Hoa Lo Prison

 

 Prison is hell. A prison where torture is standard is Hoa Lo--the fiery furnace. Americans know this prison as the Hanoi Hilton, where many US POWs were kept during the war. We generally do not know that this prison has housed many freedom fighters over the years, having been built by the French in 1886 to house political dissidents. The incarceration of Vietnamese by foreign colonizers is the key theme of the prison. There are dioramas and installations depicting the starvation and torture levied on inmates throughout its history. Its a pretty grim tourist site, but many tourists, both Vietnamese and foreigners, were there the day we visited. There was a special exhibit covering the American War era. Lots of victors' bravado on the text of professionally produced wall plaques. 

 This is one of those places where the reality of humanity's inhumanity to itself kind of sinks your heart. We want to push away this darkness in our human nature and feel stunned to see it even in a depiction. This is so true that a permanent altar is set up in the museum. This is where we held a ceremony, with group members offering prayers and songs as they felt moved and we all offered incense. Although it has always been true, somehow I was particularly struck by the presence of flowers on every altar I've ever known. Beauty to remind us to keep loving.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The American War Museum

Image
 Our first outing on the first day of this trip was to the American War Museum in Hanoi where the geist of the whole place was an affirmation of the warrior archetype and nationalism. We arrived at the same time as a group of Vietnamese Army officers on an outing to the Museum. They greeted us with wide open smiles and started photographing us. This led to introductions and more smiles. Our guide and interpreter explained a little about our reason for being there.  I especially loved all the selfies and the open faces..  In the background is a massive  art installation of war wreckage and valiant woman warrior.  We have come on a peace and reconciliation mission and this felt like a perfect moment to see abd appreciate the power of person to person interaction in manifesting these shared human values. We have had very little time to reflect and I am aware that with so much happening each day some highlight moments will be lost. 
Read more

Freedom to Speak

 Our guide to the War Museum  was a NVA veteran of the American War. He had been an artillery officer and also had spent 10 years in France, where he had "seen" the documents for the Geneva Peace Treaty, which was written in Vietnamese, French, English and Russian. This implied to me that he also had some sort of diplomatic role. He was interviewed and appeared on screen in Ken Burns documentary on the Vietnam War.  He seemed quite open, but when we got back on the bus with our general guide, without him, we heard that there was perhaps more to his story. Because the veteran was a member of the communist party, our main guide did not feel comfortable criticizing the government, the war, or pretty much anything else in front of him. Previously one could be arrested for such speech, but now there is more freedom to speak, at least privately.  There was another incident in a village in Khe Sanh province that made me aware that our guides are walking a fine line in herdi...
Read more