State President meets ex-prisoners of Hoa Lo

The French built the house in 1901 near Hanoi’s French Quarter to imprison, torture and execute Vietnamese political activists, especially revolutionaries, agitating for national independence and freedom.

Inside prison cells, Vietnamese communists secretly established Party organisations, running political courses, publishing newspapers and leading the revolution against French colonialism.

Many communists managed to escape the prison and returned to the revolutionary life. Five of them were later elected Party General Secretaries, and 78 Party Central Committee members, while hundreds of others held key positions during different periods of the revolution.

The Party and State has conferred the title “the Hero of People’s Armed Forces” to the collective of Hoa Lo Prison revolutionaries, acknowledging their great contribution to the struggle for national freedom and independence.

It is reported that most of the Hoa Lo revolutionaries have died, and only few are still alive aged between 80 and 100.  

President Sang was moved when meeting with the age-old revolutionaries who helped culminate in the victory of the August 1945 Revolution and the war of resistance against French colonialism in 1954.

They [Hoa Lo Prison revolutionaries] have set a bright example for generations of Vietnamese people in the cause of national construction and defence, Sang said.

He wished them good health and happiness with their families and set an exemplary role model especially in instilling patriotism and self-reliance in younger generations.