Chau Doc massacre
Encyclopedia
The Chau Doc massacre was the July 11, 1957 killing of 17 people in the small town of Châu Đốc
in An Giang province
, near the border with Cambodia
, in what was then known as South Vietnam
. The killings were part of a low-level campaign targeting South Vietnamese officials.
cadres had stayed behind after the country was split into North and South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government maintained that a referendum on unification in line with the Geneva Accords
would go ahead. As such they forbade the southern Viet Minh cadres from anything but low-level insurgency actions, like the assassination of South Vietnamese Diem
officials instead of large scale military engagements. They were joined by other anti-government elements who escaped Ngo Dinh Diem
's crack down on opposition groups like the Hòa Hảo
and Cao Dai
sects.
sect. While urban Vietnamese did not take these claims seriously, the more rural a person was the more superstitious they were and the more likely they would believe that the murders would grant special powers.
Chau Doc
Châu Đốc is a district and town in An Giang Province, bordering Cambodia, in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 112,155. The district covers an area of 100 km²....
in An Giang province
An Giang Province
An Giang is a province of Vietnam. It is located in the Mekong Delta, in the southwestern part of the country, sharing a border with Cambodia to the northwest.- Geography :...
, near the border with Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, in what was then known as South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
. The killings were part of a low-level campaign targeting South Vietnamese officials.
Background
Thousands of Viet MinhViet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
cadres had stayed behind after the country was split into North and South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government maintained that a referendum on unification in line with the Geneva Accords
Geneva Conference (1954)
The Geneva Conference was a conference which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, whose purpose was to attempt to find a way to unify Korea and discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina...
would go ahead. As such they forbade the southern Viet Minh cadres from anything but low-level insurgency actions, like the assassination of South Vietnamese Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
officials instead of large scale military engagements. They were joined by other anti-government elements who escaped Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
's crack down on opposition groups like the Hòa Hảo
Ba Cut
Lê Quang Vinh , popularly known as Ba Cụt , was a military commander of the Hòa Hảo religious sect, which operated from the Mekong Delta and controlled various parts of southern Vietnam during the 1940s and early 1950s.Ba Cụt and his forces fought the Vietnamese National Army , the...
and Cao Dai
Cao Dai
Cao Đài is a syncretistic, monotheistic religion, officially established in the city of Tay Ninh, southern Vietnam, in 1926. Đạo Cao Đài is the religion's shortened name, the full name is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ...
sects.
Bar killings
As part of the violence against the Ngo Dinh Diem government, on July 11 1957 anti-Diem insurgents stormed a bar in Chau Doc and killed 17 people who were drinking inside. The victims were tied up and then machine gunned. American papers reported that the killings were a result of propaganda spread by communist forces and that the killing of 20 people would allow the person to fly and that anyone who killed 100 would "become an angel". The killings were blamed on communist insurgents and fighters of the banned Hòa HảoBa Cut
Lê Quang Vinh , popularly known as Ba Cụt , was a military commander of the Hòa Hảo religious sect, which operated from the Mekong Delta and controlled various parts of southern Vietnam during the 1940s and early 1950s.Ba Cụt and his forces fought the Vietnamese National Army , the...
sect. While urban Vietnamese did not take these claims seriously, the more rural a person was the more superstitious they were and the more likely they would believe that the murders would grant special powers.