VietNamNet Bridge - Nearly 40 years after the end of the war in Vietnam, for the first time an old wartime bomb shelter of Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi Hotel opens to the public today, almost one year after its discovery.



The 40sq.m bomb shelter has been well-preserved and was reopened to honour the Metropole staff's extraordinary efforts of ensuring the safety for important guests against US aerial bombardment during the war, said the hotel's general manager Kai Speth at a press conference yesterday.

"Today this space serves as a memorial to their courage and perseverance, and to remember what should never be forgotten," he added.

The shelter served to protect guests from air raids. After the war, it was closed and sealed until a chance rediscovery by the hotel's engineering department during the renovation of the Bamboo Bar in 2011. It was discovered nearly 3m below ground in the hotel's gardens next to the bar.

"I believe it is part of the hotel's history and every effort must be made to resurrect it and open it as a memorial so we can share more of our past with our guests", the manager affirmed.

When the shelter was found, the underground chambers and corridors had become completely flooded. However after the water was pumped out, a number of items were discovered, including two old wine bottles, intact light bulbs, air vents, metal blast doors and and the words engraved on the wall by former Australian diplomat Bob Devereaux.

Many important guests stayed in the shelter in the period between 1960 and 1972.

Gemma Cruz Araneta, a Filipino journalist and Miss International 1964, described the shelter in May 1968 as "a long narrow semi-subterranean room of concrete".

"It is lined with green wooden chairs and although there was no electricity, I noticed an electric fan was on. Really, the Vietnamese are such gracious hosts. The kitchen helpers and hotel employees patrol the premises armed with rifles and helmets and they persuaded the other guests to go into the shelter", recalled Araneta.

Well-known American actress and political activist Jane Fonda, and American musician Joan Baez also spent time at the shelter.

Araneta took part in the shelter's opening ceremony yesterday together with Devereaux who did not remember why he engraved his named on the wall.

"Maybe at that time the shelter was flooded and I was groping my way around to find the Australian wine bottle, so I engraved my name on the wall to remember the way," he recalled.

Historian Andreas Augustin, who wrote a history book about the hotel, was also present at the ceremony. He has built an exhibition area of the hotel's historical path dating back to 1901. The exhibition area runs 18m along the hotel's corridor to highlight Metropole's 110-year-old history. On display are photos of the hotel's early days, as well as names of its more than 300 famous guests, including English comic actor Charlie Chaplin and French writer Marguerite Duras.

The hotel offers guests access to the shelter and the exhibit via a scheduled tour programme starting today.


VNS/VNE