The book launch ceremony, published by Wiljo Heinen Publishing House in Berlin, attracted the attention of a large number of Germans who are interested in Vietnam and the Vietnamese people's just war against American imperialism. The Minister Counselor of the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany, Mr. Chu Tuan Duc, attended the event.

The book is a collection of authentic notes and photos collected by the author himself about the war in Vietnam in 1972, when Mr. Kapfenberger was a resident correspondent for the ADN news agency of the German Democratic Republic and the "New Germany" (Neues Deutschland) newspaper in Hanoi.

Veteran German journalist Hellmut Kapfenberger talks at the launch of his new book.

The 256-page work is a synthesis, record, and evaluation, vividly presented with 36 illustrative photos taken by the author himself during his work in the northern regions of Vietnam, helping to bring readers a complete and authentic picture of the resistance war of the Vietnamese people, especially in 1972.

In the introduction of the work, journalist Kapfenberger summarizes the historical process, from the call for a general uprising across the country by the National Conference of the Indochinese Communist Party in August 1945. Then, on September 2, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...

The author argues that the world perceived the developments in the Vietnam War in very different ways. While the socialist countries believed they were well informed about events in Vietnam, the Western news agencies, newspapers, radio and television stations either propagated or concealed information at the request of political decision makers. According to the author, what happened in Vietnam at that time attracted attention from all over the world, but the daily perception and description of events were completely different in the East and the West. Western reporters were only in the South and there were only a few foreign journalists in Hanoi to describe what was really happening there.

The author also wrote that the US use of the defoliant "Agent Orange" in Vietnam did not begin in 1965 with the US's open intervention, but the US Air Force carried it out as early as 1961 and lasted until 1971. The spraying of this toxic chemical has left devastating consequences to this day and will certainly continue for a long time to come...

In the book's introduction to readers, publisher Wiljo Heinen emphasized that Kapfenbergerer's witness account is not only a contemporary document but also a testament to solidarity with a nation that stood up to fight for its independence and freedom.

According to Counselor Chu Tuan Duc, the author's efforts as well as the works that Mr. Kapfenbergerer wrote about Vietnam will help German friends and readers understand more and have a more comprehensive view of Vietnam, thereby contributing to promoting good relations between the people of the two countries.

News and photos: VNA