Our last stop on the tour of Hanoi was the Hoa Lo Prison. Before the prison, the Thang Long citadel occupied the site, and inside there was a village called Phu Khanh. The village was known for making teakettles, pots, and other craft ceramic home appliances in hot furnaces. Thus the name, Hoa Lo, translates to ‘Fiery furnace.’
In 1896 French colonialists built the prison, the court of assize, and the secret agent office on the land, “forming a complete autocratic ruling system to aid their domination and oppression against the patriotic and revolutionary movements of the Vietnamese people.”
Or that is what the sign says at the prison. Just sourcing the quote.
The prison covered a total land area of 12,908 meters squared, and was one of the largest and most fortified prisons in Indochina at the time.
After reading that information, and our guide still babbling on about what I was not clear, I decided to simply move on without him. Several followed and all commented how we wished they had provided the audio tour instead of our tour guide. But here we are.
There is no denying this is a dark part of history. The displays are powerful and solemn as they should be for this subject. We were led by the toilets, in ‘Cell E’ where prisoners had no privacy. If they argued against the harsh treatment, the warden ‘diabolically’ made the cleaning of the toilets forbidden, thus allowing the waste to build up and foul the air. The sign in the area used the word ‘diabolically.’ Not one I would have chosen, but diabolical way to capture my attention.
The prisoners reacted to that by using the toilets to hide secret documents from the guards. They put the documents in metal boxes, tied in a nylon bag, then hid them in the toilet waste. At the end of the day, they pulled out the boxes and used the documents for training and sparking the revolution.
Yuck.
If a prisoner was caught resisting the jailers, he was sent to the Cachot, or Dungeon. The dungeon is described as ‘Hell of the hell” on the information cards. It was dark and the prisoners relieved themselves and ate on the same spot. “Prisoners confined here were puffed with oedema, their eyes were clouded over and their bodies covered with scabies caused by the lack of light.”
During the period of 1930-1954, an almond tree which still stands within the prison walls was a savior for the prisoners. They used the bark and young leaves to cure dysentery and diarrhea, and to clean wounds. They ate the almonds to improve health, and they used branches to make pen holders, pipes or flutes.
That tree was probably the lightest point of the entire tour… and I did not get a picture.
They had a separate detention area for female prisoners which was 270 sq meters. It had 4 cells, a small bath and one cell to allow for the birthing of children. At one point, around 300 female prisoners were kept in this area. With no running water and misappropriation of food rations, many died here.
The condemned cells were for those who were on death row. They were completely isolated from everyone else and the prisoners constantly shackled. The walls were painted in black tar and the doors were opened only twice a day when guards brought food and water. According to prison regulations, the death row prisoner would stay in one of these cells for a minimum of 10 months, so they could file an appeal with the court, but most, especially the ones who were considered dangerous to the guards, were executed in a few days.
There is an extensive written section of the museum devoted to the American war, which highlights the B-52 bombers and the destruction they reigned down on beloved Hanoi. It was interesting to read the other perspective. I imagine, if the war would have taken place on American soil, the words from the American perspective would be similar if not the same.
These people were defending their homeland. Right, wrong, good or bad, one side wins, one side loses. Both are simply defending themselves.
But that section did lead to the section where the prison was used to house the captured B-52 pilots between 1964 and 1973. It was then commonly referred to as the ‘Hilton-Hanoi’ or ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, which I am sure most in the United States have heard of.
The tour ends with a series of boards about the treatment of American pilots and starts with this quote:
“Behind the stone walls of the place known as the “Hilton – Hanoi,” these pilots took a moment to contemplate the war they fought and see life through the lens of the Vietnamese people. The letters they wrote to their families and drawings they created told the story of their lives during the time they spent at the Hoa Lo Detention Center.”
The final panels show how the soldiers on both sides are coming together to work through their war wounds and encourage peace.
Given the scope of the museum, and what I knew of the Vietnam war (which admittedly is very little, I was surprised to see so little devoted to the American war and so much devoted to the French. Of course, now I know the French were there longer, but the American portion was almost neutral in comparison.
I don’t know what to say. I know several veterans. Not ony from the Vietnam war, but through my life several wars. I do not pretend to know their demons or understand the path they walked so I can live in the environment I do. No question our lives in the United States are better for their devotion to country, if they served willingly or not.
Today I struggle to uphold their sacrifices, which are significant to me, while I stand in another culture, face to face with their enemy.
The gaping wounds are scars now. Not papercuts for many, but the wound is closed. The earth, the people, the universe has moved on. I am glad we have come to this space of neutrality at least, but I am left with… I do not know how to define the feeling.
I suppose evil and sainthood are the same coin. They can only be defined by perspective.
