Walking Through Cambodia's Dark History

Coming into Cambodia I was familiar with the terms Khmer Rouge, Cambodian Genocide, and Killing Fields. But I had no real knowledge of the dark chapter of Cambodian History they referred to. I knew they were main attractions to be visited while in Cambodia and that I would check them out while there. Going into it, I thought I would be fairly okay since I had spent a day walking in the footsteps of the German Nazis at Auschwitz Concentration Camp (the largest, most cruel and brutal of all) a few months ago. Boy was I wrong! I'm not sure if the loads of exposure I had to the Holocaust and what had occurred at the Concentration Camps had prepared me a little more for what I saw there, but nothing could have prepared me for the eye-opening experience I had learning of the cruelties of the Khmer Rouge!

From 1975-1979 The Khmer Rouge, led by a radical man named Pol Pot, ruled over Cambodia, enforcing a radical social reform process that was aimed at creating a purely agrarian-based Communist society. They rejected all things Capitalist, and wanted to form an entire society based solely on agriculture and physical labor. All city dwellers were deported to the countryside and joined with the local farmers in forced labor camps. Anyone considered educated or intellectually elite was particularly targeted. Over 2 million people are estimated to have died from the murder, torture, starvation, and arduous labor forced by the Khmer Rouge. In terms of the number of people killed in proportion with the population, the Khmer Rouge was the most lethal regime of the 20th century. 

We started our day at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

This five building complex previously served as a High School for students in the heart of the capital city, Phnom Penh. A few months into his regime, Pol Pot had it turned into a "secret" prison referred to as S21 Prison, used for questioning and torture for anyone accused of seeking education or plotting against the regime.

The classrooms were turned into cells and torture chambers.

The entire complex was enclosed with barb wire fences, including the outsides of the hallways on the individual buildings to prevent escapes or suicide attempts.

The complex has now been turned into a museum, informing people of all of the horrors that went on there. The Khmer Rouge were very similar to the Nazis in the fact that they took very meticulous records of every prisoner that came through the gates. The rooms are now filled with row after row of mug shots taken of the prisoners upon arrival. These pictures were the most disturbing part of the visit. You walk into room after room filled with pictures of real people, looking them dead in the face, seeing the pain and fear in their eyes...men, women, and children alike.

After leaving there we drove 14km south outside of the city to arrive at the Choeung Ek Killing Fields. It was here that the prisoners of S21 were disposed of once the officials at the prison were done with them. Prisoners were blindfolded, loaded in the back of a truck, and driven out here. They were then murdered one by one and dumped into mass graves. Once they were finished, they covered the grave up and simply dug a new one the next time around. Speakers were hung on trees in the fields playing music and various sounds to try to hide the horrific sounds resounding from the killing spots, as to not "alert" local villagers. 

In the middle of the site now stands a Memorial Pagoda, housing 8,000 human skulls and articles of clothing belonging to the victims. 

Overall, the day was very enlightening and extremely overwhelming. I was feeling very sad for the Cambodian people and all that they had been through. But then I was walking through the city, receiving huge smiles and eager hellos from people of all generations. The genuine happiness and kindness that exudes from the faces of the Cambodian people make it very hard to remember that they endured such brutality only 30 years ago. It's very encouraging to see how much this country has bounced back in such a short time. It's no doubt they have a much brighter future ahead!