There's not much left
of the infamous "Hanoi Hilton," the prison that
once housed captured American servicemen during
the Vietnam War, including U.S. Air Force pilot
Douglas "Pete" Peterson, the first U.S. ambassador
to Hanoi. What does remain, however, is a small
section of the old prison, which is now a museum,
and the tree under which Do Muoi, the aging former
general secretary of the Communist Party, used to
sit while writing on the backs of leaves during
his imprisonment by the French in the years of
Vietminh resistance.
Hoa Lo Prison Museum
is a blunt reminder of the horrors of colonialism
and wartime imprisonment. Here, through the front
gates of the old French Maison Centrale (Central
House, or Prison), built in 1896, you can get a
handle on what life was like for Vietnamese
prisoners held during France's occupation of
Vietnam. (The number of prisoners under the French
grew from 615 in 1913 to 2,000 in 1953.) In the
southern hall, beyond the grisly guillotine and
body basket, are cells where death row prisoners,
including Hoang Van Thu, Tran Dan Ninh, and Nguyen
Van Cu (who escaped and became a powerful early
leader of modern Vietnam), were held. These cells
are dank, dark, and anything but welcoming.
On exhibit upstairs
are Vietnamese propaganda photos of American POWs,
including Senator John McCain and former
Ambassador Peterson, cheerily shooting pool,
cooking, and writing letters. You won't be able to
see the building where the American pilots were
kept since it has been torn down, as has the cell
from which Do Muoi and 100 other prisoners escaped
in 1945 through the maze of sewers that ran under
the prison, parts of which are on display in the
courtyard.
If you're looking for
historical detail about the prison, you may be
disappointed by the museum's guidebooks, which are
far more inclined to talk about the size of the
cells than reveal any nuggets about what took
place behind the musty yellow walls. Note, too,
that there's little information in English at the
museum. COST: 10,000d.
OPEN: Tues.-Sun.
8:30-11:30 and 1:30-4:30.
