Let the country stand up...

The delegation visited Con Dao Historical Museum

For independence, for freedom...

During the trip, the delegation visited Con Dao Museum - a place to store heroic historical pages, located right in the center of Con Dao town, built in a modern and solemn style. Inside is a quiet, solemn space with more than 2,000 documents and artifacts on display about the nature and people of Con Dao from prehistoric and early historical times to the current development stage. Among them, what impressed us emotionally was the history of the struggle at Con Dao Prison, during the period when this place was once known as "hell on earth".

The museum's exhibition space is designed simply but extremely impressive, including a reception room and main themes: Con Dao Nature, Con Dao Battlefield, School, Con Dao Hell on Earth and Con Dao Today. With each theme, the artifacts are displayed in a different style and bring viewers many special emotions. The portraits of patriots, indomitable revolutionary soldiers throughout the years of struggle have left us with a beautiful, unforgettable symbol in our memories when coming here, especially the Con Dao Prison relic.

Guiding us to visit the prison relic site, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Xuan, an officer of the Con Dao National Monuments Conservation Center, said that the prison existed for 113 years, from 1862 to 1975. The French colonialists and the American imperialists built 127 cells, 42 solitary confinement cells and 504 isolated cells (also known as tiger cages) in Con Dao. This is the most concentrated place of the notorious prison governance system of the French colonialists and the American imperialists, typical of the forced, imprisoned, tortured and massacred revolutionary soldiers, prisoners forced to labor until exhausted... There were about 200,000 prisoners here who were patriotic soldiers from many generations of Vietnamese people imprisoned, tortured and sacrificed in this "hell on earth", 20,000 prisoners have forever remained on this land of Con Dao.

At the “Tiger Cage”, prisoners never had a moment of peace, at any time there were prying eyes of the prison guards, at any time they could be beaten, sprayed with lime powder... Not only that, the tiger cage also had a system of roofless prison cells, a place called the “sunbathing room”. The method of torture was that prisoners would strip off all their clothes and lie exposed to the harsh sun and pouring rain...

Overcoming physical and mental pain, the struggles of revolutionary soldiers in prison still took place fiercely, in many forms, such as hunger strikes, writing petitions, demanding reduction of hard labor, abolishment of beatings, demanding improvement of life, living conditions, receiving letters, books and newspapers... "Tiger Cage" became the soul in the struggle to protect the integrity of Con Dao political prisoners, associated with the feats of the anti-secession and anti-flag salute movements, associated with the names of "Tiger Cage Old Man", Cao Van Ngoc, Luu Chi Hieu and the five victorious stars Nguyen Duc Thuan, Phan Trong Binh, Pham Quoc Sac, Nguyen Minh, Le Van Mot, as well as many steadfast and indomitable examples of protecting the integrity at "Tiger Cage"...

The delegation visited the historical site "Tiger Cages"

Continuing the tradition

Major General Tran Huu Tai, Chairman of the Veterans Association of Binh Duong province, shared that each time he visited the historical site of Con Dao Prison, he had more profound feelings about the indomitable and heroic struggle of the patriots and revolutionary soldiers against the enemy, with a steadfast and indomitable spirit, always ready to sacrifice blood and bones to regain independence and freedom for the Fatherland and the people. “For us, the veterans will continue to train and study to preserve their bravery and promote the tradition of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in building a strong and prosperous homeland; at the same time, set an example and propagate to the younger generations to inherit the passionate patriotic tradition of our ancestors. From there, the younger generation will see more clearly their own responsibility, constantly strive, strive to study, build and protect a strong Fatherland,” said Mr. Tran Huu Tai.

Colonel Le Minh Phuong, Deputy Political Commissar of the Provincial Military Command, shared that after visiting and learning about historical relics in Con Dao, everyone was even more impressed with the heroic and resilient fighting spirit of our predecessors and heroic martyrs against the enemy. Although they had no weapons in their hands, with their fiery hearts and ardent patriotism, they made the brutal enemy tremble before the revolutionary spirit and optimism of the patriotic prisoners. The great examples of selfless sacrifice of patriots and heroic martyrs were like a hurricane that fanned the flame of patriotism among people in all parts of the country.

“Continuing the heroic tradition of the nation, we will focus on educating and instilling in the officers and soldiers of the armed forces of Binh Duong province absolute trust in the leadership of the Party, continuing the tradition, constantly striving to study and train to excellently complete all assigned tasks; ready to fight and sacrifice to protect the achievements of the revolution, protect independence and build socialism,” said Colonel Le Minh Phuong.

The journey to the historical sites in Con Dao helped us understand more deeply the sacrifices of generations of our ancestors in the struggle to regain independence, freedom and sovereignty of the Fatherland. Today's peace is exchanged for countless sacrifices, countless bloodshed of generations of our ancestors. They put the interests of the Fatherland above all, ready to sacrifice themselves for peace, independence and freedom for the nation. We, especially the young generation today, always remember, are grateful and cherish the contributions and sacrifices of generations of our ancestors, continue to promote traditions, devote our youth to building and protecting the prosperous development of Vietnam...

After the liberation of the South and the reunification of the country, the function of the prison system in Con Dao was dissolved. In 1979, the Con Dao Historical Relic Site was ranked as a national relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information, with 17 component relics. Con Dao Prison is a "Communist School" that trains the qualities and will of communist soldiers on the prison front; at the same time, it is a place to educate the tradition of heroic struggle, patriotism, and indomitable spirit of previous generations of revolutionary activists for the young generation today and tomorrow...

DO TRONG

Source: https://baobinhduong.vn/de-cho-dat-nuoc-dung-len--a344476.html