Hell on Earth

A shocking chapter from Vietnam's history is told at the Hoa Lo Prison Museum. The French built their 'Maison Centrale,' as the prison was euphemistically called, at the end of the 19th century to imprison political prisoners. The inmates were shackled to the walls and floors in dozens, routinely tortured, female prisoners were raped, and they lived under horrific conditions. Those sentenced to death were beheaded by guillotine directly in the prison.

After the French were expelled from Vietnam in 1954, the communists used this dreadful place to incarcerate political opponents and from 1964 to 1973 for American prisoners of war. The most famous among them were John McCain, the later Republican senator and unsuccessful opponent against Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, and Pete Peterson, who became the first U.S. ambassador to Hanoi in 1997. McCain was shot down in 1967 during a bombing mission over Hanoi.

The prison museum claims that the Vietnamese treated the Americans humanely – in contrast to the incomprehensible brutality of the French against the Vietnamese prisoners. According to reports from McCain, this is only partially true. Despite severe injuries from the crash, he received only minimal medical care; moreover, he was subjected to torture and psychological manipulation and was beaten by the guards.

However, there is also an ironic twist to this grim chapter of humanity: In the 1990s, the government had about 80 percent of the prison complex demolished. At the site that the Vietnamese called 'Hell on Earth' and the U.S. POWs referred to as the 'Hanoi Hilton,' now stands a massive concrete block. It is indeed, although not a 'Hilton,' still a hotel.