Throughout history, Vietnamese women have made great contributions to the cause of national liberation and national construction. More specifically, the appearance of the female prisoner, although still young, was able to fight tenaciously, indomitably, and heroically in shackles and chains, contributing to a glorious victory for the Vietnamese people. Male. Among them is Thieu Thi Tan - the youngest female political prisoner detained at Con Dao Tiger Cage.
Regarding the detention of female political prisoners at Con Dao Tiger Cage:
During the invasion of Vietnam, France had no policy of sending female prisoners to prison in Con Dao. Since the government of the Republic of Vietnam took over the prison system, the expulsion of female prisoners to Con Dao has been implemented. The first class of female prisoners exiled to Con Dao in 1957 had about 100 people and were detained in Camp III, and after that the government of the Republic of Vietnam continued to exile many female prisoners to Con Dao, especially the main female prisoners. treat.
The largest class of female prisoners was exiled to Con Dao on November 29, 1969, including 342 women and 2 children, detained in Tiger Cages, with 5 people in each cage. Despite the rules, female political prisoners fought, forcing prison guards to brutally suppress them many times.
Prison guards often take advantage of women's physiological characteristics to exile female prisoners. The worst punishment they often apply is not allowing them to bathe, not giving them water to wash, and not allowing them to empty their toilets. Sometimes, just because they refused to reveal their names, they fined 19 cages to detain women to prevent them from emptying their toilet boxes. The longest stable was fined 53 days. Without toiletries, female prisoners had to tear their clothes to use each time they had their period, use urine to wash, fan them to dry, and then use them again. The tiger cage had a strong, unpleasant smell, and when it was left to dry, the prison guards confiscated it. When all the torn pieces of clothing are gone and the clothes cannot be torn any more, the female prisoners have to sit on toilet boxes or on plastic sheets during their menstrual period, and occasionally empty them into toilet boxes. With this type of torture, many female prisoners have forever lost their motherhood, including former female prisoner Nguyen Thi Ni currently living in Con Dao.
Thieu Thi Tan - the youngest female political prisoner in Con Dao Tiger Cage
Thieu Thi Tan is the daughter of Mrs. Chin Binh, a small trader at An Dong market, District 5, Saigon.
At the age of 13, Thieu Thi Tan became enlightened about the revolution and her sister Thieu Thi Tao became good liaisons in the inner city of Saigon. After that, Thieu Thi Tan worked at the Central Military Transportation Department of the Southern Department.
In 1968, Thieu Thi Tan and Thieu Thi Tao received the task of bringing 10 kg of explosives into the Saigon National Police Headquarters. The plan was only halfway done, but when 5kg was brought in, it was revealed due to a snitch. Thieu Thi Tan and Thieu Thi Tao were arrested on their way to school. Afterwards, Thieu Thi Tan and her sister were exiled to Con Dao and became the youngest prisoners to enter the Tiger Cage at the age of 16.
At the Tiger Cage, the prison guards used many forms of torture to force the two sisters to reveal the organization's activities, but they remained resolutely silent. When hearing the other person say that the two sisters were young female students who were enticed and seduced by the Viet Cong, Thieu Thi Tao responded bluntly: "I came to the Viet Cong myself, we were never seduced or enticed by anyone." chief"
The days of being interrogated were also the first days that signs of puberty appeared for the young female student. Originally only used to wearing skirts and dresses, entering the Tiger Cage she had to wear drawstring clothes, making the female student feel embarrassed. It was even more embarrassing because she had just lined up a loose stack of toilet paper to absorb the bleeding blood. The police officer realized the sensitive issue and helped her unzip her pants. Later, that police officer made her and her sisters even more emotional when he stole two photos from the General Department's files and gave them to Ms. Chin Binh - the mother of the two sisters.
Witnessing the crimes in prison, the two sisters continued to fight with their aunts, uncles, and siblings for their release. In response to the prisoner's resistance, the prison guards poured lime powder down from the roof of the cell and pulled the person up to beat him, causing blood to overflow from the female prisoner's wrist and seep into the thick lime. Thinking she could not overcome it, Thieu Thi Tan used her hand to soak blood and wrote on the wall: "Tan and Tao sacrificed on October 15, 1969. Down with the repressive regime.” After that, Thieu Thi Tao suffered from physical exhaustion so she was taken to Cho Quan Hospital for treatment. As for Thieu Thi Tan, she hid the handcuffs and the bloody shirt and sent them back to her mother as evidence of her fight for the release of her two children.
In addition to the mental strength they have prepared since they were active, and which were passed on to them by older prisoners, the two sisters also have strength from Chin Binh's mother's love. At this time, Ms. Chin Binh is joining the Association for the Protection of Women and Children of lawyer Ngo Ba Thanh to have the opportunity to visit prisons and meet her two daughters. She sought out international delegations to ask the government of the Republic of Vietnam to release her child.
In 1970, an international inspection team visited Con Dao to investigate the so-called tiger cage in the prison system of South Vietnam. From inside the prison cell, Thieu Thi Tan used English and French to denounce and expose the inhumanity of the Con Dao Tiger Cage. Since then, the delegation has had a better understanding of hell on earth, a place that people in the civilized world like them do not think is real. Information about Con Dao Tiger Cage spread quickly around the world. The wave of protest against the unjust war in Vietnam became more widespread, helping to relax the harsh regime in the Tiger's Cage.
In 1971, a number of female prisoners including Thieu Thi Tan and Thieu Thi Tao were transferred to Tan Hiep prison, Bien Hoa. In this prison, Thieu Thi Tan and other inmates defeated a prison guard and had to endure dark days of solitary confinement. In 1972, Thieu Thi Tan was sent back to Con Dao. Here she, along with a number of inmates, taught martial arts to other female prisoners in room 7, camp 2.
In 1974, Ms. Tan was released in the spirit of the Paris Agreement. After being released from prison, she had to spend many years treating illnesses caused by the brutal torture in prison. Then she returned to the classroom and graduated from Ho Chi Minh City University.
Since 1983, she has taught Philosophy at Ho Chi Minh City Medical High School. After 3 years, due to poor health, she resigned from teaching and returned to continue practicing martial arts at the dojo in District 10.
It can be said that it was the image of a brave young female prisoner that appeared in many foreign newspapers in the past that touched the heart of a French man named Marcel Beynaud (born in 1940) - who once participated in the fight. fighting in the railway workers' movement in France protesting the American war in Vietnam. He went to Vietnam to travel and they met by chance. After three days, he asked her to marry him. From the moment he proposed until the wedding took place in just 6 months.
The war has receded, but the example of resilient and indomitable revolutionary struggle of female students in general and Thieu Thi Tan in particular will forever be true and profound historical lessons for young generations to always remember. miss. From then on, following the heroic tradition, try your best to study, cultivate morality, and contribute to building and protecting the fatherland.