Halbmondlager was a prison camp for colored skin soldiers (including Vietnamese captives), about 55 kilometres away to the South of Berlin. The German government utilized this as a propaganda camp to entice these soldiers into fighting for them.

Narration by Nguyễn Nhung

From November 1939 to June 1940, about 20,000 workers from Indochine (including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) arrived in France. They were called non-specialised workers (i.e. O.N.S – ouvrier non spécialisé).

Narration by Đỗ Hương & Nguyễn Nhung

By June 1940, the majority of the workers who served in the Defense Industry: 70% of them worked in the gunpowder factories – an extremely toxic working environment.

Narration by Đỗ Hương & Nguyễn Nhung

Sickness, hard and dangerous work, poor living conditions and the homesick workers in despair resulted in the death of 1061 people during World War II (*)

(*) According to statistics by Department of Indigenous, North Africans and Colonial Labors (also known as MOI – Service de la Main – d’œuvre indigène, nord-africaine et coloniale) 

Narration by Đỗ Hương & Nguyễn Nhung

Note: Lyrical excerpt from La Marseillaise, French national anthem, sung by Bùi Ngọc Thê, former Indochinese worker, when he was 94. Audio extract by Director Nguyễn Sỹ Bằng.

By June 1940, the majority of the workers who served in the Defense Industry: 70% of them worked in the gunpowder factories – an extremely toxic working environment. In the period of 1941-1942, 15% of them switched to salt or rice farming. Roughly 30% switched to logging or coal mining. In the period of 1942-1944, when France surrendered to the Nazi, the workers were transfered to the factories under the supervision of the Nazi.

Narration by Đỗ Hương & Nguyễn Nhung

In 1941 alone, 5000 Indochinese workers were repatriated; however, it was faced with difficulties caused by the war. The last official repatriates of some of the workers took place as late as 1952. The number who remained in France (about 1000 people) assimilated to the local life through vocational training and marriages with French women

Narration by Đỗ Hương & Nguyễn Nhung

Sound design by Nguyễn Nhung

Sound design by Nguyễn Nhung

Sound design by Nguyễn Nhung

Sound design by Nguyễn Nhung

Sound design by Nguyễn Nhung

Sound design by Nguyễn Nhung

Sound design by Nguyễn Nhung

Sound design by Nguyễn Nhung

Sound design by Nguyễn Nhung

Sound design by Nguyễn Nhung

Sound design by Nguyễn Nhung

Sound design by Nguyễn Nhung

“Between 1822 and 1961, multiple people from across the French colonies were brought together in order to fight wars for France.

Although most of these people were forced into military service, their personal experience gradually became more known.  

Tirailleurs are what the French called their “indigenous colonial soldiers”

Script by Zach Sch. Arabic translation by Rami Abadir. English-Vietnamese translation by Khương Lê

“Between 1822 and 1961, multiple peoples from across the French colonies were brought together in order to fight wars for France.

Although in most cases pressed into service, the experiences of these individual soldiers became shared over time.  

Tirailleurs are what the French called their “indigenous colonial soldiers”. Although it is most commonly associated with soldiers from West Africa as well as units such as Tirailleurs Malgaches (Madagascar) it was also the title of soldiers from French Indochina – modern day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia also served locally and abroad”

Script by Zach Sch. French translation by Anh Phi Trần. English-Vietnamese translation by Khương Lê