The exhibition tells stories about loyal soldiers who refused to perish in colonial and imperial prisons and were determined to escape prison to return to the revolution and the people. Many of them were forever lying in their mother’s womb or immersed in the deep sea when their escape failed; someone was fortunate to return but his body was not intact. All those hardships and sacrifices could not stop the patriotic soldiers’ journey to freedom, introduced through 3 contents: Xiềng xích, Tung cánh giữa màn đêm and Khúc ca hòa bình.
The space displayed in the “Xiềng xích” content reflects the extreme lives of Vietnamese people under the colonial and imperialist regime. In the dark night, the Vietnamese people must struggle with their strength to resist the heavy policies of exploitation, enslavement and terrorism. The system of tools of continuous suppression includes Courts, Secret Service Departments, Prisons established by colonial and imperialist authorities in all localities. In the content of Tung cánh giữa màn đêm, it depicts the contrasting image between the fortifications of prisons on the one hand and the revolutionary soldiers’ desire to escape through the metaphorical image of birds heading towards free. The contribution of the revolutionary soldiers after escaping from prison is shown on the golden boards, or the time-lapse videos of ‘Ký ức không phai’ of the revolutionary soldiers’ memories is the design highlight in the content of Khúc ca hòa bình.
At the opening of the exhibition, visitors will meet historical witnesses who have directly participated in the prison breaks and the relatives of revolutionary soldiers who participated in prison break in the past: Major General Huynh Dac Huong, who broke out of Phu Bai Detention Center in March 1945; Mr. Nguyen Ha Long, Invalids 2/4, who initiated the movement to dig dungeons in subdivision A2, Phu Quoc Prisoner Detention Center on the night of January 19, 1969; Mr. Do Trong Du, “expert” in making shovels and hatch covers at Phu Quoc Prisoners Prison; family members of General Nguyen Chi Thanh, General Van Tien Dung, soldier Tran Tu Binh, soldier Tran Dang Ninh, etc.
In particular, the exhibition will introduce to the public the documents related to the prison breaks and memorabilia of the revolutionary soldiers who participated in the prison break in the past time, such as Suits (used by Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Khuong (Song Hao), Chairman of the Political General Department, Deputy Minister of National Defense, Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs from 1987 to 2004); The sword (presented by military soldiers to Mr. Nguyen Van Tran (Hoa Lo Prison’s political prison in 1940) when he held the position of Secretary and Chairman of the Hanoi Resistance Committee); Ho Chi Minh medal (State Council of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam awarded to Mr. Nguyen Van Kha, dated August 8, 1990); Felt hat (used by Mr. Le Tat Dac while holding the position of Commissioner of the Central Communist Party, in 1940); Notes of Mr. Nguyen Ha Long and his teammates during working in Phu Quoc from 1969 – 1972, etc.
The exhibition is scheduled to open on May 14, 2020 at Hoa Lo Prison Historical Site located at No. 1 Hoa Lo, Tran Hung Dao, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.
Anh Thu