Kaohsiung’s Fengshan Detention Center Unveils Secrets of White Terror

By MOOK Travel Life Network, reported and compiled by Chen Guanxin

 

Kaohsiung’s National Monument—“Former Japanese Navy Fengshan Wireless Telegraph Station”—became known as the “Fengshan Detention Center” after the Navy White Terror events of 1949, shrouding it in mystery. The Kaohsiung City Cultural Affairs Bureau, drawing on survivor accounts, has recreated the prison cells where suspects were once held, revealing the center’s hidden history to the public for the first time and guiding visitors through this human rights landmark.

During the Navy White Terror, those detained were mostly navy political and ideological prisoners, confined either within the current “office building and classrooms” or the pitch-dark, feared “cave” (now known as the “Large Fortress”). Prison cells were divided into “ordinary cells” and “privileged cells” based on the prisoner’s military rank. Life in the jail meant not only losing freedom but also undergoing thought reform—prisoners could only read the “Three Principles of the People.” Interrogations often took place at night, lasting anywhere from two to three hours, sometimes until dawn, or even resulting in never being seen again. The towering thick walls of the prison cells make it easy to imagine the torment and despair experienced at the time. Coupled with the rumored “water prison,” all are explained in guided tours that take visitors deep into the oppressed human rights history of the White Terror era.

This national monument has gone through four historical phases: “Japanese Navy Wireless Telegraph Station,” “Fengshan Detention Center,” “Navy Indoctrination Center / Navy Mingde Training Class,” and finally “Cultural Asset Preservation.” The so-called “Navy White Terror” stemmed from the purge of the navy by the Nationalist government after its retreat to Taiwan in 1949, using the site to interrogate and detain prisoners, hence the name “Fengshan Detention Center.” The military justice system at the time lacked open and transparent trial procedures, leading to numerous wrongful cases.

This historically rich national monument has been open to the public on weekends since the merger of Kaohsiung County and City. Recognizing that younger generations are unfamiliar with the various historical stages and their underlying stories, guided tours now lead visitors through related historical scenes. After the tour, participants return to the Large Fortress for a screening of a Navy White Terror documentary. Through survivor interviews, visitors can sense the suffering caused by human rights violations. After being designated a national monument in August 2010, it became one of Kaohsiung’s cultural and historical landmarks.

 

 

● Read more: Take a mini train, ride a swan boat—New ways to explore Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung

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