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77 Between Hammer and Anvil Camp #5 In 1945, the Việt Minh established several prison camps and named them Trại Sản Xuất (production camps). In 1954 they were renamed Trại Cải Tạo (reeducation camps). In February 1949, my father was moved to Camp 5 in Thanh Hóa province. It was the most notorious prison camp in all of the areas under Việt Minh control . It still exists today. It was also known as Camp Lý Bá Sơ, named after its chief jailer. Hồ Chí Minh himself selected Lý Bá Sơ and other jailers. AccordingtosourcesfromtheCommunistPartyhistorybooks,amongthe first things Hồ did after ascending to power in August 1945 was to appoint his most faithful party members to be provincial public security chiefs, who were the backbone of his regime, and then to select the chief jailers of important prisons. Lý Bá Sơ was an illiterate who was said to be a most formidable Việt Minh official for the rough way he treated prisoners. He quickly became the Việt Minh jail chief known for his iron fist. Every adult in the northern lower delta provinces knew his name. The inmates were given complex labor tasks and were severely punished if theyfailedtofulfillthem.Insuchcases,theirdailyfoodallowancewasreduced, and in more serious cases, they were even beaten or tortured with newly invented techniques. After my father was moved to Camp 5, my mother had to go visit him every three or four months to provide him with dry food, medicines, and clothes. Camp5wasaboutseventymilesfrommyhomevillage.Ittookmymothernearly a week to walk there, and a few more days to finally see my father for just half an hour. Then it was another week to get back home to prepare for the next visit. seven • 78 · The War of Resistance She had to travel through many lonely roads and forests, some dangerous with poisonous snakes and even tigers. She used to go along with two or three womenwhosehusbandsweredetainedinthesameprisoncamp.Eachhadtobear about seven certificates to get through a dozen checkpoints of Việt Minh Public Security. My mother and her friends could obtain only five of these certificates fromlocalauthorities.Theothertwowereunavailable,soshehadtopaybribesto get the sixth certificate. I helped her with a fake copy of the seventh. On one visit, my father told my mother that the camp guardians beat him with a bamboo stick for several days in a row. His right side was so badly hurt thathewasn’tabletomovehisrightarmformonths.Hefailedtofulfillthegiven tasks because he was too injured to work. The turnkeys didn’t think so and said that my father was a malingerer. Upon coming back, she didn’t tell the story to the family. She told it only to me and asked me not to share it to anyone, especially my grandma, who was ill,becausesuchastorywouldmakeherhealthworse.Mymotherwasexempted from other work at home so that she could prepare dry food and procure medicine for the trips. My father’s elder sister, who was a childless widow, took care of my little sister, so my sister was closer to her than to Mom until our aunt’s death in 1979. Living under Fear InFebruary1949,myfamilymovedtoaplacethreemilesfrommyhomevillage. My mother and my aunt had to find any work available to earn a living. I helped them spin processed cotton into thread using two sets of spinning wheels. Thanks to our dexterity, the thread we produced drew a lot of textile weavers. We could earn some money; it was scant, but we could make ends meet with it. I came back to my home village often after school to be with my grandmother . At her age, she preferred staying at her home with the ancestors’ altar. Her ten-year-old great-niece was taking care of her. My village was located about a mile from the French-controlled region wherearowofthreeFrenchoutpostsmarkedthedisputedlinebetweenthetwo sides. French soldiers frequently made raids in our area and also into the area from which the Việt Minh launched harassment attacks. Beginning in mid-1948, my village came under attack from both sides. Babies were born, young men and women got married, and people died without being registered. We had no ID cards from the French or from the Việt Minh, children had no school to go to, and wounded and sick people were treated with herbal medicines. The nearest aid station was 5 miles to the south, and no better medical facility existed within the whole region of about 150 square miles. The French authorities didn’t have any humanitarian or charitable program to help [18.217...

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