Hoa Lo Prison Museum | The Insiders’ Photos

Over a century has passed since the inauguration of Hỏa Lò Prison (Hell’s Hole Prison) in Hanoi in 1901. What had once been a synonym for terror for Vietnamese prisoners during the French Colonial period and U.S prisoners of war during the Vietnam-U.S conflict is now a vital commercial and historical landmark for many Hanoians. In the short span of an hour walking around the prison, we attempted to capture the place’s present essence and retrace some of its glorious – and perhaps controversial – past.

Formerly known as Maison Centrale (literally – Central House), the prison was notorious in its heyday in the 1950s for its containment of over 2000 inmates – a rapid expansion from just 460 when it was first introduced. After the French’s defeat in 1954, following the Geneva Accords, the prison came into possession of Vietnamese authority, and was henceforth used to house U.S prisoners of war in the conflict that pursued. As it was located on Hỏa Lò street – a name given for the concentration of shops selling wood and coal-fired stoves – the prison then took on a new face, which was considered befitting for its treatment of inmates in the following years.

Although Vietnamese authorities claim that, during the war against the U.S, Hỏa Lò’s prisoners were treated humanely and with care (the claims were supposedly backed up by depictions of U.S inmates playing chess, shooting pools, gardening, and eating nutritious meals), records by PoW found after they had been sent home pointed towards a more sinister past. Sarcastically named “Hanoi Hilton” in reference to the Hilton hotel chain, Hỏa Lò Prison was notorious among U.S inmates and soldiers for its gut-wrenching conditions, which included beating; murder; broken bones, teeth, and various body parts; starvation; and even the serving of food contaminated with human and animal feces.

When the war ended, however, the prison quickly fell into disrepair and was sporadically maintained until its partial demolition in the mid-1990s. From the parts that were brought down, two high-rise buildings, one of which is the 25-story Somerset Grand Hanoi, have cropped up and are now playing a vital role in Hanoi’s commercial scene. What remained of Hỏa Lò’s bloody past was renovated into a museum that depicts parts of it during French colonial times. Some of the new rooms include a guillotine room, interrogation room, and quarters for male and female political prisoners. Although much controversy has risen in response to the museum’s distorted portrayal of U.S inmates, one thing remains true in the hearts of many Vietnamese people – the museum itself is proof of a gloriously tumultuous era and the iron will of many Hanoians and Vietnamese alike.

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Photos by Phuong Hoang
Words by Dang Nguyen