Covering an area of 1,000 square metres on the campus of the Lam house of worship, the museum named “Revolutionary Soldiers Arrested and Imprisoned by their Enemies”, has a section worshiping heroic martyrs and nine rooms displaying more than 2,000 original and valuable objects and photos.

Lam Van Bang, Chu Huu Ngoc and Nguyen Trong Du are owners, curators and guides of the museum. They themselves make their own ways to collect objects and photos for their museum.

The managers said they opened the museum to honour revolutionary soldiers and sacrifices of heroic martyrs and to tell younger generations about the value of independence which the older generation fought for.

After more than 20 years of collecting and searching, the curators have provided their museum with a number of valuable objects and photos. One object, which catches the attention of most visitors, is the statue of Le Van Khang who was detained in the tiger cage of Phu Quoc prison. Le Van Khang, looking at his statue, recalled that he was arrested by the enemies after two days of being injured and losing contact with his military unit. Failing to interrogate him, the enemies tortured him brutally. As a revolutionary soldier, Mr Khang said he would rather die than disclosing military secrets.

The former POWs’ museum also displays a great number of war remnants. There is a bomb which the US dropped on Gie Bridge during its air attacks in the northern region during the 1970s. There are brutal torture tools which the enemies used to collect information from Vietnamese revolutionary soldiers. In addition, numerous valuable documents are displayed at the private museum.

Chu Huu Ngoc, a museum guide and also a collector, said he had searched for objects wherever they were regardless of hardships. He had cycled around 60km from Hanoi to Vinh Phuc province to ask for a political book which prisoners studied, cycled around the province to collect spades, and even traveled to central costal Nha Trang province to ask for a set of nail clippers. Mr Ngoc said he had received great help from people after they found out his purposes of collecting things.

Each object and photo at the museum speaks volumes for the staunchness of revolutionary soldiers during the war. Visitors were moved to see with their own eyes handbooks as small as a match box from which prisoners studied politics, yellow-star red flags, hammer and sickle flags, or youth union flags. What attracts visitors more are nails which the enemies used to torture prisoners. Some had nails driven into their stomachs, others to their heads or feet. Dang Hong Son was a naval sapper. He was arrested and imprisoned at Phu Quoc prison in 1968. The enemies tortured him by driving nine nails into his body. Soldier Son died after they had lodged a nail in his brain.

It has taken 20 years to collect the objects and it’s worth it as the museum now receives great attention from local administrations and visitors. Dang Van Tu, director of the Ha Tay provincial Department of Culture and Information, said the operation of the museum represents the Party and State’s great care for revolutionary soldiers. The museum is also a good place to educate younger generation, Mr Tu said.

Nguyen Van Chan, former secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, said the museum gives visitors a thorough view of the crimes of the enemies during the war. It also reminds younger generations of older generation’s sacrifice for national independence.

With objects and photos displayed at the museum, the “Revolutionary Soldiers Arrested and Imprisoned by their Enemies” museum has become a “red address” for people across the country, helping to maintain the revolutionary tradition for younger generations to follow.