Тюрьма Хоало: «Отель Ханой» и история вьетнамских каторг.

Vietnamese Prison Camp

Hỏa Lò Prison (, Nhà tù Hỏa Lò; ) was a prison in Hanoi originally used by the French colonists in Indochina for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for U. S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. During this later period, it was known to American POWs as the "Hanoi Hilton". Following Operation Homecoming, the prison was used to incarcerate Vietnamese dissidents and other political prisoners, including the poet Nguyễn Chí Thiện. The prison was demolished during the 1990s, although its gatehouse remains a museum.

The name Hỏa Lò, commonly translated as "fiery furnace" or even "Hell's hole", also means "stove". The name originated from the street name phố Hỏa Lò, due to the concentration of stores selling wood stoves and coal fire stoves along the street in pre colonial times. The prison was built in Hanoi by the French, in dates ranging from 1886 to 1889 to 1901, A 1913 renovation expanded its capacity from 460 inmates to 600. Within the prison itself, communication and ideas passed. Many of the future leading figures in Communist North Vietnam and Viet Minh spent time in Maison Centrale during the 1930s and 1940s. Conditions for political prisoners in the "Colonial Bastille" were publicised in 1929 in a widely circulated account by the Trotskyist Phan Van Hum of the experience he shared with the charismatic publicist Nguyen An Ninh.

Following the defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and the 1954 Geneva Accords the French left Hanoi and the prison came under the authority of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Thereafter the prison served as an education center for revolutionary doctrine and activity, and it was kept around after the French left to mark its historical significance to the North Vietnamese. From the beginning, U. S. POWs endured miserable conditions, including poor food and unsanitary conditions. The prison complex was sarcastically nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton" by the American POWs, in reference to the well known Hilton Hotel chain. There is some disagreement among the first group of POWs who coined the name but F 8D pilot Bob Shumaker was the first to write it down, carving "Welcome to the Hanoi Hilton" on the handle of a pail to greet the arrival of Air Force Lieutenant Robert Peel. Beginning in early 1967, a new area of the prison was opened for incoming American POWs; These names were chosen because many pilots had trained at Nellis Air Force Base, located in proximity to Las Vegas. American pilots were frequently already in poor condition by the time they were captured, injured either during their ejection or in landing on the ground. The Hỏa Lò was one site used by the North Vietnamese Army to house, torture, mistreat, and interrogate captured servicemen, mostly American pilots shot down during bombing raids. which demanded "decent and humane treatment" of prisoners of war, severe torture methods were employed, such as rope bindings, irons, beatings, and prolonged solitary confinement. When prisoners of war began to be released from this and other North Vietnamese prisons during the Johnson administration, their testimonies revealed widespread and systematic abuse of prisoners of war. Regarding treatment at Hỏa Lò and other prisons, the North Vietnamese countered by stating that prisoners were treated well and in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. During 1969, they broadcast a series of statements from American prisoners that purported to support this notion. Beginning in late 1969, treatment of the prisoners at Hỏa Lò and other camps became less severe and generally more tolerable. This created the "Camp Unity" communal living area at Hỏa Lò, which greatly reduced the isolation of the POWs and improved their morale. Doug Hegdahl, inmate who played a fool to memorize all the names, personal information and capture dates of the prisoners there. Sam Johnson, USAF fighter pilot, Representative (R TX). Joe Kernan, US Navy pilot, former governor of Indiana. Joseph Kittinger, USAF pilot, record breaking parachutist. William P. Lawrence, US Navy pilot, Chief of Naval Personnel and Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy. Hayden Lockhart, first Air Force pilot captured in North Vietnam, third American captured. John McCain, US Navy pilot, Senator (R AZ) and 2008 Republican presidential nominee, spent parts of his five and a half years as a POW there. Robinson Risner, USAF fighter pilot, POW from 1965 to 1973. A lieutenant colonel when shot down and captured, he was the senior ranking POW, responsible for maintaining chain of command among his fellow prisoners. Howard Rutledge, US Navy pilot, held there for part of his 7 1/2 years of captivity, co author of In the Presence of Mine Enemies: 1965–1973 – A Prisoner of War with his wife. Lance Sijan, USAF fighter pilot, Medal of Honor recipient. Jerry A. Singleton, USAF helicopter pilot, Lieutenant Colonel, Silver Star recipient. James Stockdale, US Navy pilot, Medal of Honor recipient, 1992 vice presidential candidate. He and William P. Lawrence were the most senior ranking US Navy POWs. Floyd James Thompson, US Army Special Forces, the longest held U. S. POW, spending almost 9 years in captivity.

After the implementation of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, neither the United States nor its allies ever formally charged North Vietnam with the war crimes revealed to have been committed there. In the 2000s, the Vietnamese government has had the position that claims that prisoners of war were tortured at Hỏa Lò and other sites during the war are fabricated, but that Vietnam wants to move past the issue as part of establishing better relations with the U. S. However, eyewitness accounts by American servicemen present a different account of their captivity. After the war, Risner wrote the book Passing of the Night detailing his seven years at Hỏa Lò. A considerable amount of literature emerged from released POWs after repatriation, depicting Hỏa Lò and the other prisons as places where such atrocities as murder, beatings, broken bones, teeth and eardrums, dislocated limbs, starvation, serving of food contaminated with human and animal feces, and medical neglect of infections and tropical disease occurred. These details are revealed in famous accounts by McCain (Faith of My Fathers), Denton, Alvarez, Day, Risner, Stockdale and dozens of others. In addition, Hỏa Lò was depicted in the 1987 Hollywood movie The Hanoi Hilton.

The prison continued to be in use after the release of the American prisoners. Among the last inmates was dissident poet Nguyễn Chí Thiện, who was reimprisoned in 1979 after attempting to deliver his poems to the British Embassy, and spent the next six years in Hỏa Lò until 1985 when he was transferred to a more modern prison. He mentions the last years of the prison, partly in fictional form, in Hỏa Lò/Hanoi Hilton Stories (2007).

Most of the prison was demolished in the mid 1990s and the site now contains two high rise buildings, one of them the 25 story Somerset Grand Hanoi serviced apartment building. Other parts have been converted into a commercial complex retaining the original French colonial walls. Only part of the prison exists today as a museum. The displays mainly show the prison during the French colonial period, including the guillotine room, still with original equipment, and the quarters for male and female Vietnamese political prisoners. Building materials from several complete cells were saved, including original bricks, cement ceilings, concrete “beds” with ankle shackles, and an original cell door and transom window. After being in storage in Vietnam for six years and nearly another ten in Canada, the cells were reconstructed using the original materials and turned into a permanent exhibit that opened in 2023 at the American Heritage Museum in Stow, Massachusetts.