Memoirs of Greek Hero Released by Vietnamese Publishers

The seminar pays tribute to the contributions and sacrifices for justice, peace, independence, freedom, and the noble international proletarian spirit of the Hero of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces Kostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap, a Greek soldier who fought side by side with the Vietnamese people for many years, and thought of Vietnam as his second homeland.

The memoir, whose original Greek title is "Testimony of a Greek Vietnamese about Vietnam's Struggle for Independence," is translated and published by Su That National Political Publishing House in collaboration with the Embassy of Vietnam in Greece with the new title "Vietnam - My Second Homeland".

The book "Vietnam - My Second Homeland" has the original Greek title "Testimony of a Greek-Vietnamese about Vietnam's Struggle for independence". (Photo: Truth National Political Publishing House).

The content of the book is built based on memoirs and diaries of Hero of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces Kostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap. As a person with “an extremely interesting and adventurous life,” the stories and words of Kostas Sarantidis have been recorded and preserved by the Association of Overseas Greeks, because “these experiences of him are, perhaps, the only one in the world”.

In 2022, Su That National Political Publishing House compiled and translated after receiving the manuscript from the Vietnamese Embassy in Greece. In October this year, the work was published with the name “Vietnam - My Second Homeland”. Within nearly 600 pages, there are many articles such as: Letters from Greece, First patrols, April /1946: Trip to Da Lat, From June 3-4, 1946 - How did I Desert and Join the Army?...

According to Editor-in-Chief of the National Political Publishing House Truth Vu Trong Lam, the memoir “Vietnam - My Second Homeland" recreates the fierce picture of the Vietnamese revolutionary war, in which the portrait of Kostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap is imbued with the spirit of a true hero.

Delegates learned about the book by Hero of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces Kostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap on the sidelines of the discussion. (Photo: Truth National Political Publishing House)

Editor-in-Chief Vu Trong Lan also referred to the book as a spiritual gift for fellow Greeks, as well as generations of Vietnamese and Greeks who have made many contributions to creating, maintaining, and developing the bilateral relations of solidarity and special friendship between Vietnam and Greece. At the same time, the memoir provides readers with more documents of the two countries to better understand and appreciate the history between the two peoples that his ancestors have worked hard to cultivate; contributing to consolidating and developing the traditional friendship and relationship between the two Parties, the two States and the two peoples.

At the seminar, Nguyen Thi Bach Tuyet, second daughter of Nguyen Van Lap recalled her father's dedication to his memiors. “Every night, my father wrote a diary to record events happened during the day and his thoughts. Then, in the early 1980s, he bought a typewriter to continue his diary."

Sharing about the reason that inspired her father to write diary about Vietnam, Tuyet believes her father wanted to combat the fake news of Vietnam and its people. “He could not accept that some movies or newspapers distort the truth when mentioning the war in Vietnam. Therefore, he had to authenticate the truth that he had experienced. On the other hand, when writing in Vietnamese, he wanted to remember the past days when he came to Vietnam. And perhaps, it is also to commemorate the important people in his life like the young soldier Lily - who helped him join the Viet Minh and became Uncle Ho's soldier, the soldiers who heroically fought and sacrificed for the just struggle of Vietnam, or the international boxer, his Spanish friend who died in the struggle of 1951-1952”.

Kostas Sarantidis (1927-2022) was born in Greece but spent most of his youth joining the Viet Minh army to fight against the French. In early February 1946, he joined the French legion corps and went to Saigon with the "desire to liberate" the local lands as the French government said. However, witnessing the brutal killings and robberies of French officers, he realized he was not here to protect the people. Hero Kostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap. (Photo: People's Army) In June 1946, Kostas Sarantidis escaped from the Legion, joined the Viet Minh, and took the Vietnamese name Nguyen Van Lap. During the nine years of the resistance war against the French, he was assigned to be in Inter-Region 5, and was present in many battles in the Central region. After the Geneva Agreement was signed in 1954, he gathered in the North to continue his revolution. In 1958, Kostas Sarantidis got married and had four children, all of whom had Vietnamese names. After nearly 20 years in Vietnam, in 1965, he returned to Greece, continuing to be a bridge of friendship between the two countries. On the mailbox in front of his house, he wrote both of his Greek and Vietnamese names - Kostas Sarantidis Nguyen Van Lap. In 2011, Kostas Sarantidis was awarded the Friendship Medal and granted Vietnamese citizenship by former President Nguyen Minh Triet. He is the first and only foreigner to receive the title of Hero of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces in 2013. After passing away at the age of 94, his ashes were brought back to Vietnam according to his will. His body was put to rest at Military Region 5 Cemetery in Da Nang.

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