Before we begin this post, we just wish to warn you that it covers a very horrific time in Cambodia and we are sharing pictures that we feel are important to ensure people know about the terrorizing of a culture by its own and remember the nearly 2 million victims killed at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.
When in high school, ginnie participated in a seminar program where she selected to attend the series on the "World's Hot Spots." The facilitator presented the participants with information and photographs (many of the same we share here) from different areas in the world that traditional history classes gloss over or don't even cover. One of those was Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge (who at the time were still a rogue group planting landmines around the border of Thailand where they fled after being removed from power in 1979 by the French). We have met people in our travels who before visiting memorial sites in Phnom Penh had not heard of Pol Pot or the Khmer Rouge and were shocked by what they learned. For those who may also not have background on this period, we have this brief intro and some links for further reading. We also recommend watching the filmThe Killing Fields.
The Khmer Rouge was able to take over power in Cambodia because the country was in the midst of turmoil over a group who had deposed the president and was also dealing with issues associated with the war in Vietnam (Cambodia was pulled in by having Vietnamese ship in supplies to the ports and the US bombing them in their fight with the Viet Cong) and things were unstable. The Khmer Rouge came in to take power from this group and Cambodians thought they were saved; unfortunately, that feeling was short-lived when the mission of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge became clear. Look here for additional information. They intended for Cambodia to become a completely peasant, agrarian nation and sought the elimination of intellectualism, arts, and culture. They destroyed previous history in order to start from the beginning, calling their first year in power, Year Zero. Immediately upon taking power on April 17, 1975, they began moving people out of the cities and into the farms to put them to back-breaking labor for 12 hours or more per day and they began the systematic elimination of those considered enemies: intellectuals, artists, and others. Just wearing glasses was enough to be tortured and executed under such a regime. Read more here. Ironically, the leaders of the Khmer Rouge were educated individuals.
In Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge took over a high school to establish a prison, Tuol Sleng, which they called S-21. We visited the site which is now a museum left as it was found. It's disturbing, but important to see to remember this time and to ensure future generations know what happened and such terror is never repeated. The torture rooms, list of rules, hallways where cells were built out of brick (males) or wood (females) exist as they did when it was deserted in January of 1979. There are places where blood still stains the walls and floors.
The Khmer Rouge, like the Nazis, kept detailed records of their activities and photographed every prisoner. Those photographs line the halls and present a harrowing reminder of the many people murdered at the hands of a terrorist regime. Their faces stare back at you when you pass, reminding you of the loss they suffered. We slowly passed through the halls and felt the fear and isolation of a place where one had no hope for justice or life. A graveyard is on the grounds for the 14 bodies found in the deserted prison.
Following our visit to the museum, we traveled 15 km out of the city to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek where prisoners from Tuol Sleng were transported and executed by bludgeoning as the Khmer Rouge did not want to waste bullets. The field was once a peaceful orchard. On the site now is a memorial stupa filled with over 8800 skulls found in mass graves at the site as well as bones and clothes found. It's gutwrenching, but gives visitors the opportunity to honor and remember the victims.
The day was sobering, but we both wanted to visit these sites in memory of the victims and to see for ourselves this place we had learned about and felt a need to better understand.
At this time, there has been only one full court hearing and decision on a Khmer Rouge leader. The leader of the S-21 prison has been convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison; as of just this March, he is appealing the decision. He is the only one who acknowledged the existence of the prison and the acts of torture and murder committed. The others who have been accused deny knowledge of these atrocities. This has been a long, complicated process for Cambodia and is being documented here. Tragedy lives on with the numerous landmines throughout the country (the US planted many but decided it would cost too much to remove them, so instead Cambodians are maimed and killed when they inadvertently stumble upon one in a field; additionally, the Khmer Rouge went into the Thai border area after their ousting and continued to fight and lay landmines themselves until 1998, so those also continue to cause trauma to innocent people). The four years, eight months and 20 days of terror brought on by this regime still leaves haunting tales from Cambodians (even more immediately noticeable by visitors to Cambodia are the large numbers of very old and very young people, due to the near complete elimination of an entire generation); however, they are a resilient people who are moving forward and have been the friendliest we've met on our travels.
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