Surprisingly this has not been just a colonial prison during the French rule of Vietnam. After the communist overtook the southern half of the country, what used to be the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), in April 1975, this prison was used to incarcerate officers and government officials of RVN under conditions much harsher, much more inhumane than in colonial days. Many prisoners never left this, and numerous other prisons sprinkled all over Vietnam, alive. And many wasted their lives in prisons for over ten years after the Vietnam war was over. So much for "reconciliation"!
