0:00:05 > 0:00:37Now it is time for Witness.
0:00:37 > 0:00:44I am here to guide you through five extraordinary moments from history.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49We will need a South African judge who took part in the truth and can
0:00:49 > 0:01:01see a show in -- reconciliation committee. And we will hear from a
0:01:01 > 0:01:04British scientist about the smog that used to engulf Britain. We
0:01:04 > 0:01:09start with one of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.
0:01:09 > 0:01:15During 1968, communists in north Vietnam launched a huge surprise
0:01:15 > 0:01:21offensive across south Vietnam with the support of local guerillas, the
0:01:21 > 0:01:28Vietcong. This is one of the members of the Vietcong which fought
0:01:28 > 0:01:32American and South Vietnamese forces in the city.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41They have been forced back to part of the northern side of the river
0:01:41 > 0:01:46dividing the city. The Americans and their allies cannot drive them out
0:01:46 > 0:01:49without destroying the city.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56TRANSLATION:The American bombardment was very heavy. We hid
0:01:56 > 0:02:02underground. When we came out, it was like standing on the moon.
0:02:02 > 0:02:10Complete destruction. That is how fierce it was. Of course, facing
0:02:10 > 0:02:18death, we were scared. So afraid to shoot they wet themselves. But once
0:02:18 > 0:02:23the bullets were fired, everyone disregarded death. No one cared any
0:02:23 > 0:02:34more. We just tried to find ways to make death glorified and beautiful
0:02:34 > 0:02:42instead of dying in disgrace.The bureau in North Vietnam decided to
0:02:42 > 0:02:48launch a general uprising everywhere in south Vietnam. On the 31st of
0:02:48 > 0:02:54January, 1968.It was the lunar holiday of Tet, normally a time of
0:02:54 > 0:03:02truce. The Vietcong entered the city with ease and encountered no major
0:03:02 > 0:03:11resistance. Local residents were also caught by surprise. It was
0:03:11 > 0:03:19because our plan was carried out in absolute secrecy. The counter-attack
0:03:19 > 0:03:23by the Americans and allies was so fierce, it was probably the toughest
0:03:23 > 0:03:29one in the Vietnam War. In all other places, including Saigon, the DR
0:03:29 > 0:03:38Congo tax filled quickly, within a few days. -- Viet Cong attacks
0:03:38 > 0:03:47failed. But thanks to local support, this one lasted 20 days. During the
0:03:47 > 0:03:53Tet Offensive, I felt the kiss of death five times. A mortar was fired
0:03:53 > 0:03:59towards our position one time, and it burned my hair as it went past
0:03:59 > 0:04:07me. Any closer, I would have been there. -- dead. We were exposed by
0:04:07 > 0:04:14being in the city. We were not able to resist American firepower. When
0:04:14 > 0:04:22we drew back into the jungle, we had suffered great losses the cost and
0:04:22 > 0:04:27civilian suffering has been terrible.It was made clear the
0:04:27 > 0:04:35paradox was to win back control meant that the Americans and south
0:04:35 > 0:04:40it is destroyed what they claimed to protect.The Americans realised they
0:04:40 > 0:04:44could not win the Vietnam War with military force, so they had to find
0:04:44 > 0:04:51a way out. The 1968 battle played a decisive role leading to our final
0:04:51 > 0:04:51victory.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04During the battle, forces from both sides committed a number of
0:05:04 > 0:05:15mistakes. So many innocent victims were killed, not only from one side.
0:05:15 > 0:05:2050 years have passed. It is now the time for the current leaders of this
0:05:20 > 0:05:27regime to come clean on this issue, to give justice for the victims.He
0:05:27 > 0:05:35still lives in the city. In these times of Brexit, it is hard to
0:05:35 > 0:05:40imagine, but in 1963, Britain was actually desperate to join Europe!
0:05:40 > 0:05:44British leaders of the day wanted to become members of what was then
0:05:44 > 0:05:55known as the European Economic Community. There was a problem, the
0:05:55 > 0:06:01French president was strongly opposed. Our next guest was a
0:06:01 > 0:06:25British diplomat at the time.Thank God for Englishmen.The British
0:06:25 > 0:06:30people, who only slowly came around to the idea to join the EEC, were
0:06:30 > 0:06:44really very shocked.With communication between countries a
0:06:44 > 0:06:49world apart now only a few hours, it compels new thinking along the
0:06:49 > 0:06:54economic front.1961, the British government applied to join the
0:06:54 > 0:07:00European community. Edward Heath was appointed.I have made a full
0:07:00 > 0:07:06statement to the members of the European economic group. In that
0:07:06 > 0:07:12statement I explained that the UK government wished to take its full
0:07:12 > 0:07:18part in working for a better European unity.The negotiations
0:07:18 > 0:07:25moved to Brussels. This was the point at which I got added to the
0:07:25 > 0:07:31British negotiating delegation. The idealism one found in Brussels back
0:07:31 > 0:07:40then was contagious, actually. And I think all of us who went were
0:07:40 > 0:07:43convinced that for Britain it was very important for those
0:07:43 > 0:07:56negotiations to succeed. Even back at the start, people realised that
0:07:56 > 0:08:09Charles de Gaulle had grave doubts about edition three. -- British
0:08:09 > 0:08:15entry. The six were trading among themselves. The pattern of Britain
0:08:15 > 0:08:21was outward looking. In particular, we traded a lot with the
0:08:21 > 0:08:25Commonwealth countries, and, of course, they had become extremely
0:08:25 > 0:08:34dependent on this. There was a lot of worry about where the French
0:08:34 > 0:08:40resident's position had reached, whether he was going to veto British
0:08:40 > 0:08:47men bishops. -- President. -- membership. Attention focused on a
0:08:47 > 0:08:57press conference he was going to give in the middle of January. He
0:08:57 > 0:09:03was seen we must ask ourselves, is Britain really ready. I think we
0:09:03 > 0:09:09need in our heart of hearts that he was really saying he was not going
0:09:09 > 0:09:15to let us in the good the reason stated by France is over differences
0:09:15 > 0:09:21in agricultural policy. That final negotiation, the long room with the
0:09:21 > 0:09:25British delegation at the far end, the French chatting among themselves
0:09:25 > 0:09:31and giggling and not joining the others, it was very symbolic. All of
0:09:31 > 0:09:36the French on one side, and the five who supported British entry, very
0:09:36 > 0:09:42much on the other.Former British diplomat, Juliet Campbell. And now
0:09:42 > 0:09:46we go to China to be in 1968, Chairman Mao officially launched a
0:09:46 > 0:09:50scheme to provide healthcare to rural areas by giving thousands of
0:09:50 > 0:09:56people a six medical training and sending them out to work in
0:09:56 > 0:10:01villages. -- basic. They were known as barefoot doctors. Gordon was one
0:10:01 > 0:10:10of them.I became a doctor after I graduated from high school simply
0:10:10 > 0:10:16because I was one of the most educated young people. I did not
0:10:16 > 0:10:23have any training, any experience, knowledge, in medicine, whatsoever.
0:10:23 > 0:10:31Chairman Mao says the six must he healed and has caused a shakeup in
0:10:31 > 0:10:36health services in China. -- sick. Medical attention has been provided
0:10:36 > 0:10:40where there was none before. The most striking the Parliament was a
0:10:40 > 0:10:46training of a vast core of barefoot doctors. They have farm work to do
0:10:46 > 0:10:51as well in training is limited, but it can save countless lives.We
0:10:51 > 0:11:01provided basic services to villagers, mostly in common cold
0:11:01 > 0:11:16conditions, infections, diarrhoea things like that. Sometimes we had
0:11:16 > 0:11:20to take shoes off to work in the farm. We were not always barefoot. I
0:11:20 > 0:11:23do have shoes! I started as a barefoot doctor to not only treat
0:11:23 > 0:11:41people, but animals. We had horses, pigs, so in the beginning, I
0:11:41 > 0:11:44practised work injecting by giving shots to pigs and horses, not as
0:11:44 > 0:11:47difficult as humans. All the people in the village believed to my care
0:11:47 > 0:11:51would be good enough for them to take care of their health. Because
0:11:51 > 0:12:04if I was not there for their healthcare, who would be there
0:12:04 > 0:12:07otherwise? No-one. One of my relatives, she had a problem with
0:12:07 > 0:12:11her teeth. So then she said, my little brother, can you do something
0:12:11 > 0:12:29for me? And I said, yeah, let me give it a try. After three or four
0:12:29 > 0:12:32days, her problem was gone. That news spread to the whole village.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Epidemics were checked. One doctor said smugly that the only diseases
0:12:35 > 0:12:41we get in China are from Hong Kong. Certainly, cholera and smallpox took
0:12:41 > 0:12:46fewer victims than in the old days. Most people in China and many people
0:12:46 > 0:12:56in other countries like outside of China perceived the barefoot doctor
0:12:56 > 0:13:00system very highly. My view is somewhat different from that. Back
0:13:00 > 0:13:09in the 60s and 70s, as a result of the cultural Revolution, the Chinese
0:13:09 > 0:13:13higher education system was shut down. But if I could choose between
0:13:13 > 0:13:25going to the countryside for years or going to college, mostly I would
0:13:25 > 0:13:28choose college. Since that was the only choice available to me, there
0:13:28 > 0:13:38was something positive.And he is now eight professor of health
0:13:38 > 0:13:42economics at Peking University. -- A. Remember, you can watch the show
0:13:42 > 0:13:53on line. Just go to BBC .co .uk.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57Next, we are off to South Africa which in the 1990s face the daunting
0:13:57 > 0:13:58challenge of
0:13:58 > 0:13:59which in the 1990s face the daunting challenge of facing the legacy of
0:13:59 > 0:14:05apartheid rule. We spoke at two just as Sisi Khampepe who served on the
0:14:05 > 0:14:08country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.We are charged to
0:14:08 > 0:14:16unearth the truth about our past. To lay the ghosts of that passed so
0:14:16 > 0:14:23they will not return to haunt us. I was a member of the truth commission
0:14:23 > 0:14:29and also a member of the amnesty community.South Africans face a
0:14:29 > 0:14:32collective tested today. The reaction to these hearings will show
0:14:32 > 0:14:37whether they are able to expose the sins of apartheid yet free
0:14:37 > 0:14:40themselves from the desire for revenge against those who propped up
0:14:40 > 0:14:45a system.The Truth and Reconciliation Commission allowed
0:14:45 > 0:14:51amnesty only if the perpetrator confessed that they committed the
0:14:51 > 0:14:55crime.I did terrible things. I did terrible things to members of the
0:14:55 > 0:15:05ANC.I grew up in Soweto. It was rampant with security police. It
0:15:05 > 0:15:13felt like hell. Being in the city required a special permit if you
0:15:13 > 0:15:20were a black person. Absolutely no freedom of movement. I had also
0:15:20 > 0:15:25suffered as an activist by being shot in the leg by the police while
0:15:25 > 0:15:33attending a funeral for my fellow students. It was at a graveyard
0:15:33 > 0:15:40where the police again started shooting. I survived. Others were
0:15:40 > 0:15:46killed on the spot. It is a scar that is a constant reminder of where
0:15:46 > 0:15:57I come from. I knew the harshness of the system first-hand. Yet as a
0:15:57 > 0:16:01member of the amnesty committee, I had to decide that these people had
0:16:01 > 0:16:09to be granted amnesty. Not because they were apologetic but merely
0:16:09 > 0:16:20because they disclose the truth. That was really difficult.Did you
0:16:20 > 0:16:24then shoot that man?Yes, that is correct. People would cry. Just by
0:16:24 > 0:16:29listening to the explanation that was given of how people were
0:16:29 > 0:16:38tortured. People were killed.What kind of man uses a method like this
0:16:38 > 0:16:43on other human beings?There were occasions when people who applied
0:16:43 > 0:16:49for amnesty did say sorry. Those were few and far between. But it was
0:16:49 > 0:16:54extraordinarily difficult for me when people did not even care to
0:16:54 > 0:17:01apologise.There was no other way other than to eliminate these
0:17:01 > 0:17:15people.These hearings provided a forum for those who have been
0:17:15 > 0:17:21treated, in the past, as if they were rubbish.Archbishop Desmond
0:17:21 > 0:17:25Tutu was the star of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Without
0:17:25 > 0:17:29his leadership, the commission would not have been able to attain its
0:17:29 > 0:17:37objectives. I think the amnesty process assured that people were not
0:17:37 > 0:17:43vengeful. That there was proper public acknowledgement and
0:17:43 > 0:17:49recognition of those who had suffered.We are asking from you to
0:17:49 > 0:17:57please forgive us.Going through a process of coming out from our
0:17:57 > 0:18:03grief. But here we have the lovely people who are generous. Their
0:18:03 > 0:18:11generosity is always amazing. I wake up every morning and I am grateful
0:18:11 > 0:18:19that after all, I am a South African.Just as Sisi Khampepe
0:18:19 > 0:18:24talking to Witness in South Africa. Finally, it is hard to imagine now
0:18:24 > 0:18:32but London used often to be shrouded in thick smog for days at a time. In
0:18:32 > 0:18:361952, conditions were so bad that thousands of people died in the
0:18:36 > 0:18:40government eventually had to act. Scientist Brian Commons was called
0:18:40 > 0:18:48in to study the killer smog. Ordinary fog does little harm. Smog,
0:18:48 > 0:18:52a mixture of smoke and four, has become one of the greatest mass
0:18:52 > 0:18:58murderers of modern times.The smoke began on a Friday and it was black.
0:18:58 > 0:19:04It was described as a pea soup because it was a little yellow wish.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08You could smell it. It tasted a little acidic. And it caused
0:19:08 > 0:19:17absolute havoc. The levels of pollution were horrendous.You could
0:19:17 > 0:19:22not see your feet. I remember on one particular occasion I wanted to
0:19:22 > 0:19:27cross a wide road and I shuffled across and after about ten minutes I
0:19:27 > 0:19:33did not know where I was and, finally, I ended up on the same side
0:19:33 > 0:19:43of the road as I started. It was extremely cold. Brought a and, of
0:19:43 > 0:19:50course, Londoners wanted to keep warm. And so they don't call on
0:19:50 > 0:19:56their open fires. The pollution did not rise up, it tended to drift down
0:19:56 > 0:20:06and pervade the streets and everything else. The smog got in
0:20:06 > 0:20:16every way. You could not avoid it. Special filtering masks are the
0:20:16 > 0:20:20latest weapon devised...Quite a number of people had bronchitis
0:20:20 > 0:20:25because of industrial pollution exposure and because they smoked. Of
0:20:25 > 0:20:35course, when a breeze polluted air, this became very hard for them.
0:20:35 > 0:20:42Heaven help the doctor on a night like this... What can you do when
0:20:42 > 0:20:46records and experience tells you the city 's death rate is about to jump.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51As many as 100,000 people in London were made ill by the pollution at
0:20:51 > 0:20:58the time, particularly people with asthma, cardiovascular problems.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03Also the very young and the elderly, they also suffered.If you looked at
0:21:03 > 0:21:10his x-ray you would see plenty.And to see somebody fighting for air is
0:21:10 > 0:21:22a harrowing experience. Trying to get Aero into their lungs. And, of
0:21:22 > 0:21:30course, it was dirty air. Even in the ward. -- trying to get a. There
0:21:30 > 0:21:35were estimates that there were some 4000 Access deaths and there was a
0:21:35 > 0:21:41shortage of cough and because there were so many people who died. --
0:21:41 > 0:21:474000 Access deaths. The government recognised that we needed to study
0:21:47 > 0:21:53the pollution and that is why we set up an air pollution research unit in
0:21:53 > 0:21:57Saint Barts Hospital in central London. I was a founding member of
0:21:57 > 0:22:10that. In 1956, the government decided to pass something called the
0:22:10 > 0:22:16clean air act to try and discourage and minimise the amount of smoky
0:22:16 > 0:22:20flues are being used.New flats with our chimneys are part of the
0:22:20 > 0:22:26campaign...We still had smog but as time went on we had the availability
0:22:26 > 0:22:34of smokeless fuels like natural gas and oil. Without that, we would have
0:22:34 > 0:22:43been in a bad way.Doctor Brian Commons there. That is all from
0:22:43 > 0:22:48Witness this month here at the British library. We will be back
0:22:48 > 0:22:51next month with more first-hand accounts of extraordinary moments in
0:22:51 > 0:23:03history. For now, from me and the rest of the team, goodbye.