Two Swiss tell the story of hanging the Vietnamese flag on the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

(Dan Tri) - Two witnesses who once hung the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam in Paris (France) told the Vietnamese press for the first time about their courageous actions.

On the afternoon of November 18, the Department of Information and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City organized a meeting with Mr. Olivier Parriaux and Mr. Bernard Bachelard - two of the three Swiss who raised the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam on the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (France) in 1969. 55 years ago, three young Swiss men, Olivier Parriaux, Bernard Bachelard and Noe Graff, drove from their hometown to the capital of Paris, France. On the night of January 18, 1969, they secretly raised the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam on the top of the tower of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Bet your life on the top of a 100m high tower

Visiting Vietnam as two old men with white hair, Mr. Olivier Parriaux (80 years old) and his friend Bernard Bachelard (81 years old) were warmly welcomed by the Ho Chi Minh City government as honored guests. In a meeting with the Ho Chi Minh City press on the afternoon of November 18, the two witnesses recounted the process of climbing to the top of the Notre Dame Cathedral and hanging the flag representing the struggle of the Vietnamese people.

From left to right: Mr. Bernard Bachelard, Mr. Olivier Parriaux and Ms. Tran To Nga - companions of the two witnesses during their visit to Vietnam (Photo: Ngoc Tan).

"That day, the three of us left at 6am in a car and arrived in Paris at 3pm. The plan had been prepared months in advance," recalled Olivier Parriaux, who came up with the idea for hanging the flag. When arriving at Notre Dame Cathedral, Nóe Graff waited below as the driver. Bernard Bachelard wrapped the flag around himself, and Olivier Parriaux carried a hacksaw. The two joined the group of tourists to approach the bell tower. "We came to a corridor, which was blocked by a fence. When there were no more tourists, we climbed over the fence easily," Olivier Parriaux said. "Notre Dame Cathedral has two bell towers similar to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City today. This is the roof of the church and the top of the arrow-shaped tower. The top of the arrow tower has a cross, where we planned to hang the flag," said Parriaux, pointing to a photo of Notre Dame Cathedral projected on a large backdrop. That night, they jumped down to the edge of the church roof and from there approached the arrow tower, nearly 100m above the ground. They had to overcome 4 statues of saints to reach the base of the tower.

Mr. Olivier Parriaux describes the moment he climbed so high that the tower was only as small as a hug (Photo: Ngoc Tan).

At the top of the tower, there are metal bars to hold on to. The higher they climb, the thinner the bars become. They are 19th century structures and are no longer sturdy. The two young men had a very difficult climb. "When I got near the top of the tower, I stopped, and Bernard continued climbing, climbing over a round iron step carved in the shape of a rose. Bernard was the one who overcame the most difficult step, hooked the flag to the top of the tower and then climbed over that difficult step to climb down," Olivier Parriaux said. Bernard Bachelard, who had mainly given the floor to his friend Olivier because of his poor health, was moved when he heard this and continued: "When I climbed that round rose step, it felt like it was cutting into my two hands." At that time, the two men tied themselves together with a rope, so that Olivier could catch Bernard if he stumbled. However, this safety rope was not sturdy. After successfully hooking the flag to the top of the tower, they pulled the elastic band that held the flag. The rope broke, and the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam fluttered in the wind. On the way down, Olivier used a saw to cut the horizontal bars, creating a gap of about 10 meters to prevent the police from climbing up to remove the flag. "Then we went down, using the rope technique of mountain climbers. It was 2am on January 19. We returned to the car, went to the Le Monde newspaper office to send a press release, then drove back to Switzerland," said Olivier Parriaux. At 4am, a police station near the church saw the flag fluttering on the top of the church. They raised the alarm and sent people to the scene, but they were unable to climb up to remove the flag. It was not until that afternoon, thanks to a firefighter who climbed from a helicopter, that the flag was removed. Despite all the preparations, Olivier Parriaux said there were still surprises that they had to bravely overcome. The first surprise appeared when they went from the bell tower to the edge of the roof. The two men had to jump over a 2.5 meter wide space, but there was no room to step back. Bernard jumped first, Olivier stumbled a bit, but was held by his companion. The second surprise was passing the statues of the apostles. They thought the statues were only 2 meters high, but in fact they were 4 meters high. The third surprise was when they moved to Le Monde newspaper. They encountered police in a square, thinking they would definitely be arrested. But the police saw the car's Swiss license plate and let them go. For the two young Swiss men, the fact that the flag was flying over Notre Dame Cathedral all day Sunday was enough to satisfy their calculation: to make that image spread around the world through the press.

Ordinary people sacrifice themselves for Vietnam

"My name is Olivier Parriaux, I was 24-25 years old that year, a student majoring in Physics. I have taught Physics in many countries, I am also an excellent professor in a city in France", Mr. Parriaux introduced himself to reporters in Ho Chi Minh City. For his part, Mr. Bernard Bachelard shared: "This is my second time coming to Vietnam. I have two jobs. The first job is a physical education teacher. The second job is the owner of a company that serves meals for the disabled".

The flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam was hung on top of Notre Dame Cathedral by Swiss youth (Photo: AFP).

Bernard's late wife was the one who secretly sewed the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam measuring 5x3.5m for him to carry to the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral 55 years ago. Sharing with the press in Ho Chi Minh City, the two guests said that they were not professional climbers. That year, they only had a courageous spirit, good physical condition and a carefully prepared plan. "At that time, we were more afraid of falling to our deaths than other fears. If they caught us, of course we would be imprisoned. For me and Noe, it was not a big problem, but for Bernard, it was a problem because he worked for the State, it could affect his work," said Olivier Parriaux. Those dangers did not deter them. Olivier Parriaux said that all three were determined to act when thinking about the war in Vietnam, where there were greater sacrifices and losses. When asked what motivated the Swiss youth to risk their lives for Vietnam, Mr. Olivier Parriaux shared three main motives. The first was to prepare for the presence of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam at the Paris Conference. The second was to undermine the Saigon government. The third was to welcome Henry Kissinger (the representative of the US government at the negotiating table in Paris at that time). "These three motives were formed by our political conscience since the 1960s," Mr. Parriaux shared, recalling the context of the anti-colonial war in Algeria, Cuba... In France, there were many demonstrations and strikes by French workers with millions of participants. The Swiss man said that many newspapers in and outside France wrote about the event of the National Liberation Front flag flying on the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral. That was an event that contributed to the opening of the Paris Conference.

"When I think of Vietnam, I think of your heroic fight and solidarity. You have defeated the greatest power in the world, the United States. When I return home, I will tell my relatives and friends about the warm welcome from the Ho Chi Minh City government. Before, I did not think I deserved such things. We are very happy. When we came here, we, the Swiss, realized that the war in Vietnam has not ended. Right now, there are still tons of unexploded bombs and bullets, continuing to kill Vietnamese people, and the terrible existence of Agent Orange, destroying both nature and people in Vietnam. I met Ms. Tran To Nga, a fighter for Agent Orange victims. Through that, we decided to engage in another fight, a fight against American chemical corporations that produced herbicides with dioxin levels many times higher than permitted." - Olivier Parriaux -

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/hai-nguoi-thuy-si-ke-chuyen-treo-co-viet-nam-tren-noc-nha-tho-duc-ba-paris-20241118185448818.htm