Mass Murder at Hue

When the North Vietnamese swept into the city of Hue during Tet, they brought with them political officers armed with photographs and dossiers of the city's anti-Communist leaders and government officials. Working door to door like pollsters of death, the Communists during their 24-day occupation hunted down and systematically slaughtered their quarry, young and old, men and women, Vietnamese and foreigners (TIME, April 5). The grim magnitude of that brief reign of terror emerged in an official U.S. report released last week.

Since Tet, more than 1,000 bodies have been uncovered in 19 separate mass graves. Examinations of the remains indicate that only the fortunate were shot; many were beheaded, some were mutilated, nearly all died with their hands tied behind their backs.

Worst of all, many were buried alive in groups of ten to 15, eyes open, mouths stuffed with cloth or dirt.

Among specific atrocities:

¶ In a grave at Ap Dong Gi, more than 100 victims were found, all buried alive, all standing, with only the hands and arms of some extending vainly above the ground. ¶ As he clung to safety inside a pagoda, a Buddhist monk heard screams and pleas for mercy as shots rang out nightly during the first two weeks of February. Later, the bodies of 67 victims, including Nguyen Ngoc Ky, leader of the Viet Nam Nationalist Party, were found in 13 nearby graves.

¶ On the night of Feb. 26, selected local workers showed up at a "political meeting" at the invitation of the Viet Cong. Their bodies turned up in a grave near a school at Duong Xuan Ha.

¶ A 60-year-old schoolteacher was among eight buried alive in a single grave at Duong Xuan Thuong. His crime: he had a son in the South Vietnamese army.

¶ Some 20 victims met their fate—burial alive—at the end of a death march from the Redemptorist Church, where they had sought refuge, to Ap Lang Xa Con more than two miles away. Among them was Tran Dien, one of Hue's five Senators in the National Assembly in Saigon.

¶ The bodies of 201 people were unearthed near the tombs of Emperors Tu Due and Dong Khanh, many buried alive in groups of ten to 15 after being tied together. Among them were two French Benedictine priests.