The event aims to cast light on a rarely known
historical period, featuring the presence of first Vietnamese people in
southern France.
The photos are arranged in topics and with captions to help visitors explore the hidden corners of French history.
The stories were told by witnesses or their descendants to depict the
process of sending Indochinese peasants to France to support war efforts
as well as the miserable lives of thousands of workers in the Toulouse
region and its vicinities such as Tarbes, Castelsarrasin, Castres, and
Pamiers.
The exhibition highlights the emigrations in 1915 and 1940 when tens of
thousands of Indochinese people, mainly Vietnamese, were forcefully sent
to France. Vietnam was still a French colony at that time.
The peasants, who were only familiar with farm work in the countryside,
had to live far from home. They were used as soldiers or worked in
weapons factories or worked on farms, often being exploited and
underpaid.
Mayor of Toulouse city and Chairman of the Toulouse Region Jean-Luc
Moudenc said the exhibition introduced an important period in local
history.
Exhibition reveals miserable life of Indochinese workers
Nearly a hundred photos capturing the
miserable lives of Indochinese workers in the French Toulouse Region
during world wars in 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 are being exhibited in
Toulouse city, from April 2-23.
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