Torture instruments replace famous paintings — A new museum experience at the Prison Museum

Text by MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Network, Chen Guanxin, compiled and reported. Materials provided by MOOK Editorial Department

Traveling around the world, visiting museums is one of the important ways to understand the local history and culture. However, in some countries' museums, besides richly endowed and culturally rich exhibition spaces, there also exist "prison museums" that are neither luxurious in appearance nor filled with artistic collections, but instead house horrifying exhibits. These include not only general prisons for criminals, but also prisoner-of-war camps where political prisoners and POWs were tortured and interrogated. For example, Vietnam’s famously notorious "Hanoi Hilton" is one of them. Below is a list of six prison museums from different countries. If you’re looking for a museum experience unlike any other, consider adding one of these to your itinerary.

1. Vietnam — Hoa Lo Prison Museum

Hoa Lo Prison Museum. This prison was built by the French in 1896 and was called Maison Centrale, which are the two large words above the entrance. But locals call it Hoa Lo (meaning "fiery furnace"), a name derived from the area where the prison was located — originally a village of ceramic kilns, which is what "Hoa Lo" means in Vietnamese. In 1973, when the Vietnam War broke out between the North and South, American fighter jets bombed the North heavily, and some planes were shot down, with their pilots imprisoned here. Among the most well-known were U.S. first ambassador to Vietnam Douglas Peterson, and 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Because the Viet Cong also used various inhumane punishments on war prisoners, its terrifying reputation earned it the nickname "Hanoi Hilton" from the U.S. military.

2. Japan — Abashiri Prison Museum

Built in the 45th year of the Meiji era, the Abashiri Prison Museum was converted from a real prison that had held inmates until the 23rd year of Meiji (1890). The museum's radial prison wings are ingeniously designed so that just one guard could oversee all the cells. Other features such as the bathhouse and the punishment isolation black cells also allow visitors to immerse themselves in the experience. There is also a "prison meal" and a "cold prison experience square" available for visitors to try.

3. Finland — Prison Museum

Located near Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, this prison museum was formerly a men’s prison. Built in 1881, it housed prisoners until 1993 when the prison was relocated. It was then opened to the public as a museum in 1997. The prison museum retains the layout of the former prison, with three floors. Except for the top floor, which is currently rented out as meeting rooms, the rest is open to visitors. Therefore, upon entering through the door, you can follow the route to visit the rooms on both sides. These rooms, apart from those used as residences and offices for prison staff, are mostly the so-called "cells." Though you can’t enter the cells, you can peer inside through the glass windows to see what they look like.

4. Singapore — Changi Prison Museum

The so-called Changi Prison was actually a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. In addition to battlefield captives, tens of thousands of civilians were also imprisoned here under the harsh rule of the Japanese military. The simple wooden chapel in the prison courtyard was built by the prisoners at the time. After World War II, to ensure that people remember the painful history of the occupation period, the Singapore government turned the prison into a museum, displaying letters, murals, photos, personal belongings, and more from the prisoners of that time, for future generations to remember and mourn.