The passing of Mrs. Madeleine Riffaud leaves behind infinite sorrow.

NDO - On November 6, 2024, Madeleine Riffaud, a heroine of the resistance against the German fascist occupation in France, an anti-colonial activist, a French communist journalist and also a very close friend of Vietnam, passed away in Paris at the age of 100. Nhan Dan Newspaper's correspondent in France interviewed Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang about Madeleine Riffaud's life and her contributions to the struggle for peace in Vietnam.

Reporter: Could you please share your thoughts on the feelings, spirit of solidarity and struggle for peace for Vietnam of Ms. Madeleine Riffaud?

Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang: During my term as Vietnamese Ambassador to France, I and a number of Embassy officials had the opportunity to visit Ms. Madeleine Riffaud at her private home in December 2023. This was also the last time we had the honor of meeting and talking directly with the heroine in the French people's resistance against Nazi Germany in World War II and a very close French friend of the Vietnamese people. At that time, Ms. Riffaud, 99 years old, although her health had declined significantly, her spirit was still clear and she always remembered Vietnam with love and affection. She recalled the major events in her life, memories of the extremely fierce years of the resistance war to save the country in which she accompanied the Vietnamese army and people, including memories of the times she had the honor of meeting and talking with Uncle Ho.

The apartment where she lived in Paris kept many souvenirs related to Vietnam and her special Vietnamese friends, which she greatly respected and cherished. To her, Vietnam was like a second homeland, a sacred land, where she had spent part of her youth. In conversations, she always conveyed her sincere feelings, always reserved a special place for Vietnam in her heart, expressing her joy at the increasingly strong development of Vietnam. We were very moved because the memories and love of that female communist soldier for the country and people of Vietnam over the decades remained intact, as if never tainted by history.

A delegation of officials from the Embassy and representative agencies of Vietnam in France, led by Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang, visited Ms. Madeleine Riffaud on December 7, 2023. (Photo: KHAI HOAN)

Reporter: How does the Ambassador evaluate Ms. Madeleine Riffaud's contributions to the movement to support Vietnam?

Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang: For the Vietnamese people, Madeleine Riffaud was a very steadfast comrade in arms, and at the same time very dear, close, loyal and devoted. For the Vietnamese Revolution, she was a female soldier, a French communist who always fought wholeheartedly against unjust wars for peace in Vietnam.

Since her first meeting with President Ho Chi Minh in 1946 when he visited France, Madeleine Riffaud's life has always been devoted to and wholeheartedly supported the cause of resistance against invasion, national reunification, construction and defense of the Vietnamese people. She was one of the first foreign war correspondents invited by Uncle Ho to Vietnam to witness the resistance against the US to save the country and was also one of the first anti-colonialism activists. In 1966, she went to northern Vietnam to film and report on the heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people and had the honor of meeting and talking with President Ho Chi Minh twice that year.

Many articles, reports and films made by Madeleine Riffaud under the bombs and bullets, published in the French Communist Party's Humanitarian Newspaper, have realistically portrayed the lives and heroic battles of Vietnamese soldiers and people during the period 1965-1973. These valuable documents have awakened the conscience, conquered the hearts of peace-loving people in France and around the world, and contributed to helping international public opinion understand more about the cruelty and injustice of the American war in Vietnam, the sacrifices, pain, and losses as well as the patriotism, indomitable will, and determination to gain national independence, freedom, and national reunification of the Vietnamese people.

Thanks to that, we have won the support of peace-loving people and progressive forces around the world for the just struggle and gained more advantages at the negotiating table of the Paris Agreement. In particular, her two books titled Dans les acquis de Vietcong (In the Viet Cong Base - Julliard Publishing House, 1965) and Au Nord du Vietnam, écrit sous les bombes (In North Vietnam, written under the bombs - Julliard Publishing House, 1967) have caused a great resonance in French and world public opinion, of which the first book was awarded the prize by the International Organization of Journalists (OIJ) in 1966.

Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang takes a souvenir photo next to the poster "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom" which is solemnly hung in the middle of Madeleine Riffaud's apartment. (Photo: KHAI HOAN)

Ms. Madeleine Riffaud also made important contributions to the good traditional relationship between the French Communist Party and the Communist Party of Vietnam, between the two States and peoples of Vietnam and France.

To express gratitude and acknowledge the great contributions of Mrs. Madeleine Riffaud to the cause of national liberation and nation building of the Vietnamese people, our Party and State awarded her the First Class Resistance Medal in 1984 and the Friendship Medal in 2004.

Reporter: Could you please share your thoughts on the passing of Ms. Madeleine Riffaud?

Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang: Through Madeleine Riffaud’s stories and experiences during the war, I clearly feel that what she wants to convey to future generations is a message of peace, friendship and perseverance in the fight for peace. Madeleine Riffaud is truly a model of dedication and altruism, who has devoted her life to defending the values ​​of justice, fighting for peace and social progress.

She not only represents courage, disregarding challenges and dangers, always standing side by side, sharing joys and sorrows with the Vietnamese people throughout the struggle, construction and protection of the Fatherland, but is also the embodiment of charity, humanity, love of peace, and international solidarity of the French people and progressive people around the world, a symbol of the profound and eternal friendship between the French and Vietnamese people.

Many French friends and generations of Vietnamese came to bid farewell to Madeleine Riffaud. (Photo: MINH DUY)

The passing of Madeleine Riffaud leaves behind infinite sorrow in the hearts of the Vietnamese people, peace-loving people and progressive people in France and around the world. The Party, State and people of Vietnam always remember and are grateful for the affection, solidarity, valuable help and extremely important contributions of our very close French friend, French revolutionary fighter and former war correspondent Madeleine Riffaud.

I firmly believe that, although Madeleine Riffaud has passed away, her deep love and affection for Vietnam, and her spirit as a female warrior for peace and justice, have been and continue to be a great source of encouragement and motivation, always accompanying and supporting Vietnam in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland and strengthening relations with friendly countries and international partners.

Reporter: Thank you very much, Ambassador!

Source: https://nhandan.vn/the-disappearance-of-warrior-for-peace-of-madeleine-riffaud-de-lai-niem-tiec-thuong-vo-han-trong-long-nhan-dan-viet-nam-post846824.html