : That was the name of the fortification (citadel) built in the early 18th century where

Saigon is located to consolidate a Vietnamese administration.

Hieu : tdh employee, socialworker; he was from Danang.

Hoa Hao : A Buddhist sect founded in South Vietnam in 1939. Armed factions of the sect were

illegally organised and operated in the Mekong Delta mainly in the 1950s.

Hoa, Dr. Duong Quynh Hoa: Minister for Health, Social Affairs and War Veterans.

Hoc Tap : political training course.

Hue : old imperial city in central Vietnam almost halfway between Saigon and Hanoi.

Hung, Dr. : Member of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Red Cross.

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Huynh Tan Phat : President of the Republic of South Vietnam (1969-1976).

Jean-Pierre : tdh employee, French doctor.

Khmer Rouge : the liberation movement in neighboring Cambodia.

Khom : unit of residential area.

Khuong : tdh senior employee in the administration, in charge of translation work.

Kieu/Truyen Kieu: Or the “Tale of Kieu”, a Vietnamese (national) epic poem by Nguyen Du (1766-1820).

For more information, see The Tale of Kieu - Wikipedia.

Kim Thanh : tdh employee, head nurse, in charge of the Crèche for malnourished children.

Kontum/Kon Tum: Capital of the province of the same name in the Central Highlands near the borders

with Cambodia and Laos.

Kutin, Helmut : led the construction of the first SOS Children's Village in Vietnam in 1967 and had to leave

the country in 1976.

Lam Ty Ni : orphanage in Phu Nhuan District, Saigon.

Loc Uyen : orphanage in Phu Nhuan District, Saigon.

Long Binh : Location about 35 km north of Saigon, formerly the site of the US military prison.

Long Thanh : A town, 32 km east of Saigon, formerly in Phuoc Tuy Province, now in Dong Nai

Province.

Long Xuyen : Capital city of An Giang Province in the upper part of the Mekong Delta.

Maquis/Maquisard: a French resistance movement during World War II.

Margrit Rohbani: tdh-employee, social pedagogue and director of the rehabilitation centre in Dalat.

Maria Dung : tdh-employee, German nurse.

MMC, Military Management Committee: Military government of South Vietnam after the liberation.

Mo Cay : Orphanage in the Mekong Delta.

Montagnards : ethnic minorities in the highlands.

Mummenday, Dietrich: Journalist and Asia correspondent of the "Welt" in Saigon.

Nam : Pharmacist and Secretary General of the Vietnamese Red Cross.

Ngoc : tdh employee, in charge of the pharmacy in the Centre.

Nguy : Negative term for the South Vietnamese regime.

Nguyen Huu Tho: President of the FNL and President of the consultative council of the PRG (1969-1976).

Nhiem, Ba Nhiem: Head of the Social Medical Centre appointed by the South Vietnamese social authorities.

Orphanage programme: tdh-Project, see Documentation.

Pham Van Dong : Prime Minister of North Vietnam.

Phu Lam : Location in District 6, Saigon.

Phu My : orphanage and home for the elderly in the area of Thi Nghe, in Saigon.

Phu Nhuan : district of Saigon near the airport.

Phuong : urban subdistrict administration, see also Xa.

Phat Hue : an orphanage.

PRG : Provisional Revolutionary Government, official political representative of the FNL

during the Thieu regime.

Programme for poor families: tdh-Project.

Quan : Municipality in Saigon, administrative division.

Quang Ngai : Place in the province of the same name in central Vietnam with the seat of an

orphanage.

Quang Tri : Province on the coast of north-central Vietnam next to Hue.

Roten, Milo : tdh-delegate in Germany.

Saigon : today Ho Chi Minh City.

Saigon Giai Phong: FNL newspaper.

Social Medical Centre: tdh-Project, see Documentation.

So Thuong Binh Xa Hoi: Office for war invalids and social affairs.

Suu : tdh employee (Dalat), companion of the children from Vientiane.

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Tan : tdh employee, social worker.

Tan Phu : a district in Saigon.

Terzani, Tiziano: Italian correspondent of the Spiegel.

Thieu : President of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1975

Thu, Dr. Nguyen Van Thu: President of the Vietnamese Red Cross (1973-1976), Republic of South Vietnam.

Tin Sang : Newspaper in Saigon, established before the Liberation and operational again

afterward until 1981.

Tran Van Tra : General and Supreme Commander of the FNL.

Truc Giang : Capital city of the former Kien Hoa Province (now Ben Tre Province) in the Mekong

Delta, where an orphanage was located.

Trung Nhut : a subdistrict in Phu Nhuan, Saigon.

Truong Chinh : State President of Nordvietnam.

Tung : tdh employee, socialworker.

Tuong : tdh employee, coordinator of the tdh-Office in Danang.

Tuy Hoa : Capital city of the province of the same name in southern central Vietnam.

UPI : Press agency, United Press International.

Vinh Hung, Dr. : high-ranking cadre of the Ministry of health.

VNP : Vietnamese Piaster or Dong.

Vung Tau : the southernmost city and capital of the province of the same name.

Wulff, Erich : German ethno- and social psychiatrist, published "Vietnamesische Lehrjahre" in 1968

(Suhrkamp Publishing House) under the pseudonym Georg W. Alsheimer.

Xa : rural sub-district administration; see also Phuong.


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“ The very special humane and political quality of Walter

Skrobanek’s “critical solidarity”, one of the finer achievements of
the German left, and his deep and accurate insight into
a dramatic upheaval and key situation in Vietnam have motivated

”us both as editors to make this diary accessible to today’s readers.
Peter Franke Dr. Peter Bumke
Asienstiftung Essen Goethe-Institute Vietnam

@ Siriporn Skrobanek