After the liberation

Of iconoclasts and people's courts
27/5/1975

One rumor has now been dispelled, namely that the officials of the old system should earn, as
a salary, no more than a few liters of rice and a few thousand piasters, as, so to speak, a kind of
punishment for their collaboration with the puppet government. I spent yesterday evening clearing up
this rumor in my own mind by translating a notice from General Tra, head of the MMC Saigon/Gia Dinh.
According to this, government employees who work in government companies, in the health service
and in the school service will receive the same salary as before. Officials in authorities receive a lower
salary between 10,000 and 23,000 VNP plus family aid based on rice: ten kilos for the wife and five kilos
for each child. Private companies are asked to pay the same salaries as before. Unfortunately, the notice
does not contain any information on how to get the cash in order to be able to pay the salaries. We can't
do anything at terre des hommes because the banks are still closed. Foreseeing the problem, we wrote
to comrades in the Treasury and asked them for advice on how to get cash and buy gasoline. When we
asked today, the letter had already been forwarded to the comrades in the Ministry of Health, who so
far only shrugged their shoulders when we asked how we could implement General Tra's order to pay
salaries to the staff.

Another rumour that there are people's courts, however, have now been confirmed by
newspaper information. Yesterday, Saigon Giai Phong reported on such a verdict, which ended with a
shooting execution. The villain was accused of robbery. The principles of when such courts are set up
spontaneously still seem opaque to me. It is believed that this depends on how the local revolutionary
committees feel about it. Anyway, the city is full of criminals at the moment because the liberation
movement has opened all prisons. It may be that it does not accept the old regime's judgments as a
matter of principle. If, however, one of the released convicts is guilty again, the death penalty is
threatened by a people’s decision.

Today the revolutionary iconoclasting students also knocked on Ariel's door to collect
reactionary and pornographic literature. Ariel's sister did not let them in, just explained she could not
read. According to reports from our employees, works of Sino-Vietnamese literature such as “History
of the Three Kingdoms” are as much a part of trash literature as the American news magazine “Time”.
If the students knew that, for example, Truyen Kieu (Tale of Kieu) has celebrated a renaissance in North
Vietnam and is interpreted as an example of a literary criticism of the anti-feudalist movement.
Allegedly there will be a big fire on May 31st, in which all these works will end up.

There are increasing reports of tensions in the liberation front itself, especially between
nationalists and communists, with the latter envisioning immediate reunification with the social
construction modeled on Hanoi. Rumour has it that Madame Binh, Foreign Minister of the Provisional
Revolutionary Government, has already resigned.

Today we received an unexpected sign of life from Milo from Hanoi. The letter had come with
the postman and had "Milo Roten in Hanoi" as sender, but no stamp and no postmark. It had been
written on the 15th or 16th, so it took more than ten days to get here. Milo had been there for four days
at the invitation of a peace committee to participate in the victory celebrations and also to extend the
feelers because of terre des hommes. His letter was a big hymn of praise on North Vietnam.

For example: “Today we celebrated the victory at Hanoi Stadium! It was a wonderful
celebration with indescribable impressions. By the way, Hanoi is the most wonderful city of all that I
saw in Vietnam: three beautiful lakes right in the centre of the city. Hanoi really exudes calm and a
feeling of peace. Everything takes place in peace; the stench and the hustle and bustle of earlier Saigon

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are absent here; neither are thieves, beggars, etc. Wonderful to walk along the lake without having to
worry about being pushed into the water, something being stolen or something like that. The people
are natural here, there is no foreign influence, and that's what makes the city and its life sympathetic... ”

I really don't know how it works with foreign influence. Today again we saw artistic
performances on the screen: singing, dancing, ballet, only a small part of which was actually
Vietnamese cultural property. The dances in particular seem to be a mixture of everything; there is a
lack of uniformity and harmony because style elements are mixed up too wildly.

Milo also hoped that we could meet the new Minister of Health, Dr. Hoa, here in Saigon. Today
I put it to test. I reported to the comrades in the Ministry of Health about our delegate in Hanoi and his
advice to ask for an audience with the Minister of Health. The comrades from MMC did not deny that
the doctor is in Saigon. "But she has not started her work yet." If this happens, we will be informed, told
us the freedom fighters in the Ministry of Health, who still proudly wear their rubber sandals cut from
tires. It seems to me that there is no need to do much more than wait and see. At least we have an opinion
that the presence of terre des hommes is considered useful.










































40

Interim balance for Saigon
28/5/1975

It has been almost a month since the country was freed from American influence, but a balance
sheet has yet to be drawn. It is difficult to draw as the country is still fragmented into the multiple
authorities of the MMCs that run the country. Who is introduced to them is not clear. Either the National
Liberation Front with its Central Committees or both authorities in South and North Vietnam. Since the
developments in the area of power of each MMC are different and must also be different because of the
length of time since the liberation, I can only concentrate on Saigon in a balance sheet.

The economy still seems to me to be in a worse situation than before. The banks are still closed,
which prevents national economic circulation. Various companies with foreign capital and foreign
management have come under state control or without a leader. However, it is unclear how and
whether they can continue to work (this applies for example to the Bastos cigarette factory and the BGI
brewery). Agricultural production cannot be better than before, because the refugees have not all
returned. There is now more security for agricultural production, but also various disadvantages:
There is a lack of artificial fertilizers. The agricultural marketing system is very limited by strict
regional controls, the prices which farmers can obtain are low and, finally, the transport and processing
costs are quite high due to the high petrol prices. In industrial production, considerable reallocations
have to be made because subsequent deliveries of repair parts from western countries are no longer to
be expected on a large scale. Dependencies will shift to socialist countries, but this can take quite a long
time. For the population of the city of Saigon, the economic problems seem to be aggravated mainly by
the fact that prices by and large continued to rise, but wages have fallen rather (as in part with the
state). Other people have even become unemployed, whether as a result of the loss of foreign jobs or as
a result of the dissolution of the Saigon army. The repatriation of refugees to the countryside with start-
up aid by regional committees and the free distribution of rice to poor families, both of which are now
being carried out on a large scale in Saigon, is by no means sufficient to counter the negative tendencies.
But this is not the fault of the MMC, but is due to the lack of central government authority and economic
planning authority.

Politically, the situation remains unclear. Ministries do not exist, and ministers have not yet
started working. In Saigon, as elsewhere, the MMC rules with various sub-departments that – in Saigon
– have settled in the ministries. It remains unclear who governs South Vietnam, how long the MMC will
function, whether there will be a direct merging to North Vietnam and whether free elections or a
referendum should decide on it.

Contrary to reports from the Voice of America, I still consider the security in Saigon to be
greater than before the liberation, although thefts and robberies are increasing especially in recent
times. But this is no wonder in view of the economic hardship. However, the MMC wants to take even
harsher action in the case of property crimes. That is why the newspapers now report on public
executions and tribunals. They should deter. However, the danger for regular soldiers seems to be
increasing in the city. Every day, I hear news of insidious assassinations, not only at night, but also in
broad daylight.

Social and health services have not yet resumed their normal work. This is partly due to cash
shortages and the concern that scarce materials may soon run out. The most urgent tests are carried
out in the laboratories. The Liberation Front has not yet established a competent leadership in these
services. There is a lack of trained FNL cadres, and the previous leaders are not so trustworthy, and
sometimes they are not to be trusted.

41

The schools have not yet started their activities. Obviously, the political training of teachers in Saigon
has also become somewhat paralyzed in recent days. In other provinces, school lessons with new
curricula are said to have already started. Universities are not yet engaged in student activities such as
street cleaning and cultural revolution. A clear cultural policy has not yet become clear at all. It is said,
however, that a ship from North Vietnam, fully loaded with books, recently arrived in Saigon. Even day-
care centres, whose social-political importance for working people has always been emphasized, still
seem to be closed.

The internal transport system is again fully established. However, due to the high cost of petrol,
bus fares have risen sharply. The Saigon-Hanoi railway line is heavily built and can be traveled in
sections. However, there is still no connection in international traffic. The Saigon airport is still closed
to civil traffic. So far, only aid vessels from North Vietnam have arrived at the port. The international
telegraph system has been back in operation for a week. However, letters cannot be sent or received
abroad. The city is thus still largely isolated from the outside world.

In a nutshell, one has the impression that everything that works again is because it is
established without government intervention or is due to the fact that there is peace. Most of the things
that are ordered by the MMC are often done in an amateurish way. The revolutionary authorities
evidently have no competent cadres.

42

In the cinema
29/5/1975

The cinemas in Saigon have completely changed their programme with the revolution. As far
as I can see, there are only films from North Vietnam that are shown in the various cinemas for a
relatively long time because new films cannot be replenished so quickly. It is above all political,
historical and war films that show the heroic struggle against foreign occupation.

Today we went to the cinema for the first time since the liberation to get a direct impression of
the changes. We were interested in the life of Nguyen Van Troi, which was immortalized in a film that
was just shown in the Tu Du cinema. It is about the assassination attempt by a young man on the former
US Secretary of Defense McNamara, which took place in 1964 on the Cong Ly Bridge. The US politician
escaped the attack within an inch. The young man was arrested and executed. He has now become a
martyr for the National Liberation Front and has been declared a Vietnamese hero by Ho Chi Minh. For
the majority of the Saigon population, the name Nguyen Van Troi was apparently completely unknown
until the liberation. The unsuccessful attack on McNamara is well known, including that someone was
arrested afterwards, but no one could do anything with the man's name. Only now through the film,
through a sequel story in the FNL newspaper Saigon Giai Phong (“Liberated Saigon”), which was written
based on the wife’s narratives, and through poems and various mentions, will a national hero and
martyr emerge, for the Saigon people as well. Yesterday Saigon Giai Phong printed a poster with which
the French Communist Party raised money for a Nguyen Van Troi school in Vietnam. Today's film is the
best Vietnamese film I've seen, black and white, quite realistic, but without falling into the kitsch of
depicting things that cannot be shown. The assassination attempt on McNamara was not shown at all.
The heroic death of the young man was portrayed from the point of view of his wife, who after his death
finally also takes the rifle and joins the National Liberation Front.

Our friends and also some paraplegic children did not approve of the film for reasons that I
could not yet explain. I can only assume that the harshness of the images from the torture cells of the
Thieu regime and the suffering and pain of the woman are unbearable for previous Vietnamese tastes.
Because I can't see what is supposed to be badly done about the film. Excellent scenes were captured
photographically. The actors acted flawlessly and naturally. The story itself is very skillfully unfolded
from the woman's perspective, with a clear political general message and exhortation.

Two more films had been shown. The first described attacks on Hanoi by the US aggression and
dealt with a topic that we had already seen on television on many occasions. The second film, however,
depicted life after the liberation of parts of Quang Tri province after the spring offensive in 1972. The
film showed the contrast between the incredible destruction left behind by the war and the new,
fighting-ready life that developed after the liberation. It was a very good film, which is necessary,
especially in South Vietnam, because nobody knew before what work was already done in the
previously liberated areas by the FNL and how the community organized itself.

Today I myself almost witnessed an execution by decision of a people's tribunal. We got to the
square opposite the Vinh Nghiem Pagoda just a few minutes late. People were already leaving the
square, so that our car was completely blocked between the thousands of people who attended the
spectacle. I only saw the scaffolding and a banner that read “Toa An Nhan Dan”, which means people's
tribunal. The convict had allegedly thrown a grenade at FNL soldiers and had been therefore sentenced
to death. We were just returning from the Ministry of Health, where we met a senior official from the
MMC, a doctor of the FNL, who was very kind and gave us advice on our future work. It was a
representative of the French-educated middle class who finally went underground, but whose
appearance and well-groomed clothes (despite green trousers) could not deny the educational

43

background.
At the French embassy that Ariel and I went to today to introduce ourselves at least once,

almost everything also seems unclear. Apparently you don't know more than what is on the newspapers
and from the radio and what the rumours want to know. A Mr. Lafesse, 2nd secretary of the embassy,
gave reliable information and showed himself to be helpful, but with the best will in the world I don't
know whether it will help and what for.



44

Saigon – from the rotten pearl to the village
31/5/1975

Saigon, a city of three million, once called the pearl of the east, later probably turned into a
pulsating, but rotten, characterless city, has now become something like a village after the liberation.
The traffic problem has solved itself with the high gasoline prices. The streetscape is reminiscent of
Hanoi film strips. Mostly bicycles, not very many Hondas and isolated cars. It has become quiet in
Saigon, and pedestrians no longer need to fear suffocating from exhaust gas.

Today was a somewhat melancholic Sunday. It was covered continuously and drizzling for
hours. Staying home was not an attraction on that afternoon off from work. We set off for a city stroll
on Liberty Street (Tu Do). The Liberty Street, once a den of sin for American soldiers with many
nightclubs, bars, but also somewhat more international looking shops, has become very quiet. The
Continental Hotel is still brightly lit, but you can only see a few foreign guests after the majority of
Western journalists have left. In our photo shop, the mood of the anti-communist owner who fled North
Vietnam in 1954 was as sad as on the street, where the rain dripped from the flags of the FNL and North
Vietnam. He counted the bank checks he was paid with and still could not cash because the banks were
closed. Somewhat jokingly, I meant that he probably doesn't have that many customers anymore. "It is
the lot of all business people in town," he bitterly noted. On the street, we are not anymore approached
by anyone about changing money or begging. There is no longer a state to be made with the trade,
although there is more than ever a lack of money. Some French people rummaged through leather
shops and tried to buy cheap before they left. Four unusual-looking men also strolled by. According to
language and habitus, we guessed they were Cubans who had arrived here on the last ship with supplies.
But we weren't sure. Most of the shops were closed. Many of them, especially the bars, are anyway put
under ban. The restaurants and cafes are still flourishing to a certain extent. Street boys are now selling
the FNL newspaper Saigon Giai Phong. Even the government hotel Majestic, whose top floor had been
destroyed by a rocket a few days before the liberation, seemed to have few guests, although street boys
were still loitering in front of it. It is located on the Bach Dang harbour road and the Saigon River. The
ships are anchored there, silent and dark, apparently there is neither trade nor fuel. Perhaps it is not
even clear whether they will be confiscated by the government. Opposite, we saw the ship Tru Nam,
which had brought our car to Singapore. It was taken with three others from Singapore after the
liberation. Apparently some of the crew had dropped out. The government celebrated the ordered
return of the ships on television a few days ago.

The many booths with drinks and soups, which are always at the port, were without guests.
The saleswomen were lying on deckchairs under stretched tarpaulins and waiting for the evening. Then
the stint is fulfilled. The tranquility may promise success to the anglers, who are now multiplying at the
quay of the port. We walked up to a terrace restaurant on the water, which was crowded every evening
in earlier times. Today there were only a few people, the staff is almost unemployed. We only ate one
soup and shuffled through the puddles back across Freedom Street. A young man was apparently lying
drunk on the sidewalk, surrounded by some passers-by, including soldiers from the FNL, who seemed
a little worried just because we saw the scene. We continued to stroll to the car and returned home. The
mood of the evening, with all its melancholy, did us not bad.

Citing a UPI message, Voice of America reported at 11 p.m. that North and South Vietnamese politicians
agreed after a three-week meeting that reunification would not be possible within the next five years. The lifestyle
and economic conditions are too different to allow for immediate reunification. The new government is expected to
be introduced next Friday, June 6. Moreover, new elections to form a parliament should also be held as soon as
possible. The aforementioned 6th of June has long been regarded as a significant day because it is the sixth
anniversary of the formation of a provisional revolutionary government in South Vietnam.


45

Children’s Day
1/6/1975

The news (that the new government is to be presented on 6th June) is also likely because on 10th
June, the new French ambassador is to come, replacing the ambassador who was accredited to the
Thieu regime. The new ambassador simply cannot be accredited to the MMC Saigon/Gia Dinh. In other
words, the French Government is assuming that a new South Vietnamese government already exists at
this time.

Today is the International Children’s Day. It seems to me that the population only found out
about this last night, after the new edition of Saigon Giai Phong has appeared. The newspaper is full of
articles about it. But it looked as if it had only occurred to the revolutionary rulers shortly before. We
heard about it for the first time on Friday afternoon, when a young man with a revolutionary female
student came to our centre. They asked for a doctor and medicines for a dispensary that is to be opened
spectacularly in Phu Nhuan on Sunday, the International Children’s Day. Ariel was ready to help out,
and so medicines were brought in. It all seemed to me very quickly organized, so I feared dilettantism.
As I waited for the doctor to return, I listened to the radio programme, full of chants and slogans on the
Children’s Day. The collection of revolutionary children's songs, especially in honor of Ho Chi Minh, was
heard again in the programme of this afternoon.

I don't really know if the worship of Ho Chi Minh is still to be qualified with the word personal
cult. Ho Chi Minh is, first, no longer among the living and, second, no longer an ordinary person. The
way in which he is worshipped here is reminiscent of the worship of a Vietnamese ancestor, a national
saint, perhaps even a god. The request of 19 May, his 85th birthday, to put a picture of the former
president in a place of honor in the house, has now led to the design of household altars everywhere,
where not only an order of an unwanted government is implemented. As in a temple, there are two
candles on gold stands in front of the picture, as well as a large bowl that is used to hold incense sticks.
At least that's how you see it in various government buildings, meeting places of the Liberation Front
and in public places. Ho Chi Minh has become a symbol of national contemplation and the Vietnamese
homeland.

Tonight, I had time to study more precisely the newspaper dedicated to International Children's
Day. "Strive to build a future generation of the nation," it said in large letters across all the columns on
the front page. As can be read, the International Day for the Protection of Children in the Soviet Union
was proclaimed as an anti-fascist anniversary in order to draw attention to the German war crimes in
Lidice and France (1942). This happened at the meeting of the International Union of Democratic
Women in 1949 and the 1st June has since been declared a holiday not only by the Soviet Union, but also
by many other socialist or so-called socialist countries. In an article it is emphasized that the atrocities
of American imperialism against children are even greater than what the Germans have done in
Yugoslavia and France. In the north of Vietnam a progressive youth had already arisen. In the south,
which has now been liberated, the influence of the old regime is still noticeable. But with the new party
and the revolutionary government, the people will also be able to build a progressive youth.

Radio Hanoi's news also attached great importance to the Children's Day. A new youth group
called Doi Thieu Nhi Tien Phong Ho Chi Minh was founded in Saigon. Greetings to the children were
printed by Nguyen Huu Tho and Huynh Tan Phat in the Saigon Giai Phong. In the afternoon Ariel
returned from the medical consultation he had agreed to attend that day. He was very impressed by the
courtesy and idealism of the youth who had arranged the dispensary in Phu Nhuan.

46

The Saigon TV station also pointed out the day with a puppet show. The parable had strong
class-fighting allusions. The king sent his mandarins to find a yellow bird who could speak and sing.
With much cruelty, a Mandarin managed to steal such a bird from a boy. He brought him to the king
and hoped for a great reward. But the bird would not sing, so that the king and his wife saw themselves
fooled and beat up the mandarin. The boy soon found out where his bird was. He brought in the royal
family so that he induced the royal son to change his robes with him. That's the only way the bird will
sing. However, the bird disappeared with the boy in the robes of the king's son, while the king's son was
mistakenly beaten by the mandarins in the robes of the boy, until the king's mother realized that her
own son had been punished for the king's reactionary politics. A very well played puppet piece, which
did not seem embarrassingly propagandistic because the political explosiveness was expressed
indirectly and without index finger.

Today we heard the rumour that President Thieu was victim of an assassination attempt in
Taiwan. The perpetrators had been two sons of the director of a bank, whom Thieu had once arrested
and whose bank he had let close. No one knows if it is true and if Thieu was killed. This is also the case
with the Voice of America's news about the reunification of Vietnam. Not even on Radio BBC did we hear
about it. Who knows if it's true?








































47

Hard tactics against system opponents and criminals
4/6/1975

Yesterday our dentist involuntarily made acquaintance with the people's armed forces. When
he was about to return home around 11:30 p.m. that night, he suddenly found himself on Truong Minh
Giang Street in a demonstration that had stopped in front of Van Hanh University. Heavily armed
soldiers from the FNL were already there and the shooting began. He and his friend threw themselves
to the ground for protection. The soldiers with rifles then arrested around fifty people, including the
two French. Our dentist was one of the first to be released because he just happened to come along
when the people's armed forces clashed with the demonstrators. He said the demonstration was
organized by a conservative priest in Phu Nhuan as a protest against hunger. About a hundred people
took part in it. The unusual time – thirty minutes before curfew – suggests that the demonstration was
not just about hunger.

The people's armed forces are now using hard guns against system opponents and criminals.
As we drove home today, we saw a group of freedom fighters, heavily armed with hand grenades,
bazookas, automatic fire rifles, etc., chasing a bicycle thief – accompanied by many onlookers. On the
same occasion, they confiscated a tape recorder in a small café for playing decadent music – probably
American pop music – that was inconsistent with the new revolutionary culture. Aside from music and
books, hair length also plays an essential role in the new revolutionary culture. Two days ago, two of
our children had been stopped and their IDs withheld because their hair length seemed too long to the
freedom fighters. They did not get their IDs back until they presented themselves to the soldiers with
their hair cut. Shortly thereafter, I paid a visit to the headquarters of the newly established military
security unit for the region where our centre is located. This had become necessary because more and
more soldiers of the FNL paid visits to our centre without a clear mandate or out of curiosity. The head
of the unit, who incidentally was very friendly and amiable, explained that he had already noticed that
our children did not meet the requirements of Bac Ho, according to which the hair had to be shorter. So
most of the kids cut off part of their hair.

Today we received another visit from the administration of Trung Nhat, two Bo doi (freedom
fighters) inquired about the details of the Centre. It was not clear to us why they had not yet received a
letter to this effect, which we had personally delivered. But we gladly provided our information again.
Another important point in the conversation was the hair length. When a member of the executive
committee commented that, until now, we had left it up to the children themselves on this issue, how
they would adapt to the general line of the FNL, we were told that there were certain things that could
not be left to the freedom of individuals. If, for example, this were the case for property offenses or
prostitution, one could wait a long time until thieves and prostitutes had disappeared. This answer
shows – like many – the simplicity of the procedure. In my opinion, the better policy would actually be
to change the causes of thieves and prostitutes and not to shoot down people when economic policy has
not yet created any new conditions.

Shootings have been increasing recently. Three civilians and one freedom fighter were killed
in the above-mentioned demonstration, in which the demonstration was allegedly armed. The shots,
which also sounded like machine guns, had been heard up to our house. This morning at eleven o'clock
there was an equally dangerous bang near the centre. It is now very restless almost every night. The
reason given by FNL sympathizers is that the deadline for surrendering weapons stored in the house
has now expired. The FNL is now taking strong action against all persons who are still in possession of
weapons after 31 May. Obviously, it's about cleaning out resistance nests.

48

We were also told this by Ngo Ba Thanh, a former left leader of the “Third Force” in South
Vietnam and women's emancipation. I visited her on the advice of a West German journalist who had
reported to me that she had been chosen by the deputy health minister of the provisional revolutionary
government to contact the social institutions in the vicinity of the former Thieu regime and to probe
them for their political reliability. Ngo Ba Thanh seems to be the only one who played an important
political role during the Thieu regime and is now also accepted by the FNL. But Ms. Thanh had to endure
many tortures for this. In the exhibition of the liberated women, which I had already described earlier,
one saw a picture of her, depressed in one of the prisons of the Thieu regime. Until recently, there was
barbed wire around her house; she had been denied contact with the outside world. It wasn't until May
1st, the day after the liberation, that she was able to leave her home for the first time. Her car is in the
garage, the window of which was smashed by the soldiers of the Thieu regime.

Ms. Thanh sees today that the third force position has become superfluous. The intellectual,
who could also be imagined in the French Bohème in Paris, has great respect for the achievements of
the FNL, which has really achieved an important goal. In eloquent words, she explains what is now
developing as the formation of a people’s policy. It still remains unclear to me because the presence of
foreigners is naturally seen as a hindrance in this development. But now there are revolutionary
people's committees everywhere, made up not only of military members of the FNL, but also of civilians.
The sociological composition of these groups, which above all propelled the spark of the revolution, has
not yet been investigated. For example, we made the acquaintance of three of these people on the
International Child Protection Day, who two days later had an even longer conversation with us in the
Centre. A young man, the leader of the Phu Nhuan liberation youth group, is a worker who repeatedly
relied on asking his friends about difficult questions. He apparently lacks an overview of social policy,
although he had relatively good sources of information and probably also a strong social motivation.
More intellectually superior was a young girl, a nurse by profession who had been trained in a staunchly
Catholic and financially very well-off organization. It was the same one who had presented to us at an
executive committee meeting and asked for a doctor with medicines. I didn't learn much about the third
young man, but he spoke French best. All three were very amiable, but said that the presence of West
Germans would not last very long.

Today, Siriporn has again revealed a false rumour. The foreign minister of the provisional
revolutionary government, Madame Binh, has not resigned at all, but is – according to Radio Hanoi –
currently in the North Vietnamese capital. There, she said that South Vietnam was ready to get help
from any country. Pham Van Dong even made it clear that US aid would also be accepted if the US
adhered strictly to the Paris Agreement. At the same time, the English channels told the capitalist world
that three US journalists were expelled from Vietnam within 24 hours, allegedly to reduce the number
of Western journalists in South Vietnam. Radio Hanoi is already proud of the new life in the liberated
areas and in Saigon. However in my opinion, there is not much of that to be seen. Not only is everything
economically the same, it is even more difficult. And allegedly, the fighting in the south of the Delta goes
even further. The two provinces of Long Xuyen and Chau Doc have already been "reconquered" by
soldiers of the old regime and by groups of the Hoa Hao, they say. After everything I see, the city of
Saigon is far from under control. There are so many hiding spots in the city of four million that news
about secret societies opposing the FNL is not entirely unlikely.

49

News from provinces

The day before last evening we received news from two different provinces that are far away.
Dung returned from Dalat and Hieu from Danang.

The situation in the various provinces appears to be dependent on the line and the possibilities
of the respective MMC. Even the pay and treatment of officials of the old regime seem to be handled
very differently. In Danang, for example, they get 18 liters of rice and 5,000 VNP. In Dalat, they receive
more rice, but even less cash. In Dalat – and probably also in Danang – it seems they have already
managed to bring the city under control and to organize it. There is a lot of political instruction during
the free time after work. Former government officials seem to be unemployed and are now more
concerned with agriculture, though development is still uncertain. There are no plans yet for how to
organize agriculture. In Dalat, there are still five French teachers who can move freely in the city, but
are not allowed to leave the district. Due to the miserable economic conditions of the population, the
menu seems to be very poor. Almost no one can afford meat any more, not even the liberators, who
have even lower incomes. The last dog in the educational centre in Dalat, which is now occupied by
medical staff of the hospital, is about to be slaughtered. It is said that there is a new system for
organizing the population. Twelve people of the same age from different families in the same area are
always grouped together and take part in the same public actions. This system of twelve does not seem
to exist in Saigon yet, at least I have never heard of it.

Little seems to stand in the way of the paraplegic children to return to Dalat, in case the MMC
in Saigon agrees. We are still waiting for its answer. So the Saigon Commission already seems to be
performing certain all-Vietnamese functions. Those in charge in Dalat treated Dung and Son very
correctly and politely. They did not experience any disadvantages from being employed in an
international project.

Hieu in Danang is one of our conservative employees. That is why he was a little cautious in his
judgments about what was going on in Danang. There are apparently still quite a few foreigners in
Danang, four American nationals alone. But Danang seems to be in an even more difficult situation than
other provinces, since it was liberated earlier and thus has been in the temporary waiting situation for
longer than, for example, Saigon. It has been already waiting, for example, for two months for the
opening of the banks. Our office in Danang continues to work in secret, somewhat against my will,
apparently forced by the fact that our letters – sent by bus mail – did not arrive in Danang. As a result,
the employees had not been able to assume an official position with respect to the MMC. The situation
in orphanages is still catastrophic, especially as nothing has happened in the social sector in Danang for
two months now, at least very little for the orphanages. There is hardly any more milk on the market,
and the revolutionary authorities have so far helped only very few orphanages, and only to a very small
extent. This is also different from Saigon, where the need is not so great, but greater than before the
liberation.

According to Radio Hanoi, the MMC of Danang handed over its authority to the Revolutionary
People's Committee of Danang on 1st June 1975.

50

Waiting for authorisations
5/6/1975

For the first time since the liberation, the cabinet of the Provisional Revolutionary Government
of South Vietnam met in Saigon on 4th June. According to the newspaper Saigon Giai Phong, the meeting
took place in the house of President Huynh Tan Phat. In the public statement it is announced to continue
the campaign against "negative influences of the enemy", "to fully develop the advantages of the
people’s victory", but also to open the central bank and some commercial banks and to rehabilitate
agriculture.

Today we had made our first visit to the newly created district administration (Xa) Trung Nhut
after two uniformed comrades asked for details about the Social Medical Centre yesterday. Today we
presented a complete dossier to the president of this revolutionary people's committee. He is a pretty
young, simple-looking guy who probably has not worked in the administration very long. The Xa
building looks like one of the large American apartment blocks built and rented as a shelter for US
soldiers. If I remember correctly, we were offered this property once when the Social Medical Centre
moved out of Phan Dinh Phung. When we asked whether the registration of the staff of terre des hommes
should be done immediately, the President replied that this was not yet the case and that he was not so
aware of it. He indicated that the liberation of South Vietnam had taken place so quickly that
administrative matters could not have been prepared in good time. This was the first official
confirmation of an impression that I have had for a very long time and which is not limited to ad-
ministration, but concerns all questions of public life. This President, too, was very polite and said that
Vietnam was very happy to receive our help.

In Bo Y Te, where we subsequently submitted the same dossier as the basis for the authorisation
of the work of terre des hommes, nothing new has been done. We are therefore still waiting, including
for the authorisation for our money to be released and for our staff to be paid.

On the way back we saw another dead man lying in the gutter. Liet, our driver, said that it was
probably also a thief or burglar who had been shot in the act and had been put on public display for
some time as a deterrent.

This morning, by the way, there was more news about the reasons for the night demonstration
on Truong Minh Giang Street. They were a group of reactionary priests who had gathered their parish
by ringing bells at night because they had heard that the Pontifical Nuncio Henri Lemaitre had been
kidnapped by other catholics. Progressive catholics had indeed done so to protest against the
appointment of Monsignor Thuan as the successor of Archbishop Binh. However, this incident had
already been reversed and the FNL had even apologized to Henri Lemaitre for this violation of
diplomatic immunity. The reactionary priests, however, had called their parish together during the
night, about 1,000 people. Afterwards a part of them marched through the Truong Minh Giang armed
with sticks, knives, etc. to "liberate" the catholic dignitary. They did not get far. In fact, there were
three dead, including the bearer of a priest's loudspeaker. All three were civilians. No soldier was
injured. Apparently, all persons were released the next morning after political training.

51

Thoughts on the future of the Social Medical Centre
7/6/1975

Last evening, the Social Medical Centre had a general meeting of the staff, which was
spontaneously convened by the Executive Committee, to decide on the establishment of people’s
tribunals. The suggestion came from myself, after thefts had increased in the Centre lately and I myself
no longer had the mood to play the policeman and arbitrator. In the Executive Committee, I explained
that there have been so far no codified socialist code of law and no courts. We could try to resolve this
issue within the Centre, unless it is necessarily entrusted to the public authorities. However, the public
discussion of this proposal in the general staff meeting has made a significant contribution to raising
awareness. On the one hand, the discussion activated the revolutionary spirit, on the other hand, it was
clear that the employees wanted to distance themselves from the people’s tribunals, just as they are
partially handled outside the city of Saigon/Gia Dinh. The dangers of such courts were very quickly
recognized and therefore all decisions were initially even left to the executive committee. Only in the
later discussion a majority of the proposal prevailed, according to which the executive committee
carries out the preliminary investigation. The general staff meeting takes the final decision on the
question of guilt and sanctions. The authority is limited to criminal offenses, the punishment will never
be execution.

The general staff meeting also briefly discussed the strict implementation of the door watch,
which so far leaves something to be desired. After a short time, however, it led to a criticism of the
regular soldiers, especially from the side of the female employees. The soldiers had often requested
admission to "look at the children" or "go for a walk". The staff had the impression that the young men
were more concerned with watching girls. I have to say for myself that the group that is currently on
guard in our quarter is far less disciplined than the first group that we even allowed to camp in the
Centre. The crèche even feared the introduction of diseases by the soldiers. All in all, it was noticed that
the conduct and hygiene of the soldiers had not helped to inspire respect for our female personnel.

I closed the meeting with an appeal to all members to join the political groups of self-
organization under construction, especially the Federation of Liberation Women and the Federation of
Liberation Youth, Schools and Students. In principle, my aim was to get the members of the Centre to
cooperate in the reconstruction of a humanitarian society and not to stand aside with the possible result
that one day the Centre will be closed as the last island of reaction or the ground will be withdrawn. I
pointed out that the FNL does not have very many technical cadres and that the involvement of our
employees could therefore promote the humanization of society. If the terre des hommes employees one
day worked exclusively in institutions of the Liberation Front, the work of terre des hommes continues,
only in a different form. After all, perhaps terre des hommes would only consist of an office that directs
material aid to the institutions in which the former employees are integrated. This means maintaining
the humanitarian work of terre des hommes while dissolving the institution of the Social Medical Centre.

52

“Non-political means reactionary”
7/6/1975

Ngoc has already set examples in this respect. She joined the Organization of Liberation Women
and is considering how she can participate in a dispensary in Phu Nhuan that the Women's Federation
is building. Perhaps she can reduce her time in the Centre as the person responsible for the pharmacy
to a half-day position and use the other half of the day in the dispensary mentioned. This would enable
the Centre to participate with staff (half a force) plus medication in a dispensary organized exclusively
by the Federation of liberated women. We already have similar approaches in Loc Uyen and Tan Phu.

Ngoc was able to enter this organization very easily – unusually easily. She wonders for herself
why this was possible, because everyone else has long been a cadre of the Liberation Front. A few days
before the liberation, Ngoc had wanted to flee abroad. Now she is already on the side of the Liberation.
Apart from the first curiosity to attend a gathering of liberated women, it was probably the social
commitment and the principle of mutual assistance that motivated the single Ngoc to make herself
available. In the meantime, she already holds a membership card and is authorized to form new cells.
Each cell has five members, and if more members join, cell division occurs. She has already asked me if
she could build a group of liberation women in the Centre. I voted in favour because the claim to the
non-political status of terre de hommes in South Vietnam is no longer tenable. Non-political means
reactionary. The principle of partisanship is already well known for socialist philosophy.

With her new function, Ngoc was also able to meet the male inspectors more courageously, who
visited our house today. It was the same Xa boss that I had visited in his office the day before. He really
did not give the impression of a man who can conduct a Xa like Trung Nhut. But as I hear, he was
probably the only contact man from this Xa who had long belonged to the FNL. He came with some FNL
soldiers, but without papers and inquired in a curiously infantile manner about our house. Finally, he
asks if he can have a cigarette. A Montagnard crossbow hanging from the wall aroused his interest. He
asked if he could have it. He has visited many houses, but he has not seen this weapon in any of them.
Or if he could borrow it for a while. Ngoc told him he could go to Ban Me Thuot, there were many.

As the new political authorities struggle to get Saigon under control, the government-
sponsored departure of foreigners continues. Every week, there are a few government planes to
Vientiane that fly out foreigners wishing to leave. Margrit and Jean-Pierre took a Frenchman to the
airport. Very few checks at the entrance, but all the more checks for the suitcases and films of the
departed. Every piece is unpacked. Margrit saw a document or booklet confiscated with records.
Passengers are only cursing: "Unbelievable!", while the FNL soldiers with stoic courtesy enforced their
controls. Of course, it is also not allowed to give letters, as the letter contact with foreign countries is
not yet established. Since two weeks there is only telegraph traffic with foreign countries. The ruins of
the war are clearly visible in the airport area. The US Army's Defense Attache's Office (DAO) is a ruin.
The garbage piles up and spreads a devastating stench. There are still burned out tanks around. At the
corner of the airport and Vo Tanh Street, spreading half way across the street, there is a market for
furniture that appears to have come from the looted homes of rich Vietnamese and foreigners. The
black market is still not prohibited. We return home happy because it looks less destroyed in our street.

The BBC has reported that the government would soon take over the authority of the MMC. But
the newspaper Saigon Giai Phong has so far confirmed nothing of the kind. The 6th anniversary of the
establishment of the Provisional Revolutionary Government on 6th June 1975 passed without much fuss.
You only know that there is this government and who is behind it. Ordinary people know only the names
of the most important members, Phat, Tho, Madame Binh. Today, a speech by the government head
Phat is published in the newspaper. But it seems that this government has no practical significance for

53

the people. Perhaps the banks will finally open when this government really starts ruling South
Vietnam.

The dispute between progressive and conservative Catholics seems to be widening. Today, the
newspaper Saigon Giai Phong also intervened in this conflict. This is with a small item with the headline
"Many Catholic organizations demand the withdrawal of the apostolic nuncio Henri Lemaitre from
Vietnam". According to the newspaper, he is accused of having attacked the people and the Provisional
Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam under the "label" of anti-Communism. The
priests had gathered and addressed their demand to the Archbishop. The following are listed as
progressive organizations: the Catholic University Youth Movement, the Catholic Peace Building
Movement, the Catholic Youth, the Redemptorist students, the Catholic and People Movement, the
Young Catholic Workers Movement, the Association of Catholic Students in Saigon and the Association
of Catholic Students Minh Duc.

54

8/6/1975
The Department of Social Affairs and Health of the MMC Saigon/Gia Dinh has apparently started

with general vaccinations. Today, Cam, who works at the National Rehabilitation Institute, returned
with a small paper showing that vaccinations against cholera, plague, typhoid and tetanus are planned.
He has already received two of the vaccinations.
















































55

A little more socialism, a little less neutrality
10/6/1975

In Saigon, there is now a little more talk of socialism and a clear little less of neutralism.
However, it seems to me that the developing socialism in South Vietnam is still very underdeveloped.
Radio Hanoi does note that the struggle for the liberation of South Vietnam was waged on three fronts
– the military Ho Chi Minh offensive, the people’s uprising movement and the political struggle. It seems
to me, however, that it was above all the military conquest with an abundance of divisions from the
north that ensured victory. I remember a few days before the takeover of Saigon a high-ranking official
from the West German embassy analyzed the situation when the forces of the Liberation Front were
already at the gates of Saigon. He said the decision whether to march in or not would be co-determined
by Moscow and Beijing. Beijing criticized the FNL for not ensuring sufficient political preparation and
instead advocated a tripartite division of the country for a time. But this alternative has not prevailed.
It's a bit like Russia's intervention in Czechoslovakia. Although the FNL had the military strength to take
all of South Vietnam, it did not carry out the political preparations to raise awareness. The whole of
today's dilemma can be explained by the wrong strategy. It is said that there are no more than 60,000
cadres in all of South Vietnam, of which only around ten percent are intellectual cadres. The number of
really qualified cadres is very small. This has led to the prevalence of amateurism and mediocrity. In
addition, the long-standing cadres distrust everyone who previously worked on the side of the Thieu
regime.

The lack of training for the cadres is evident in many ways in Saigon. The shooting of thieves
while the black market is thriving in stolen goods. The throttling of the circulation of money, which
prevents production from increasing. Incidentally, there is a lot of muddling with the ideological
superstructure. Instead of first changing the economic base that would lower property crimes,
property crimes are punished with shooting. This makes the economic situation even worse for the
population. As far as property crimes are decreasing today, it is because of the fear of being shot by
people’s public tribunals, not because honesty is increasing, as one seems to believe. Instead of creating
social conditions that are conducive to a new revolutionary socialist culture, only the previous cultural
assets are banned and the hair is cut with reference to Ho Chi Minh. Instead of illuminating a precise
class analysis and the importance of the anti-imperialist struggle, it is claimed that imperialism could
never have been fought successfully if the patriotic spirit had not joined Marxism-Leninism. This puts a
superstructure phenomenon like nationalism on an equal footing with a scientific theory like that of
socialism and even claims that this ideological phenomenon is an indispensable prerequisite in the
struggle against imperialism, “the highest level of capitalism”. With such confusion, one need not be
surprised if the government's political work is doing badly.

If the current situation continues for six months, Vietnam will be broken and the FNL will no
longer be able to rule the country other than with sheer violence and to act against the pockets of
resistance that are now forming everywhere. Above all, one finds disappointed people and few who
have been convinced of the works of the new government.

56

The military continues to govern
11/6/1975

For some time now, the rumour has been circulating, which was not heard until yesterday, that
the city of Saigon/Gia Dinh will remain neutral, while the rest of South Vietnam will be placed under a
socialist system. The neutralization of the large city of Saigon is supposedly aimed at because the
standard of living, the style and the ideological moments of the city are too different in order to transfer
them directly into socialism. All such rumours are to be received with great caution. The news of the
establishment of the new government on 6th June has also proved to be inaccurate, because the
government has not presented anything new. It appeared incomplete and in pictures in the newspaper,
as if it had already existed for six years, and therefore it was worth celebrating the anniversary. The
government is still in the dark and it is not quite clear whether it has anything to say. The MMC still
rules in Saigon.

Newspapers like Saigon Giai Phong are now reporting on political training courses for all senior
officials, soldiers, etc. These courses should last one month, are compulsory and require the
participants to self-catering and self-sufficiency.

57

Normalization in the social and health fields
12/6/1975

Over 3,000 people were vaccinated today in Khom 4, which is also where the Social Medical
Centre is located. That is more than the number of people living in the Khom and indicates that residents
of other Khom, where the vaccination campaign is supposed to go, have also joined. The organization
of this action, for which the MMC is indirectly responsible, was very simple. The day before, two FNL
soldiers came and asked for an electric cooker and a pot. We saw it today as the only disinfection
instrument. They had enough staff, it was first said yesterday, but a little later they asked for our help.
Today our group (a doctor, several nurses and a few people to register) was larger than the group that
the Khom leaders had imparted, including the youth of the Red Cross. There was enough vaccine. It
remained unclear whether it was produced by the FNL or imported from abroad. But there was a lack
of needles, so we bought more needles with our money on the black market in the second half of the
afternoon. Some FNL and North Vietnamese soldiers armed with rifles made sure that everything went
properly. Two employees from the region's medical department supervised the technical process.
Otherwise, people jostled their way up to whoever was free to vaccinate. Then you got a vaccination
certificate, which was signed by the registrar and not the doctor. It was sufficient to show the vaccina-
tion spot and give the name. The vaccination against cholera and typhoid fever must be repeated twice.
We heard that the reason for this vaccination was the appearance of some cases of cholera in our region.
The MMC therefore immediately responded with preventive measures. The whole thing took place in
the new building of the Khom 4, a former nightclub and brothel called Hideaway. I saw this building for
the first time. Little did show its earlier purpose. There was a menu on the lawn in front of the house. A
gypsum diva inside had his head cut off in the zeal of the revolution. The former owner was an American
who died leaving the property to his relatives. Of these, the FNL had apparently confiscated it.

The normalization of social conditions, despite the still pending economic reforms, is now also
apparent in our work area. The line of the new regime to dismantle as many orphanages as possible is
now quite clear. It was our merit to have anticipated this development for some time and to work in the
same direction. Various orphanages in Saigon have already emptied themselves considerably, without
any special assistance from the revolutionary authorities. It is obviously the desire of families to reunite
in these critical and uncertain times. Another reason is that reunification is possible because the
country is no longer divided. In some areas, the dissolution of the orphanages has also been forced by
local cadres, very much against the will of mostly Catholic sisters, who see themselves being deprived
of the fruits of their christianization policy and their charitable social work. As we heard today from
two terre des hommes social workers who had just returned from the Mekong Delta, the director of Mo
Cay orphanage shed bitter tears about her children leaving the house.

Even in the Centre itself, the problems are simplified with the restoration of peace. One child
after another, who was still living with us in transit, now leaves terre des hommes to return together
with the family to the agriculture, which is possible again. A few days ago it was Diem, today it is Quyen,
after his brother had returned from the penal island Con Son. All the prisons have been opened by the
FNL. The concentration in the parasitically swollen cities is quickly eliminated in this way. The refugee
problem seems to be almost solved anyway. There is hardly any information left about refugees who
have not yet returned. The authorities have given strong organizational and financial support to this
campaign of returning home, though perhaps not enough.

The bottleneck in fuel supply now appears to have weakened somewhat, perhaps as a result of
certain shipments from Russia and China that have recently arrived. Today, for the first time, we were
able to buy pure Russian gasoline, albeit at horrendous prices (1,300 VNP/liter). We also saw petrol being
distributed at some petrol stations. It appears that they are government officials who are entitled to this

58

privilege with a voucher issued by Phuong. In the meantime we are trying to get a big shopping permit
for all our cars and Hondas at Esso (of course nationalized long ago). We only had to make the request,
then we were already given our ration. I'm expecting. We have not yet received a reply from the MMC,
to which we have already submitted a similar request. But gas is expensive, almost unavailable. We
have already switched to charcoal for several weeks, but prices are also rising more and more, so we
are already buying in stock. Only on the black market are prices for luxury goods falling. Today, Siri-
porn bought an aluminum case for only 3,000 VNP, less than the equivalent of three liters of gasoline.
The prices of cigarettes manufactured in factories are also falling because work has resumed, perhaps
also because the workers there are paid with cigarettes and not with cash.

In our quarter, doubts about our presence on the part of the FNL and the North Vietnamese
soldiers have diminished considerably. We are known. And with today's vaccination, we were even
organizationally integrated.

59

Changeover to Indochina Time
14/6/1975

In the Ministry of Health you can neither find the minister nor those responsible for the health
and social affairs department of the MMC, although a large sign above the building announces this
promisingly. Those in charge of the department of health and social affairs only come if they have
something to do in the ministry. Every day and regularly there is only one comrade who is apparently
a relay station. He doesn't know much, at least he doesn't give much information. But he is helpful,
polite and may feel a little uncomfortable in his role. Today we wanted to visit him again to ask if we
have already received an answer to our request for recognition. On the ground floor we were tempo-
rarily stopped because a receptionist had doubts whether the one we wanted was there at all; today is
Hoc Tap, that is, political education. But he was there. This time he had even taken off his green soldier's
dress and put on a blue shirt instead. The higher officials of the FNL are becoming more and more civil,
even the famous rubber shoes made from car tires are being discarded by the more privileged. This
time he obviously had some sympathy with us, whom we had already knocked on him several times
without success. He was very kind and tried to help us, if perhaps unsuccessfully. He also understood
our big problem, the lack of cash. Due to the continuing closure of the banks, we were still unable to
pay our staff the salary for the month of May. He gave us a glimmer of hope when he told us to come
back on Monday.

Even so, in the hunt for the dear cash we tried it immediately at the department of Finance of
the MMC. We were so successful that we were given the name of the man responsible for changing
money. This is already a step forward in that the FNL leaders keep themselves more or less anonymous
and can only be dubbed brothers 1, 2, 3 etc. But with the knowledge of the name we were also at the
end. The financially powerful comrade was also involved in the political lesson. We should come back
on Monday. So again a spark of hope.

And so it happened to us at the National Bank, of which the radio reported that it had already
spent considerable amounts of money on farmers and large confiscated companies. But since the
responsible comrade was also involved in the political lessons, we only stopped at the reception and
were able to admire the large, still functionless central hall of the National Bank.

The search for gasoline, the second current problem, was already successful yesterday. We had
submitted an application to the materials department of the MMC in the Esso and Shell Company, which
has since been taken over. Our young secretary faced a large number of FNL soldiers who asked her
questions such as: Why the foreigners did not run away before the liberation. But eventually she got
vouchers for 300 liters of good gasoline, as a kind gesture, until we had permission to continue the work.
However, we should not come back before the authorization is granted.

The FNL soldiers are busy with political lessons all over the city today. Events like this are even
scheduled in the small quarters. We have even provided the chairs and benches for our quarters.

We have now switched the clocks to Indochina time in order – as it was said – to facilitate the
reunification. The German-Italian journalist Terzani, a correspondent of the Spiegel who is still in Saigon
as one of the last western newspaper people, had reported in a cable to Europe that the new authorities
only give advice that the population should make use of as much as possible, but that they shy away
from issuing orders in the face of the new democracy. According to Terzani, this ultimately led to the
clocks in Saigon being set differently to this day. In fact, the official agencies had always used the
Indochina period, while the population remained more or less at the one hour earlier Saigon period.
Three days after the cable from Terzani ran over the telex, the public order was on the table: The clocks
are to be changed from yesterday. Indochina time is the same as that used in Bangkok, outside of

60

Indochina.

Terzani, one of the most radical supporters of the FNL's victory, also plans to leave the country
soon, perhaps staying for a few more weeks. He indicated that the new authorities do not like foreign
journalists, and he even seems to have some understanding of it. Foreign journalists are meant
regardless of whether they come from socialist countries or not. He knew from the TASS correspondent
that this one had been detained for a day. Nationalism is great in Vietnam and the privileges enjoyed by
socialist countries do not lead to renewed widespread foreign influence and the results of the struggle
becoming unprofitable. Aid from socialist countries is only accepted without conditions. That is why
the BBC's assumption that South Vietnam will put a sea harbour at the Soviet Union’s disposal is very
doubtful.

So far, the Vietnamese news has remained silent on the battle between the FNL and the Khmer
Rouge for an island off the Cambodian coast. According to BBC’s late information, the battle has been
victorious for the Vietnamese, which is not surprising given the military weakness of the Khmer Rouge.
The Voice of Vietnam (Hanoi), on the other hand, repeated how normal the good fraternal relations
between the regimes of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were.








































61

Bags full of banknotes
17/6/1975

The issue of Saigon Giai Phong published yesterday afternoon reported the news that the National Bank and
some other banks had started to function again. However – as we were convinced – the main doors are still closed.
In the morning we were there in vain. The comrade was in a meeting. In the afternoon, however, we were admitted
to the National Bank after completing various formalities and completing a note on our request. In the building from
the French colonial period, formerly the Banque de l’Indochine, we sank into leather armchairs to wait for the coveted
man for half an hour. Like all responsible cadres, he came also in the green drill of the military. He immediately
referred us to another official who took us to another bank, the Thuong Tin. Along the way, we heard complaints
about the horrendous sums of money that had been withdrawn by the wealthy, fleeing Vietnamese just before the
liberation and taken abroad. If I remember correctly, he spoke of a sum of 300 billion VNP (including gold) that was
so lost to the people.

In the Thuong Tin Bank, it was a new comrade who listened to our problems. Changing cash seemed very
easy, easier than withdrawing money from the French bank account. This requires confirmation from the French
bank first, then the account must be transferred to the Thuong Tin (now the annex of the State Bank for relations
with foreign countries) and finally a request must be made, which includes the justification for the expenditure. The
transferoffundsfromabroad,especiallyfromthecapitalistcountries,still seemsunclear.Thelossof5,000,000VNP,
which disappeared during the liberation on the way between a Saigon bank and a Danang bank, is still unexplained.

Currency exchange has continued to be complicated because banks are not yet ready for such maneuvers.
We were asked to come by phone call of the comrades. Through the back door, where several female and male FNL
soldiers were on watch, we came into the main bank room. I had to present my passport and temporary residence
permit, as well as a letter justifying the change of US dollars. The comrade examined all sums and documents in great
detail. In the meantime, the still quite bourgeois looking young bank employees of the past prepared various papers,
which I was also supposed to sign. Eventually we received two huge bags of banknotes, they were all 200 notes, as
opposed to the 1,000 notes that are normally distributed. The small stack of 160 banknotes of 100 US dollars in front
of this mass of paper vividly showed the inflation of the parasitic economy of South Vietnam. The banknotes are still
unchanged. It may be that one avoids printing new bills because the practical completion of the reunification may
not be long in coming.

But our staff sighed with relief after 17 days in which their salary was already overdue. As soon as we arrived
in the centre, we started paying our salaries. The 200 banknotes naturally increase the work, as the salaries are
between 20,000 and 50,000 VNP. But who wanted to quarrel with fate when it was a big exception that we could
change the money at all, possibly because the new authorities urgently need foreign currency and want to avoid
everything being traded on the black market and foreigners ultimately escaping abroad with the foreign exchange.

Of course, terre des hommes was not the first institution to be granted such an exception. Various
companies, which have resumed their work under the leadership of revolutionary working groups, were also able
to obtain money from the banks in order to stimulate the economy. In addition, the government has distributed
considerable funds as agricultural loans, but terre des hommes nevertheless has an exceptional role because it is one
of the few foreign organizations that are still in the country and function at all. The other organization is the
International Red Cross. Today we met a doctor from this organization in the Go Vap orphanage, where he provides
daily medical care for 800 children. The Red Cross now has such good relations that even medical shipments from
abroad can be flown in directly via Bangkok to Saigon – with chartered Red Cross planes. Basically, however, this is
too perfectionist a solution for a developing country that itself produces drugs – albeit with imprecise composition.
For a doctor who is used to Western criteria, the dosages with the domestic drugs are difficult to determine.
However, we prefer the domestic market, which also needs to be supported economically. We will mainly use
Vietnamese pharmaceutical products and only import products that are not available here.

62

Fight for hearts
18/6/1975

The curtain in front of the screen of the cinema was already closed when we entered the
cinema. For us, the only guests, the curtain was raised again and the show began. It was about the film
Kim Dong, which some of our children had already seen and criticized strongly because it was pure
propaganda. We could not follow that opinion. The scenario, which took place during the anti-
colonialist struggles of the Viet Minh in 1943, is about a boy who – as in the game – gets to know the
revolution, allies himself with other children and helps the independence fighters against the French.
More and more he learns about the seriousness of the conflict, about the arrest of a family member,
about the forced labour in the French camp and finally with his own shooting on the run. This was the
second film, after Nguyen Van Troi, which was shot in an excellent technical manner. The acting
performances especially of the children are excellent. Since we did not understand much about the text,
I cannot judge it very much. Of course, as far as I understood, the text was clearly linked to a political
appeal, to a militant appeal to the children. This is quite compatible with news that children from FNL
areas have also actively participated in the liberation of South Vietnam by coming through the enemy
lines with secret messages or throwing grenades. The film was apparently also used to document the
history of the Communist Party of Indochina and the struggle of the peasant masses. The resistance
struggle took place here in purely rural areas. A rural life with beautiful landscapes of mountain regions
of North Vietnam was shown as well as various traditional techniques of village culture. With one
exception, the French colonial power only appeared in the form of the Vietnamese legionnaires, who
were portrayed as both cruel and foolish. In contrast, the peasant guerrilla fighters looked like the
personification of the good, first and foremost the red flag with a yellow star, which is now the national
flag of North Vietnam. To our liking, the film began with a big faux pas: In a dream, shortly before his
death, the boy Kim Dong encountered the socialist paradise, which was portrayed as a Walt Disney
wonderland: with clean rural houses, all people in silk robes, beautiful gardens and street lamps with
electric light. The children were amused by the scarecrow in the form of a French officer who had to
move like a jumping jack. The dream of a socialist wonderland was an unforgivable simplification.

These things, as well as too clear political indoctrination, are apparently not digestible for the
Saigon people, even if they have a quite positive attitude towards the revolution. I do not know how
political propaganda is received in the countryside, but in Saigon it seems that such attempts have a
more negative effect. The current training courses in the various quarters, which are now also being
conducted for the general population, are particularly disappointing for educated people. I was told
that a cadre was really laughed at, so badly he answered the questions of the audience. He could only
regain respect by shooting several times in the air. In another meeting, which was set up for lower
officials of the old regime, the speaker did not come at all the first day. Simplification and poor
organization show once again that the revolutionary authorities lack cadres, especially in the middle of
education. It seems as if there are only the cadres with high responsibility, whose intellectual capacity
and socialist understanding can only be highly respected, and otherwise the simply educated cadres
and FNL (or North Vietnamese) soldiers, who seem unable to motivate the population. They were able
to achieve the military victory, but they seem to be gambling away the victory for the hearts.

An example is the fate of our day-care centre in the Saigon district of Binh Dong, which belongs
to the Social Medical Centre. Today, the director of this day-care centre returned to the Centre
depressed. The security officer of Khom there had called for closure, despite the MMC's request to
continue our work. The (South Vietnamese) cadre responsible for the Khom administration had also
pleaded for the continuation of our work. The Phuong even had a written declaration, which is said to
have become worthless because the Phuong is already in the state of dissolution in that area. And even
the security officer of the entire Quan (but also a South Vietnamese) seemed helpless against the order.

63

Apparently, the Khom security guard had more power. For the people of the area it was immediately
clear that this must be because he comes from North Vietnam. He also made political statements in such
a way that no private organizations could work in South Vietnam. What may the people, who know this
day-care centre (which also includes a medical dispensary) think of the new authorities when they have
to accept the disadvantage of closing a local social institution? It is an area that was very much against
the Thieu government even before the revolution's victory, and was even considered pro-communist
after beatings carried out by the Thieu police.

Recently, the security guards are also beginning to control people and vehicles. A deaf and
dumb boy lost his bicycle in this way for 24 hours. He had his own identity card at hand, but not the
receipt for the purchase of the bicycle. The soldiers assumed the vehicle was stolen. Only by
confirmation from me could the bike be taken out again. In some areas it is also said that the registration
of the goods in each household, which is also carried out by the FNL cadres, goes so far that even the
number of plates and bowls in the kitchen is noted.

Apparently, the FNL is not very keen on foreigners getting to know about it. Visa applications,
especially from the French colony of foreigners, are processed relatively quickly and recently
foreigners are even asked to leave the country as soon as possible "before it is too late". Journalists
seem to have just a few left, three or five, and they are already planning to leave. We have no particular
interest in staying in the country beyond our necessity. However, given the positive opinion of the MMC
on the work of terre des hommes, we have no reason to plan our departure early. Finally, we are all
waiting for direct contacts with the South Vietnamese Government. It is now clear to everyone that the
government exists, but it is largely in the background. According to the MMC, the ministers have still
not made their way into the ministries. But every now and then, as with the announcement of the
Indochina time or the opening of the banks, the announcements have been signed by the head of
government Huynh Tan Phat and not by the head of the MMC, Tran Van Tra. But we hope that soon
things will get better and the mistakes that are understandable will be corrected soon.

64

Attempts to prevent kindergarten closure
19/6/1975

Our attempt to maintain the Binh Dong Kindergarten through intervention at the Ministry of
Social Affairs was not very successful. The responsible woman, “sister” Mai, cadre of the FNL, was not
to speak for us. The solution to the riddle came from another social worker who had previously worked
in the Ministry of Social Affairs and who saw little need for loyalty to keep the background secret. Chi
Mai had been blackened by another female FNL cadre. History goes back a few weeks when rumours
circulated in our Center that it was about to be confiscated. Allegedly the confiscation was supposed to
be carried out by young cadres, former employees of the international organization ISS. At that time, a
request to the Ministry of Social Affairs revealed that the young cadres were not authorized to do so. So
it remained only with the telephone announcement that the confiscation was imminent. Instead,
however, a few days later Chi Mai herself came to us and visited the Centre. She gave us the good advice
to continue working until a final decision and to call her immediately in the event of impending
confiscation, because only she could carry out such an action. Today it turned out that this positive
opinion was not without negative consequences for Chi Mai. As we learned, the MMC, specifically
General Tra, received a letter of denunciation that the author wanted to prove that terre des hommes
was an unacceptable organization. The accusations were that terre des hommes takes children without
any criteria, has political intentions and tries to take its goods out of the country. Chi Mai had been
criticized for having promised such an organization that it would be able to continue working. That's
why Chi Mai had to do a whole day of research on us at the Quan Phu Nhuan without us knowing about
it. But the results were positive. Apparently, Quan, Phuong and Khom had nothing against us. However,
Chi Mai was not inclined today to make her position even more complicated by authorizing the con-
tinuation of the kindergarten in Binh Dong. She only let it be known that she would visit the
kindergarten one of the next few days to get an idea for herself. So Dung is still waiting patiently for this
visit of the cadre from the Ministry of Social Affairs.

65

Escape in culture
22/6/1975

The situation in South Vietnam seems to be getting tougher. After the local authorities closed
the Binh Dong kindergarten, the block attendant came and told the two teachers that they could no
longer live here if they were not properly registered in Binh Dong. This would require them to deregister
at their parents' place of residence, only to prevent the small thatched-roof house of the kindergarten
from being confiscated as orphaned or otherwise used by the homeowner (in the neighborhood)
through their steady presence in Binh Dong.

More and more soldiers are concentrated in the city of Saigon, especially at night they are
heavily armed. Last evening around 10 FNL or North Vietnamese soldiers with bazookas sat in front of
the door of Quartier Khom 4, which is also where our Centre is located. A few days earlier we had seen
guns being brought into this building. Yesterday we heard a rumour that should explain this strong
armament. Between June 27 and July 7, an air raid allegedly carried out by opposition troops of the
Thieu regime on Saigon is said to take place. The guns we saw before are anti-aircraft guns. It is
completely unclear to me whether this news – combined with requests to build bunkers – should be
assessed as true, as a fantasy of the population in view of the accumulating news about the military
resistance in the country, or as a rumour of purpose of the FNL to justify control measures.

In view of the unsightly prospects, I prefer not to flee to the bunker or abroad (which is now
impossible), but to the fine arts. Yesterday evening, a central Vietnamese puppet stage was held in the
Music Hall, the former parliament of the Thieu regime, which came to Saigon at the invitation of the
North Vietnamese Ministry of Culture. Places that could not be sold were filled by soldiers and children
who apparently did not have to pay. So the hall was almost overcrowded. Bo Doi (freedom fighter) and
children alike liked the Vietnamese version of the Cinderella. Excellent figures and skill of the
puppeteers. Even the lighting technician was highly qualified. The puppet show was a complete success.
Afterwards I only asked myself about the political relevance of the piece, which I suspect in all artistic
expressions. The story of the Cinderella can be interpreted in a politically reactionary way, like many
fairy tales. The class struggle between feudalism and the oppressed class is reconciled through the
marriage between the representatives of principally oppositional classes. Evil is fought purely morally,
regardless of the class question. The only political significance that I can see, especially in the present
moment when seeing the play in Saigon, is that the union between the prince and Cinderella is supposed
to symbolize the reunion between North and South, while the evil mother-in-law represents all that is
today called the puppet system and has long thwarted the reunion. The other woman from the forest
(as in this version of Cinderella) discovers the girl in her hiding place and frees her for union with the
prince.

This morning, we took Ariel on a tour of two pagodas in Cholon, which I found by chance in a
guidebook produced by the Association of American Women just a few months before the revolution,
and which has value, if at all, only for very few people.

But the recommendation was worth the trip: two of the oldest Buddhist pagodas, Giac Vien Tu
and Giac Lam. These are hardly any places discovered by tourism, and the judgments about the
miserable temple art in Saigon only touch the new creations that reveal the lack of style and
craftsmanship in many countries in Asia. The old temples of Saigon are located in unknown poor areas,
which up to now could not be recommended to tourists for safety reasons. Both pagodas were not even
particularly attractive from the outside. Inside, however, a sanctuary unfolded in what was probably
the rather unchanged style of the 18th and 19th centuries. While Ariel was enlightened by the abbot of
the one pagoda about methods of traditional medicine, I tried to capture the interior in picture. The

66

rooms are quite dark, daylight only comes in through doors and a few windows and slits. Once the eye
has got used to it, it discovers a colorful variety of Buddhas, gods, geniuses and statues of former monks.
The depiction of Quan Am, the bodhisatva of charity, is dominant. The pillars are adorned with gold
Chinese characters. Red embroidered towels hang from the ceiling. It is very quiet because the faithful
only gather here on feast days. Even the number of monks is not very high, although a high nominal
number is given in one of the two pagodas. When we asked, it was explained that the monks were
outside for social work and teaching. When we left the pagodas, a large tail of children ran after us, a
little boisterous. They were still shouting "My", apparently not knowing that almost all Americans had
left the country. Now that the Americans have been declared Class Enemy No. 1, it is of course not
particularly gratifying for us to be called that way.















































67

Lack of political education
24/6/1975

I have just read Vo Nguyen Giap's “People's War - People's Army”, which expresses the
experience of the Viet Minh resistance to French colonialism. Our new cook, who has already
experienced two wars of liberation, put the problem in her simple language as follows: When the Viet
Minh was liberated from French aggression, it was the people from the area, therefore from Saigon/Gia
Dinh, who achieved the liberation. This time, however, the liberation was carried out by the North
Vietnamese.

The deep truth of this statement becomes clearer and clearer. Film reports from Hanoi in 1954
show a real cheer of the people about the gained independence. The people were behind the revolution.
The political struggle and the military struggle were intertwined. Without the political organization of
the resistance, the military victory would not have been possible. Without the identification of the
population with the Viet Minh, the jubilation in Hanoi would not have been so great. The recent
liberation evidently disregarded the simultaneity of political and military warfare. The local cadres
would have been far too weak to achieve a military victory. The political formation of the FNL was far
too inadequate, as the lack of cadres now shows. A people's war, which is much harder and more
exhausting and which requires all forces, was not waged this time. A regular army from the north has
given priority to military victory, to conquest. This is a violation of the principles of revolutionary
warfare and also of the ideas of Vo Nguyen Giap. Even if it was allegedly Giap himself who pleaded for
this military solution.

The lack of political preparation is now embarrassingly noticeable. The whole people must
learn to walk, not only the officers and high officials of the Thieu administration, but also the population
in every quarter. The political training courses are quite propagandistic, seem insignificant and attack
the population. Since political convictions were not drawn from practical life experience, they even
have a negative effect in most cases. Apart from opportunists, quite a few responsible people who have
not previously belonged to the FNL are disappointed in their expectations about the FNL. The time that
was not taken before the liberation to carry out political education will now be all the longer. And since
the conquerors do not trust the locals who did not belong to the FNL, the problem of the lack of cadres
remains unsolved.






















68

Pressure creates counter pressure
28/6/1975

Today's Saturday edition of the Saigon Giai Phong calls in capital letters to denounce the
"decadent gangs". The campaign of political education is in full swing in Saigon. It also includes
denouncing the opponents to the system. This is said in ward assemblies as well as in the political re-
training courses for lower and higher officials and soldiers. The courses for simple soldiers and officers
up to the sergeants are only a few days long, but they are repeated from time to time. The courses for
senior officials and officers are at least one month long and also include woodwork, hard forest work.
Meanwhile, the freedom fighters have discovered that our doctor, Dr. Chinh, was a parachutist and
worked as a medical doctor in the army. That's why he now has to go to the long-term course. He
protested a little because his leg, which was amputated during the war, made it difficult for him to do
forest work. It is uncertain whether he will be spared this. The lower-ranked people can be seen on the
street walking home from the training site every evening at five o'clock. You will need to memorize,
among other things, a small pamphlet, a kind of catechism, that includes questions such as, "Why have
the soldiers also been liberated by the revolution?" Or "Where is our guilt with the revolution?" The
courses end with self-incriminating essays. The participants have the impression that those who make
the longest and strongest accusations are the best seen.

Most participants seem to be influenced to the contrary by the political training. Opposite Ariel,
a participant threatened that he would go to the maquis. There are only rumours about the
underground. Like this, the road to Dalat had to be closed for a few days. In fact, there were fewer
vegetables these days. It is said that the province of Rach Gia has already been occupied by opponents
of the system, soldiers of the old system. In the southernmost provinces of the Mekong, our employees
no longer dare to venture for the same reason. The former seat of Khom 4 has now been moved because
the artillery has been housed in the same building. Last night the shootings increased again in our
quarters, much like normal times under the Thieu regime.

Meanwhile, many people can no longer resist the impression that the MMC of Saigon/Gia Dinh
no longer has its soldiers in hand. In the individual quarters many actions are started, which do not
necessarily have the approval of the military administration. Yesterday, the MMC even had to announce
via radio that all persons who carry out checks must have an identity card. Even the president of the
local committee, who controlled our house at the time, had no such paper. The confiscation of bicycles
whose owner has no receipt for the purchase is also not permitted.

Yesterday, near our house, an FNL soldier was allegedly murdered by a hand grenade thrown
by two people. Pressure creates counter-pressure, and so the Vietnamese people will not get rid of the
war at all.

Even to our office came the head of the social department of the MMC, Chi Mai, with a gun. A
young boy of about 12 years old with a shotgun accompanied the group. It seems that the help we have
to offer seems necessary to the revolutionary authority. At the very least, her comments revealed that
she herself expects an agreement between the Provisional Revolutionary Government and terre des
hommes.

The day before yesterday evening we had another artistic pleasure. A musical group from
Hanoi, which is apparently quite famous. Unfortunately, the group represented the same bourgeois art
business that I can not stand in Germany either. The female singers have unnaturally strong make-up.
The soloists in black suit and tie in the style of an operetta singer presented revolutionary songs with
just as much sentimentality and winking as operetta songs from the 19th century, which they had in

69

their repertoire as well. The presentation of a violinist and a French horn seemed like the display of the
best piece you can play. The technical execution was extremely good and showed the training in
Europe, be it in Moscow or East Berlin, but I would have to criticize a lot about the taste. The orchestral
concert next night is said to have been better. I could not hear it myself, because the orchestra was only
in Saigon for a single day. As in most artistic performances, the audience in a way represents the
attempt of classless society. Girls from the bourgeois middle class next to intellectuals from the
underground and FNL soldiers with sandals made from car tires, which, by the way, are now also
becoming fashionable among the Saigon people. You can buy them on different street corners of Saigon.

But despite all the critical comments, one should not forget that the great bloodbath that the
American secret service CIA prophesied did not occur. The political re-education courses are a rather
harmless punishment for the representatives of the old system. Medical posts are being set up
everywhere. The population receives rice. Those who want to return to the villages will receive at least
the transport costs, if not land and rice until the next harvest. Vaccination campaigns against epidemics
for the entire population have been started. The orphanages are slowly dissolving. Production in many
– probably most – industrial enterprises has been boosted again. Robbery and theft have decreased.
The problem of prostitution, begging and drugs is at least treated symptomatically. The postal and
transport traffic to the provinces has been restored. The faculties of medicine, pharmacy and dentistry
are already opened. The schools have already announced the opening date after the holidays come to
an end. In the countryside, the distribution of property is partly resolved by itself, partly through the
establishment of cooperatives.

Interesting are also the tendencies that are evident in the pharmaceutical industry. Vietnam is
not so badly blessed with pharmaceutical companies, given that it has been exposed to capitalist
production for so long. The better ones, however, are companies that manufacture under license or are
simply branches of international corporations. In most of these plants production has now been
resumed under the indirect direction of the revolutionary authorities. However, the products are not
readily supplied to the pharmaceutical market, which is still organized capitalistically. The pharmacies
receive only a small quota and live with the concern of being confiscated at any moment. Therefore,
their products are largely thrown away on the black (or gray) market. The government does not seem
to attach much importance to this aspect. For the far greater part remains in the hands of the
government. So far it is not known whether the government will store the products or distribute them
to the dispensaries of the revolutionary people's committees. What is certain, however, is that the lion's
share of pharmaceutical production should directly benefit the population. However, in a few weeks
there will be a shortage of important raw materials in order to be able to produce drugs. Unless contracts with the
pharmaceutical companies are almost ready or the purchase of raw materials is secured in socialist countries,
then the pharmaceutical industry will have to partially stop its production.

70

A pagoda as a restricted military area
29/6/1975

Our escape into the paradise of fine arts today ended unintentionally in politics. For this
Sunday, we had planned to see the Thien Hau Pagoda, one of the most important artistic products of the
Chinese religious community. For the first time, I realized the considerable differences between
Vietnamese and Chinese art. The pagoda is dedicated to the heavenly mother A-Pho. The usual scene of
beggars with leprosy at the entrance to the pagoda. Seller of this and that inside. Some believers came
now and then and offered food in front of the altar or lit incense sticks. In an anteroom to the altar,
lunch was just starting for people who were busy in the temple, including two FNL soldiers. For the first
time, we saw stickers proclaiming Marxism-Leninism in a pagoda. We asked a warden if we could look
at the pagoda and photograph, what we were allowed to do. All over the pagoda ceiling there were ring-
shaped incense sticks, which were said to burn for three months. They gave a bizarre look to the
interior, which was full of red and gold carvings and curtains. We had just finished our tour, when a
civilian-dressed, apparently FNL-cadre asked us surly what we wanted here. He took us armed to the
supervisor, an FNL officer in a school immediately next door. The fact that foreigners wandered around
in pagodas in Cholon had evidently aroused the suspicions of the liberators. We were asked for our
papers, which of course we left at home on this harmless Sunday trip. If we had written permission to
visit the pagoda. Now I got angry and explained in Vietnamese that this was not necessary, because all
people, even foreigners, could go around freely in Saigon-Gia Dinh. This seemed to impress him.
However, he said that we should not show our face here again without explicit authorization. Allegedly
the pagoda is a military restricted area. But since he was standing nowhere and also no guard was
placed in front of the pagoda, yes even the soldiers at lunch had seen us already for some time,
I regarded his remark only as an excuse to preserve the face. Somewhat angry at the nonsense with
which we were treated, we went home.





























71

30/6/1975
Today, the Centre had a general meeting. The Foreign Affairs Division of the MMC had

announced that all Vietnamese and foreign employees of foreign institutions should register in a
designated office. There was no happy echo. Political training courses, the length of which was still
unknown, self-criticism and denunciation, which are required, cast their shadows ahead. The staff
would like to be treated like normal people and not be pushed into an unknown future of outsiders by
registering with the Department of Foreign Affairs. The first step is to try to register with the local self-
government, so that the registration with the foreign affairs department may be canceled. Whether this
is possible remains to be seen. The big question is whether registration can be denied at all.

72

Two months after the liberation
1/7/1975

A second month has passed since the National Liberation Front seized Saigon. A lot of things
have become part of the usual sight, which seemed incredible even recently. The city image is
dominated by the green-clad Bo Doi, the soldiers of North Vietnam and the FNL. Most of them do not
have much more than their clothes and the weapons. But their strongest weapon is the conviction that
they fought for a just cause. With some surprise, they must have realized that they themselves cannot
resist the temptations and material riches of the city of Saigon. They cavort in the market as well as the
Saigon people. A wristwatch market has developed since the interest of Bo Doi became known. Market
article number two are transistor radios. But there are now also freedom fighters who have proudly
traded an Akai tape recorder on the black market. The Bo Doi also dominate the picture in the small
quarters. They make up the majority of the local order power, because the civilian cadres on the ground
would be far too insignificant.

The streets are still empty. The cars remain in the garages because the gasoline is difficult to
buy and is expensive and mixed on the black market. The great American road cruisers and better
vehicles, whose owners have stormed abroad before the liberation and who have survived the looting,
are now the official vehicles of the Bo Doi and cadres, of course with chauffeur. The American Jeeps
have changed their color and number plate and are now also serving the new law enforcement officers.
But the population rides almost exclusively on bicycles, a few still got petrol for their Honda.

The Saigoneers have changed their appearance only little. It has been said that members of the
Union of Young People and students of the Liberation Front, have pulled down the mini-skirt of some
girls and that dress regulations have been promulgated concerning the width of the trousers worn with
the Ao Dai, but the fashionable cut from the old regime remains predominant. Only few people are
taking part in the new fashion, which manifests itself in black shirts and shoes made of car tires (which,
by the way, are now also available for young children). It is also discouraged because the anti-
communist resistance is going around.

Expectations of the revolution are a little weary. The North Vietnamese and FNL flags, which
had to be hung out in the first days, are still there – but faded by sun and wind, some now almost
completely white. The Chinese red flags have long since disappeared, because Vietnam must remain
Vietnam for the revolutionary authorities – including the Chinese minority. However, the number of
administrative offices has now increased. There are more and more signs pointing to the local
revolutionary administration. There are revolutionary people's committees at the levels of Khom,
Phuong and Quan. There are security departments of the Quan and the provincial administration of Gia
Dinh. The MMC now has not only departments for exterior, interior. It's social and health, but it's also
for the fancy things like agriculture. Apparently, the military administration seems to be preparing for
long-term planning. And that, according to rumours, because of the anti-communist resistance.

Few people apart from the journalists have heard of the Provisional Revolutionary
Government. When we explicitly asked the Health Minister at the Ministry of Health, we finally got the
address of her private home. We delivered our letter there. You hear most of all from Madame Binh, the
foreign minister, who, according to the newspapers, is on a business trip to many countries. According
to rumours, she has long since resigned in protest. But you don't have to believe the rumours.

Saigon still only has one daily newspaper: Saigon Giai Phong. In addition, the following are still
on sale: Quan Doi Nhan Dan and Nhan Dan from Hanoi. But there are only certain places where the North
Vietnamese newspapers are available. The radio has now expanded to several other wavelengths. But

73

you can hear little radio music from the neighborhood. The loudest sound that one can hear in the ward
on certain occasions is the bawling of loudspeakers, announcing publications and appeals, practicing
songs or giving political lessons to a larger audience. These lessons also include declarations about the
curriculum vitae of the local population. Our cook confessed that she used to work for the Americans.
The cadre recommended that she should now forget all of her American cooking skills. She found that
the Bo Doi do not know how to work, that is, they go about their work without a plan or method. That
is misleading, because after all, all initiatives somehow work out as if they were being led by a secret
hand. It was announced late yesterday, but still in good time, that the booster vaccination would now
take place in our quarters. In the evening Bo Doi asked us if we could provide rooms for this because
the flak is now housed in the former building of Khom 4. Of course we agreed. Today we received a
booster vaccination and also a vaccination against plague, and because the number of people was too
small, the vaccination will continue tomorrow.

Our friends from Danang reported that life there was already far more regulated. Even the
cyclo-riders have a strict order about who is allowed to go where and when at what price. In Danang,
movements have been launched, according to which the youth go to the countryside to clear the forests
and plant the land. Such movements do not yet exist in Saigon, but the policy to reverse forced
urbanization does. There is information that 70 percent of Saigon's population should go back to the
countryside. The work in the countryside also seemed to be the probationary period for all who are
supposed to take on an important role in the leadership of the country. Even doctors prepared
themselves to work first in the countryside, possibly even to till fields. The hope that life in the
countryside would be less strictly organized, however, has proven to be an illusion. Our former
domestic helper, who has returned to the countryside and recently visited Saigon, found that life in
Saigon was relatively casual and free. Perhaps the military administrators were afraid that they might
provoke too much resistance in Saigon if they acted strictly too quickly.

The alleged conflict between North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese FNL soldiers seems to be
exaggerated. Again and again, there is information about such clashes, but it seems clear that this is a
quarrel among brothers that is being settled internally. Only naive reactionaries may think that this
could change the face of history substantially.

74

Assassinations of liberation fighters increase
4/7/1975

Today, almost all the staff of the Centre had left. It was the first day that everyone had to
register with the Foreign Affairs Department. A large questionnaire was presented, which wanted to
know details from each employee's CV, especially the life history since 1945. As far as I know, some of
our older employees have skipped certain facts, such as their membership of the French colonial army.
The officials of the administration initially questioned our employees in addition, but later they did not,
apparently knowing that our organization is not so badly regarded. Every Vietnamese employee finally
had to sign the questionnaire, which closed with a promise to report system opponents and an apology
formula for all counter-revolutionary activities.

It is apparently the latter clauses that most anger the population and bring them into opposition
to the revolution. They feel it is unfair to be treated as if they had done something wrong. As a result,
resistance is increasing. Assassinations of Bo Doi are multiplying in Saigon City. Recently, two Honda
motorbike drivers passed a group of soldiers and threw a grenade in broad daylight. The result was
three persons dead and three injured. During the chase, the attackers were killed and the bodies were
displayed on the pavement as a deterrent. Recently, a Bo Doi was shot in the head from above on Tu Do
Street, apparently from one of the windows of the multi-story French style buildings.

The situation is getting worse. A few days ago, a thief in the rehabilitation center was sentenced
to be shot for stealing petrol. In another case, two Honda drivers who had snatched a necklace from a
woman were killed after a wild chase by the Bo Doi. A market woman who sold her goods on the
pavement nearby also received a shot in the belly. Without saying a word, she held the wound and fell
to the side. The MMC apparently wants to use the strongest possible means to fight crime, theft and
robbery, but it also seems to be sowing violence. Compassion and helpfulness are written even smaller
than before, because everyone crawls into his little corner so as not to be too noticed. So last night, a
white man was seen faltering along the street, covered with blood, supported by his Vietnamese wife.
Apparently he had his nose and mouth beaten. No one gave him first aid, apparently not even the Bo
Doi, of which there are some at every turn.

The material need of the people is still not significantly reduced. When the staff was registered
today, a cadre asked one of our employees how much did she earn. She said 30,000 VNP, which is 120
marks a month. The cadre only cynically noted how it came about that one had so much money. The
news about the resumption of production in a large number of industrial establishments and agriculture
is in great contradiction to the fact that the prices of medicines, milk and many other things are soaring.
In the meantime, many influential people already want to know that all relief supplies that were in the
revolution in South Vietnam, as well as the newly produced goods, would be brought to North Vietnam.
This also makes it understandable why even the social department of the MMC requested for milk from
us. In view of the dominance of North Vietnam in the reorganization and reconstruction, rumours are
also increasing that the conflicts between the South Vietnamese FNL and the North Vietnamese army
have now become acute. It is said that the Minister of Justice and Minister of Health are already dis-
empowered. Since the Provisional Revolutionary Government is not present, there has been so far no
foreign embassy, only a few guest missions from friendly countries, whose representatives may have left.

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CIA neurosis and chauvinism
8/7/1975

Even for foreigners, life in Vietnam becomes more unbearable. Apart from the isolation in the
city of Saigon, the propaganda against foreigners is also increasing. When the MMC's external
department registered the staff, it was clear that all foreign aid organizations were considered to be
Nguy. What have you done for the Nguy regime and the Nguy army? If someone answered nothing, he
was asked to record his occupation with terre des hommes. For all persons who have worked with
foreign organizations a special Hoc Tap is planned, as if they were worse regarded than ordinary people
who did nothing for the survival of the children of this country. Last evening, we invited two
representatives of the Liberation Women's Union. Again, we heard that all foreigners should be
distrusted. You never know if there's a spy behind them. The CIA neurosis is obviously more and more
used to justify chauvinist politics.

News of the opposition movement is growing. Supposedly, one morning, the cut-off heads of
three Bo Doi hung on an office building at the corner of Le Loi/Nguyen Hue Streets. Several times,
women have demonstrated in front of the Independence Palace after it was posted that their men, who
had been taken to the Hoc Tap, had died and the bodies could be collected. It is rumoured that the cause
of death was that the convoy of these men was attacked by the resistance movement. They were killed
in the fight. The rumours contradict whether this was on the road to Dalat, Tay Ninh or Vung Tau. It's
getting dangerous again to live in Vietnam.

I want to give a description of the speech that the representative of the Union of Liberation
Women gave in the Centre. She was a skinny but strong-willed woman, married and having a small
child. She reported that she had been tortured by the Thieu system. Now she is one of the important
political propagandists in the Quan Phu Nhuan. She was supposed to talk about the role of women in the
new society, but focused more on the general political presentation, especially on the history of the
revolution and the obstruction of liberation by reactionaries. The response of the audience, about 60
women, girls and men, was different. Some listened attentively and followed every facial expression
and joke of the speaker, others were at an uncontrolled critical distance, a third group followed the
explanations in a manner to show how much they agreed with everything and how much sympathy
they had. The discussion afterwards was lively, but focused only on a few people who had the courage
and education to express themselves publicly. Kim Thanh even asked how to become a member. It
seemed to me that opportunism in her would once again pop up. She only made the mistake of asking a
second question: How you could defend yourself against people who want to put pressure on other
people with the support of Bo Doi from their own family. The spokesperson referred to Miss Ngoc, who
teaches the staff as a cadre, precisely that Ngoc who three months ago wanted nothing more than to
leave the country before the revolution, which became now the first member of the organization and
soon a cell leader. Cells will soon be set up in the Social Medical Centre itself.

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End of terre des hommes work in Vietnam?
10/7/1975

My desire to develop any other initiatives has almost dropped to zero. I would like to stop my work and
maybe also that of terre des hommes in Vietnam. It was only thanks to Margrit's current initiative that I too pissed off
to find out why we were still not in possession of the funds that are blocked in the bank. So I had prepared a letter for
the Medical and Social Affairs Department that we are under. In the letter we ask for the opening of an account. The
most important comrade in the Ministry of Health had not wanted to see us yesterday (apparently because he still
had no answer to our request for authorization), so we turned to another, lower comrade in the Ministry of Health,
who is quite active for this. He is apparently responsible for the internal administration of the Ministry of Health.
When we showed up after passing the reception on the first floor, we learned that he was still at home. So I could
pass the time reading the slogans taped on the walls of the anteroom. Among other things, that Marxism-Leninism
will forever have hundred fights and hundred victories. I wondered how that fits with the declared neutralism that
is still emblazoned on all official letterheads. The few officials who had not yet had to go to the Hoc Tap seemed to
pass the time somehow. There was a notice on a door with information about the distribution of sugar, milk, rice,
etc., to which the officials are entitled on a rationed basis. Obviously, the comrade we are waiting for is also
responsible for these issues, because his department is responsible for finances and materials.

Finally the comrade came in, surrounded by a few people, as friendly as a star. All the people's attention
focused on him. He was straightforward and immediately let all the people enter his room, where there were more
comrades in the round. He answered phone calls, signed a lot of similar forms, apparently for the rationed goods to
the officials, and listened to our request. He is also a Bo Doi, although not with a green shirt, but with a gray shirt. He
responded to our request to open an account by writing a letter asking the bank what formalities are necessary. A
somewhat nervous secretary of the old system with a strange mustache put the letter into the appropriate form and
groaned at the new language. The letter was written in five copies. To sign, the comrade had to be taken out of a
meeting in which he had just disappeared. Then it went to the bank.

We were received by a young, pretentious and, in view of the furnishings, apparently high-ranking official
of the old system. Meanwhile, money can be sent from Hanoi to Saigon through a Soviet bank in Paris. The need for
foreign exchange seems to simplify things. But our money at the BFA obviously cannot be made loose so easily. The
official even let himself be carried away to the conclusion that the money was not yet in Vietnam. That is why we
need a confirmation from Paris for our Saigon money, which will then come back to Saigon via Hanoi. Only then can
the money be credited to us. If there was money, we could open a dollar account. For the piasters account, we went
down one floor. The comrade in charge was not there. Again another meeting.

When we tried again in the afternoon, it rained heavily. It was a bleak day that seemed to underline the
hopelessness of the whole endeavor. But we were lucky. After half an hour of waiting came the comrade, a young
Bo Doi, who apparently had not known much about banking before. According to his specifications, it was clear to
me that I would not open a piaster account. I was only torn out of the general annoyance by Margrit's message that
100,000 VNP had been transferred. But the safe was already closed at 14:30. Tomorrow at 9 o'clock we should get the
money. Now it seems to be quite easy to open a piaster account, because the money should be available to the bank
for a while if possible.

The day was again accompanied by news about the resistance movement. However, as additional
information about the dead Nguy soldiers, it turned out that some of the dead were immediately buried and could no
longer be picked up by the wives. On the road to Dalat, a transport of Bo Doi has been apparently stopped and theBo
Doi have been killed. The looters put on their uniforms and drove the Nolotova truck to go shopping in Bao Loc for
free. Then they disappeared again in the jungle. The explosion we heard two days ago was apparently in an
ammunition depot in Cholon. With 70 dead Bo Doi in Phu Nhuan alone, you can figure out what the death rate is
across the country. The provincial capital Chau Doc is supposedly completely occupied by the opponents. The secret
station's radio programs seem to be intercepted. Flyers have reportedly asked for bunkers to be built.

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Witnessing a piece of history
15/7/1975

Today's meeting of the Executive Committee, which discussed the future prospects of the Social
Medical Centre, highlighted the fundamental problems that a private organization, a private medical
and social service, has to face in a country that is trying to build a socialist society. At my request, all
members had submitted projects that were to shed light on the future direction of terre des hommes.

For example, there was a proposal to transfer all of the Centre's goods to the MMC, to ask that
the willing members of the staff be employed and to offer a certain amount of money with which the
government can do whatever it wants in the social-medical field of child welfare. Another suggestion
was to continue the work as independently and as long as possible. Another suggestion wanted to
complete the ongoing projects as quickly as possible and then start new planning after all staff who are
not willing or not qualified for further cooperation had quit the service. My own proposal was to transfer
parts of the socio-medical service to revolutionary formations whenever enough members of the Centre
had enrolled in them and then to finance the transferred facilities through their own agreements.
Everyone had their own opinion, but no one had a firm opinion. So it is a problem of the executive
committee that it does not come to a final decision out of fear of revenge or wrong adjustment to the
revolutionary line. Everything remains cautious, so that the question arises whether such a committee
is still functional. The head of the crèche even wanted to resign because she feared disadvantages if she
acted too hard.

Again and again, the fundamental question arose as to which extent terre des hommes would
lose more ground as long as no official authorization by the government was available. Whatever
projects are proposed requires approval by the revolutionary authorities. That is why it seemed to me
to be the best solution that our personnel themselves become revolutionary cadres and then, within the
framework of the respective revolutionary organization, continue the work in modified form and fi-
nanced by us.

This would mean that the whole Centre would operate under new management with a new
programme independent of terre des hommes. The organization of the liberation women would
conclude its own contract with the homeowner. He seems to be willing to do so, but I don't know if this
can cause him any disadvantages. Because if the organization no longer agrees to the rent payment
after one year, it is doubtful whether he still has the opportunity to invoke capitalist contract contents.

The homeowner comes from the remaining bourgeois layer of South Vietnam. On the third floor
of a French building, he lives in a wood-panelled apartment with a slender little young woman and
several fragile children. He is a fox with various major projects in and outside the city of Saigon,
including a movie theater. Guests at a party to which we were probably accidentally invited recently
included the boyish Citroen director, an Esso administrator, and a hospital doctor. They only talked
about the incapacity of the liberators and toasted another liberation, naturally with the last champagne
and caviar.

The party was as stiff as it should be for a bourgeois event of this kind. The ladies regretted that
the Cercle sportif was closed and that children no longer had the opportunity to get a French education
in schools.

From the doctor we met, we later heard that he is famous for taking bribes from patients before
he starts treatment. His most important topic of the evening was his successful efforts with the Bo Doi
to obtain the exit permit by plane for his purebred boxer. Returning home, I found reassurance that the

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revolution in South Vietnam was highly necessary.

Meanwhile, membership of the liberation women is growing in the Centre. Ngoc, who has since
become a top-class cadre, has done a great job: nearly sixty registrations. The motivations of the
members are quite discordant, opportunistic or realistic, who wanted to blame someone out of it. In
any case, the employees hope for advantages and avoid being marginalised. In any case, the takeover
by the women's association is preferable to the takeover by the government. Ngoc has no illusions about
motivation either, probably she has a similar one. After all, it is fascinating to see how their power is
increasing and the influence of the Executive Committee decreasing. My first appeal to all the staff
members to join the FNL formation was obviously also quite realistic.

With the new developments, my personal uselessness in Vietnam is also growing. I am planning
my retreat, not happy about the human weaknesses that are opening up and the lack of respect for the
work that has been done so far, but at least in the certainty that I have witnessed a piece of history and
made a small contribution to it. History is not made by individual persons, and therefore it was really
only a small contribution. Some more children have survived, a little more medical-social infrastructure
has emerged, a little bit of political awareness has been initiated and a little bit of democracy has been
practiced. Whether this all was worth all the expense of money, energy and (perhaps misunderstood)
idealism, I am not sure. In any case, I would leave the experience of working for a humanitarian
organization at this example and not want to repeat it again.




































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Sad to have to initiate the end of the work oneself
17/7/1975

The presentation of the Union of the Liberation Women of Phuong scheduled for today, in which
the members of the Centre were also to participate, was briefly canceled. The reason for this is a general
state of alarm, which I had already heard about two days before. It is feared that there may be
difficulties on the anniversary of the division on 20 July. The alarm condition was extended until 22 July.
The security situation appears to be deteriorating. This applies not only to military matters, but also to
robbery and theft. Only the day before yesterday, a man was admitted to our dispensary who was so
injured in such an attack in broad daylight that blood came out of his mouth and eyes. We quickly took
him to the hospital, but we are not sure if he survived. The difficulties of moving from one quarter to
another and the accompanying nervous tension brought tears to the eyes of one of our employees,
whom we temporarily granted a place with us. But he understands all this. The intellectual group of the
FNL, with whom he sometimes has contact, comforts him again and again about the difficulties he has
with the lower cadres.

Today, I have indeed decided to discontinue the function of the Centre under the direction of
terre des hommes. At the moment, it is no longer a matter of forming an executive committee that has
enough authority and at the same time has not yet been formed by the revolutionary forces. It was even
claimed that the existing Executive Committee, which is made up of the heads of the various
programmes and services, was just as much a puppet theater for foreigners at terre des hommes as
President Thieu was for the USA. The word comes from our lodger Ngoc, who quickly switched from
fleeing from the Communists, which she did not succeed, to membership and is now already considered
a cadre in Phu Nhuan. She has now organised around sixty members within the Centre, who have also
adapted to reality, albeit more slowly. Their power, which is based on the fear of the members, is of
course destructive for the management. On the other hand, their organization is not yet ready to take
over the Centre itself. So the responsibility of terre des hommes can only be dissolved and the
government itself left to do what it thinks is right. The staff will be dismissed with compensation and
the facilities will be handed over to the MMC. It is a sad thing to have to start the end of the work oneself,
but it is not only system-compliant, but also appropriate. The work of the Centre is no longer possible
without the blessing of the FNL. Even a newly elected executive committee would no longer bring about
any substantial renewal. All the world is demoralized. This reduces the sense of responsibility and
increases the attempts to profit from the last hour.

Siriporn and I have applied for our visas today, her official reason is the renewal of her passport,
mine, to directly contact terre des hommes in Europe to discuss the further form and scope of assistance.
This also reflects weak hopes for a return.

Maria is particularly lousy in all this. Hopes are fading that she will be able to leave with her
Vietnamese husband. On the other hand, she also loses her job when terre des hommes closes. And a
separation would not be a way out.

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Permission for a birthday dinner
18/7/1975

For the first time since the Revolution, Cong Ly Street in front of the palace was again cordoned
off with barricades and occupied by Bo Doi. Hong Thap Tu Street, as far as it passes the palace, had also
been declared a one-way street. Further back you could see armoured reconnaissance vehicles with Bo
Doi with guns in the attack. Rumour has it that almost the entire top of the North Vietnamese leadership
has come to Saigon. Among them Pham Van Dong, Le Duan and Giap. It is said that they came to July 20,
the anniversary of the partition of Vietnam, to prepare for reunification. Furthermore, it is said that a
general uprising is feared. With the rumours, however, it is as always: you only know some time later
whether there was any truth in it, because the information of the new authorities is very insufficient.

However, there is widespread concern that anything could happen. We visited a doctor in
charge at the Red Cross, and he was probably the first to say clearly that peace had not yet been
established and that the war still had to be continued. Siriporn, who has a birthday tomorrow, followed
the advice of acquaintances and asked for permission for her birthday dinner with more guests to-
morrow. Loudspeaker vans had announced the day before that public events had to be approved. Also
weddings should be avoided if possible on this day. The Bo Doi around the corner, where Siriporn asked,
recorded everything exactly, but had nothing against the birthday dinner.

Meanwhile, the concern for the future of the Centre continues, especially since the staff have
understood that we are no longer prepared to support a Centre that lacks the blessings of the
authorities. At the meeting of the Executive Committee, there have been rather critical words regarding
the situation. The head of the crèche reported that several threats had been made against her. It was
also said that the items should now be distributed to the staff. The members of the Executive Committee
were afraid of making decisive decisions. So the Centre is almost leaderless. The Red Cross doctor to
whom I presented the situation found my suggestion understandable to send a manager of the
government or a revolutionary organization. He really resorted to this alternative, for he too was of the
opinion that in a socialist society there should no longer be any conflict between private and public.

But then they decided on an alternative that I don't know if it comes too late for us. The
formation of a Cong Doan, a kind of autonomous body of the workers, which is normally formed in the
companies. If such a group can get the approval of the government and appoint a qualified person, the
problem would be solved. But this should happen quickly.

Saigon:
Pictures from the work of terre des hommes
















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Staff meeting at the Social Medical Centre on Minh Mang Street in Saigon. In the front left Walter
Skrobanek, behind him a Vietnamese doctor, opposite him a French medical couple, to the right a
Vietnamese social worker and on the far right in the picture Maria Dung (Foto: Georg Fischer 1974).
















Vietnamese doctor Dr. Trinh examines children at the Social Medical Centre in Saigon
(Foto: Georg Fischer 1974)

Maria Dung in the Social Medical Centre (Foto: Georg Fischer 1974).

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In the orphanage (Foto: terre des hommes).

In the crèche of the Socio-Medical Centre (Foto: Georg Fischer 1974).





















Vietnamese head nurse Kim Thanh, who died shortly after the Liberation (Foto: Georg Fischer 1974).

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Well-nourished children shortly before their return (Foto: Georg Fischer 1974).

Malnourished babies and toddlers from orphanages in South Vietnam were placed for a limited time in a
nutrition project at the Socio-Medical Centre (Foto: Georg Fischer 1974).

Before the afternoon nap together on the potty.

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In the Rehabilitation Centre for paraplegic children in Dalat (Foto: Georg Fischer 1974).
Caring for injured children (Foto: terre des hommes).

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One of the last meeting points of the Saigon Bourgeoisie
20/7/1975

So today was the anniversary of the secession of South Vietnam at the Geneva Indochina
Conference. Our cook, who had told us the day before that she had to carry banners at a parade and did
not know where it was going and for what purpose, then did not need to go to this political
demonstration. The parade had been cancelled at the last minute, for security reasons, as our lodger
explained. It was said that the city was full of tanks and various streets were cordoned off. Around noon,
however, curiosity prevailed over the need for security. We sat down in the car, but saw nothing out of
the ordinary, neither tanks nor special safety precautions. The city was rather emptier than usual. That
was probably noontide when the city slept. So we visited our French ice cream parlour, which is still
open and sometimes frequented by Bo Doi and cadres – one of the last meeting places of the Saigon
bourgeoisie. In the afternoon I prepared my letters for the revolutionary authorities with the
announcement of the handover of the Centre. The next two days probably will not change my decision
much.

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Departure with question mark
22/7/1975

Events regarding the future organizational form of the Centre are rushing. Yesterday Monday
morning I had visited the assistant of the medical giant, who is now Red Cross President, but without
any immediate prospect of it, that he would take care of the problems in the Centre. I then drafted the
declaration to the Executive Committee that terre des hommes would hand over control of the Centre to
the revolutionary authorities on 15 August. A meeting was scheduled for three o'clock. We were amazed
that just at this time a delegation from the Social Service of the Province of Gia Dinh appeared,
apparently already informed about our problems. They also did not miss the time to listen to the
discussion. We have had nothing to do with this service so far, because other bodies had taken care of
us. Now the delegation acted as if we could have avoided many problems if we had contacted them
sooner. However, the Executive Committee did not take a significant decision and adjourned until
Friday. This Tuesday, I received an invitation from the same social service to come to the provincial
administration for discussion with the entire executive committee in the afternoon. The powerful social
service wanted my agreement that the Centre would continue under their direction. They weakened
the role of Dr. Thu, whose answer I wanted to wait for. I did not want terre des hommes to make a
decision as to which service the Centre should continue with. The social service also used a somewhat
unpleasant form of pressure: I should not hope to be able to leave the country before establishing
diplomatic relations with terre des hommes countries. They didn't know I already had the exit visa.
However, the whole thing had been said with a little smile and later taken back again. However, it did
not motivate me to reach out to this social service of all people.

As usual, the people from the social service did not introduce themselves by their personal
names. There was a speaker well versed in political propaganda and an elderly woman who apparently
set the tone in social work. Finally, a doctor and his wife. They posed as cadres and were not in uniform.
The conversation took place in a large room on the first floor of the social department. Some girls from
the old system were sitting in a corner, making flowers out of paper.

So I returned with the prospect of not being able to leave the country so quickly. All this also
amused me a bit. I was willing to stay in the country if I got something reasonable to do. I just could not
imagine what that could be. The atmosphere is still not more pleasant.

Example: A few days ago our cook agreed that her daughter would look after the adopted child
with our lodger Ngoc, for whom Ngoc has no time at all. She probably only took it up for reasons of
political opportunity. The arrangements for childcare were unclear. But now the child carer, our cook’s
daughter, works far more than her mother and doesn't even know what salary she should get. But our
cook is afraid of her daughter's withdrawal. Allegedly, Ngoc has meanwhile risen to the position of a
cadre in charge in the commune and is even said to sit on the district executive committee. The cook
fears that if she withdraws her daughter, she might also have difficulties because she works as a
housemaid in a foreign household. We have given her the freedom to go, but the distress outside is too
great. Ngoc, of course, exploits this situation and exploits the girl as a maid. Ngoc's bourgeois spirit
could not be eradicated by so much political teaching. No wonder, before the revolution, she introduced
me to her friend, who offered us his boat to flee the country. She asked almost on her knees to help her
get out. She herself had already been to the US Defence Attachée. On the other hand, I had tried to make
it clear to her that she should stay in the country and that she did not need to be afraid of the
communists, about whom a North Vietnamese refugee had told the most awful stories. Her brother-in-
law had worked for the CIA. No one is taking away the great turnaround that she has now made, even
though it was she who has in the meantime persuaded 60 percent of the terre des hommes staff to join
the association of liberation women. She has now taken off the Ao Dai and simply dresses in Ao Ba Ba.

87

So it is a regulation for the meetings. Our cook has prophesied today that Ngoc's high-altitude flight will
soon be over. "She will fall low and cry a lot." That's what a lot of people believe by now.

Returning from an evening excursion into town, we had to undergo unusual controls. Gun
control, about 300 meters from our house. A mixture of anger, amusement and cynicism pervaded me
when we stood next to the car on a small side street and the three Bo Doi were looking through the car.
Apparently, the security situation is getting worse. Rumour has it that part of Dalat was occupied for
several days. And it is said that the conflict between the FNL and North Vietnam is intensifying. So now
you have to deal with three groups and the war is still not over. Perhaps things will be resolved if, as is
claimed, a South Vietnamese government is set up soon and a People's Revolutionary Council develops
for Saigon-Gia Dinh. Nobody around me asks too much about it anymore, because you've already gotten
used to the MMC.

Today, Siriporn has learned about the export of our belongings. The revolutionary syndicate of
the workers of the French transport company will come and examine, pack and seal the things that are
to be shipped. No one knows if they can leave at all. The company does not guarantee either. It is very
possible, but not certain, that another check will take place at customs. Anything carried in suitcases
on the aircraft is checked at the airport. Only books, cassettes, tapes and films have to be presented to
the Ministry of Culture and Propaganda beforehand. The things that are acceptable can later be found
at the airport. The confiscated items, however, are lost. So the overall outlook is pretty black that you
can take a lot more than two suitcases with you. I can already see the officers checking my birth
certificate to make sure that it is not secret espionage material. We will probably have to postpone the
date for packing next Monday for the time being, since we don't know whether we will have to stay here
any longer.

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