LIFE IN THE CAPTURED PROVINCES

One of the larger mysteries surrounding the collapse of most of South Viet Nam is the fate of an estimated 9 million people who did not--or could not--flee from the 19 provinces overrun by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. Hanoi has officially refused to permit the handful of foreign correspondents stationed in the North Vietnamese capital to visit the captured areas. Thus most of the scattered reports about conditions in South Viet Nam's northern provinces have been issued by the "Liberation Press Agency" of the Provisional Revolutionary Government. These euphoric communiques stress the "delirious welcomes from the crowds" and the "joy on the part of the liberated populations" but say little about what has been happening to the people or the problems the Communists face in taking over so large an area so rapidly.

Even discounting the bias of the Hanoi press, Western observers were reasonably satisfied that the Communist conquest of almost three-quarters of South Viet Nam was proceeding so far without widespread bloodbaths or reprisals. Some refugees reported public stonings as well as scattered executions. In Danang, a policeman was beheaded in the marketplace soon after the Communist forces arrived, and the Viet Cong tied several captured ARVN soldiers together and blew them up with grenades. In Hue, after a drumhead court-martial, five policemen were shot. None of the refugees, however, reported mass executions similar to those during the 1968 Tet offensive, when about 2,000 civilians were slaughtered in Hue alone and tossed into common graves.

Soup Kitchens. Even if they had wanted to carry out a campaign of revenge and terror, Communist forces had little time for retribution. They had more than enough work trying to restore the captured cities and towns to normal operation. In Danang, according to a South Vietnamese businessman who was there after the fall and then made his way to Saigon, the normal population of 500,000 was swollen to almost twice that number by refugees. Military government experts were preoccupied with getting the refugees back to their homes; bus service has already been established from Danang and Qui Nhon to as far north as Hanoi.

In many areas, civil servants and technicians had fled, leaving communities without electricity or water. Merchants had closed their shops. The first task of the arriving soldiers was to get communities operating again. Communist cadres set men to burning or burying dead bodies; women were put to work cleaning streets and whitewashing Saigon slogans off public walls. Hanoi also broadcast pleas for shipments of medicines, vitamins and powdered milk.

According to one Swiss journalist who managed to accompany Viet Cong forces into Hue, one-fifth of the city's population of nearly 200,000 had fled before the Communists seized the old imperial capital. Dozens of planes and helicopters had been abandoned at Hue's airport. Aging Queen Mother Doan Huy, 86, was treated with respect by the arriving soldiers, the reporter said, but part of her palace was converted into a hospital. Soup kitchens were set up in public squares and even bicycles were commandeered to bring in food.

Shades of Red. Ten days after its capture, Danang appeared to be returning to normalcy. Stores were open and cinemas were operating, featuring such Hanoi potboilers as The Revered Flag and Battlefield in Quang Due. North and South Vietnamese currencies were both in circulation, but the black-market value of Hanoi's dong increased daily against Saigon's piaster. Looters sold rice from government storehouses and motorbikes and boats left behind by those who had fled. Such enterprise stopped abruptly when Communist soldiers shot ten looters and led others away with hands bound.

Once public services have been completely restored in captured areas, Communist cadres are expected to begin methodically identifying and bringing to trial "traitors" who were closely identified with the Saigon government. Ironically, among the first "criminals" rounded up in the captured provinces were some South Vietnamese soldiers who had profiteered by selling U.S. military equipment to the Viet Cong. But ordinary soldiers were apparently not being punished. Instead they were required only to write "confessions" as part of a mass indoctrination program that included compulsory public rallies for civilians and, as schools reopened, the replacement of some textbooks.

Efforts to control and classify the population in some areas are already well along. In Danang, Communist officials have instituted a system of color-coded identity cards. People under investigation on suspicion of upper-level ties to Saigon were given dark red cards. Police and lesser suspects got light red cards. Girls, young men and laborers were issued yellow cards. Those over 50 who were not under suspicion received white cards. White-carders can travel anywhere within the Communist zone, while yellow-carders require a 48-hour wait for permission. Red-carders are forbidden to travel at all. The populace was also ordered to surrender rice and money for redistribution. Rice rations are being given out according to the cards: 400 grams of rice daily to those with white and yellow, only 200 grams to those with either shade of red.

Whether any campaign of retribution would be launched against Roman Catholics was unclear. None of the seven bishops in the captured provinces joined the tidal wave of fleeing refugees and none had been heard from at week's end. To still fears of a religious pogrom, Hanoi ordered its conquering troops to revere temples, pagodas and churches. Buddhist flags were hoisted alongside those of North Viet Nam and the P.R.G.

There to Stay. Temporarily, at least, it appeared that the conquering forces intend to avoid mass punishments. For one thing, this time they mean to stay, and consolidation of their hold will be easier if they enjoy the support of the population. For another, reports of widespread cruelty might stampede those in areas still held by Saigon into panicky flight, thus blocking the roads for oncoming Communist forces.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.