War Remnants Museum is among the most visited of all cultural locations and tourist destinations in Ho Chi Minh city. The museum specializes in researching, collecting, preserving and displaying evidence of crimes and consequences of wars of invasion in Vietnam. With the centrally located, visitors can get here by local bus, car, motorbike or simply by walking.
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General information about the War Remnants Museum
On April 30, 1975, with the overwhelming victory of the Vietnamese people, it was the start of the transition period toward reunification. To cherish the memories of the Vietnamese people’s great heroism in their struggle against foreign aggression and to denounce the crimes and highlight the tragic consequences of those aggressions, the Exhibition House for the Crimes of America and Puppet Crimes opened to the public on September 4, 1975.
Its name was changed first into the Exhibition House for the Crimes of War and Aggression on October 11, 1990, and the War Remnants Museum on July 4, 1995, with a location at 28 Vo Van Tang street, district 3.
Visiting hours and entrance fees
The visiting hour at the Museum is from 7.30 AM to 18.00 Pm every day including the weekends and Vietnam Public Holidays. The entrance fee costs:
- For adult: VND 40,000/1 ticket.
- Children from 6 – 15 years of age: VND 20,000/1 ticket.
- Children under 6 years of age: free.
map of War Remnants Museum
What does the Vietnam War Remnants Museum have?
The museum consists of a modern 3-storey building with a floor area of more than 4,500 m², along with a number of auxiliary works and an outdoor exhibition space of 3,000 m². The museum’s display system is extremely diverse with more than 20,000 documents, artifacts and films stored. Regarding regular display space, the museum introduces more than 1,500 documents and artifacts according to topics in each area.
The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City designed with a special architectural and divided into 2 parts. The outside placed the military equipment includes a helicopter, tanks, artillery, aircraft and armor collection…
Ground floor – “voice” opposing the unjust war
The space on the first floor of the War Remnants Museum displays artifacts and pictures with the theme: “The world supported Vietnam’s resistance against America” in the period 1954 – 1975. This theme includes 100 photos and 145 letters, artifacts recreate rallies, demonstrations, conferences and seminars of people from countries around the world, protesting against US invasion and supporting the Vietnamese people in protecting national sovereignty.
The outside area is an exhibition of many large-sized artifacts kept from the fierce war. In particular, visitors can also visit the topic: “Prison regime during the war of invasion in Vietnam” with prison models built by the US and the Saigon government to suppress revolutionary soldiers.
This is also a place that leaves visitors with many emotions when witnessing torture methods through images and artifacts of prison scenes that are compared to hell on earth.
One corner of the grounds is displayed to the notorious French and South Vietnamese prisons on Phu Quoc and Con Dao islands. Artifacts include French guillotine, a model of the notorious “tiger cages” for keeping Vietnamese revolutionaries.
This is a tiger cage that was restored to hold “stubborn” prisoners. Each compartment is about 2.70m long, 1.50m wide and 3m high. In hot season, it holds 5-14 people, and in cold season, it holds 1-2 people. The prisoner’s feet are shackled, eating, drinking, bathing, urinating, sleeping… all took place within this scope.
The guillotine model was reconstructed at the War Remnants Museum
Floor 1 – denouncing the crimes of American soldiers
The first floor at the War Remnants Museum displays two topics: “War Crimes of Aggression” and “Consequences of Agent Orange”. In particular, the topic “War Crimes of Aggression” includes 22 documents, 243 artifacts and 125 photos highlighting crimes during the resistance war against the US and the painful consequences that Vietnamese people had to endure.
These are images recording the unjust deaths of civilians during wartime
Coming to the thematic exhibition space “Consequences of Agent Orange”, visitors will see many documents, artifacts, and images about the devastation of Agent Orange. Through this, we will better understand the serious consequences that this type of herbicide causes to both people and the country of Vietnam.
In addition, the first floor of the War Remnants Museum also brings visitors many obsessions about the My Lai massacre (Son My, Quang Ngai).
This haunting photo was taken by Ronald L. Haeberle on March 16, 1968, right after the My Lai massacre took place
Especially, some of the photographs were so powerful and made for a moving experience. A lot of visitors could not hold their tears in front of them.
And war crimes through the famous photo “Napalm Baby” by reporter Huynh Cong Ut (Nick Ut).
Little girl Phan Thi Kim Phuc was burned by American napalm bombs (Trang Bang, Tay Ninh in 1972)
There are many military equipments displace along with photographs, weapons, artifacts that make visitors gain an authentic experience.
2nd floor – photo collection about the consequences of war
Coming to the 2nd floor space, visitors will be able to visit the topic “Historical truths” through 66 photos, 20 documents and 153 artifacts. The topic reminds of the invasion process of French colonialists and American imperialists on Vietnamese territory. Besides, there is the topic “Remembrance” including a collection of photos taken by reporters who died while working in the Indochina battlefield.
The 2nd floor of the War Remnants Museum is also the place to display two topics “Vietnam war and peace” and “Agent Orange in the Vietnam War”. The tragic reportage photos taken by Japanese photographers Ishikawa Bunyo and Goro Nakamura give us insight into wartime life, as well as the efforts towards peace of the Vietnamese people.
Typical activities take place at the museum
In addition to the topics on permanent display, the War Remnants Museum also regularly organizes exhibitions, seminars, and educational talk-show. Some outstanding exhibitions program such as:
- Dien Bien Phu in the air – 50 years flashback to kick off.
- Recovering memories.
- A revival of dead lands
- Paris Agreement on Vietnam – A door to peace
- Vietnam – War and peace
- Vietnamese women’s ao dai going through the smoke and fire of war.
- Vietnam’s seas and islands
- Orange – Conscience and justice before the opening.
Source: collected by An
