War Remnants Museum is currently located at 28 Vo Van Tan Street (Vo Thi Sau Ward, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City). From the main gate of the Museum, from the outside, will see that Vo Van Tan Street is a beautiful and cool street, because along the two sides of the road are tall old trees, green tamarind trees are planted close together. , not only creating a green space for the city but also creating a pleasant feeling for those who visit. In the midst of a bustling, modern city like Ho Chi Minh City, this street is one of the places where the poetic and gentle beauty of the past is still preserved.
Vo Van Tan Street is more than 2km long, was formed during the French colonial period, starting from the International Square (Turtle Lake) to Cao Thang Street. At first this street was named Laclause extension. February 24, 1897 changed to Testard Street. On March 22, 1955, it was changed to Tran Quy Cap Street. On August 14, 1975, the Saigon Military Administration once again renamed the street as Vo Van Tan - the name of a revolutionary who belongs to the class of "pioneer " in contemporary Vietnamese history, especially from when the Communist Party of Vietnam was born.
Vo Van Tan was born in August 1894, from a peasant family in Duc Hoa, Cho Lon province (now in Duc Hoa district, Long An province). When he was young, he studied Chinese characters, when he grew up, he went to Saigon to work as a craftsman. From 1924 - 1925, he participated in the "Secret Society of Nguyen An Ninh". In 1926, he joined the "Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Comrades Association" (the predecessor of the Indochinese Communist Party). At the end of 1929, he moved from Vietnam Revolutionary Youth comrades to Annam Communist Party and was appointed as the first of the Party branch secretary of the Party cell.
On June 4, 1930, he directly directed the demonstration in Duc Hoa district, was blatantly suppressed by the colonialists, sentenced to death in his absence. In early 1932, he was Secretary of the Party Committee of Cho Lon, Gia Dinh and then was appointed to the Party Committee of Nam Ky. In 1937, he was appointed to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Indochina.
In 1940, when the Cochinchina uprising was about to break out, he was arrested in Hoc Mon (Gia Dinh). On August 28, 1941, he was executed by shooting with his comrades: Nguyen Van Cu, Phan Dang Luu, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, 46 years old. Before sacrificing, all comrades ripped off the blindfold and chanted the slogan:
"Long live the Indochinese Communist Party"
“Long live the success of the Vietnamese Revolution”
In the history of the glorious and glorious revolutionary struggle of the Party Committee and people of the South, comrade Vo Van Tan belongs to the generation of predecessor revolutionary soldiers, the first class member of the Communist Party of Vietnam. 50 years old, more than 15 years of continuous and vibrant revolutionary activities, Comrade has devoted his whole life to the glorious revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation.
To commemorate and recognize the great merits of Comrade Vo Van Tan - Standing member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Cochinchina Party Committee, many cultural works and schools have been honored with his name, including the street where the War Remnants Museum is located with the mission of educating for peace, preventing wars from aggression, protecting peace.
