Phnom Penh's Killing Fields and S21 prison
Trip Start
Sep 07, 2004
1
19
53
Trip End
Aug 15, 2005
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
Saturday, December 4, 2004
In the 1970's during the midst of the cold war and as we understand it, though don't quote us, America secretly bombed parts of Cambodia with around 6 billion dollars worth of bombs before retreating from South Vietnam into Cambodia and attacking it. As you can imagine, the bombs in the countryside of Cambodia pissed the people of slightly and enabled the Khmer Rouge to recruit people to fight the threatening force. After America left, Cambodia was left in the throes of civil war in which the Khmer Rouge prevailed
Dinner Cambodian Stylee
.In Phnom Penh one of the largest secondary schools under the rule of Pol Pot was turned into a torture camp and prison called S21. All members of the previous regime, lawyers, teachers, doctors, educated people and even people just for wearing spectacles were brought to this jail along with all members of their families before being executed at the killing fields.
S21 has now been turned into a museum and you can walk in most of the rooms of the buildings within the grounds. We started in the part of the building where the prisoners where routinely interrogated. Inside on the walls were some photo's that the Khmer Rouge had taken depicting the most brutal scenes. In some rooms there is still blood splattered on the ceilings. The next few rooms were set like a gallery with 1000's of photographs that were found of the actual prisoners who had been interred at the S21 camp. The next 2 building's were where the prisoners were imprisoned in cells no bigger than 5 feet by 7 feet and permanently manacled to the floor. There are also rooms of photographs of people who worked for Khmer Rouge in S21 along with their present day feelings in which you got some insight into the fear of the people - Kill or be killed. We spent around 4 hours here feeling hopeless, distraught, depressed, astonished and deeply shocked at this treatment of humanity only 30 years ago
Gallery in S21
. In the 3 and a half years that the Khmer Rouge were in power, over 17000 people left this particular prison for the Killing Fields, and only 10 actually survived.Next we went to Cheong Ek, the major Killing field of Phnom Penh. Just beyond the entrance is a huge stupa where thousands of the skulls that have been unearthed have been kept in order of age. Beyond, you were free to walk around, and as we walked between different, separate ditches, where people were executed, you could still see remains of bone, teeth, and clothing poking out from below the earth. At one point we trod on what was the remains of a jaw bone with teeth still remaining. It was horrifying to walk around these mass graves, knowing from our previous visit at the S21 musem, what exactly went on here and how exactly they were killed.
There were many of these such places dotted around Cambodia and over 350 actual Killing Fields have been officially recognised. Between 2 and 3 million people died under Pol Pot's regime in what has undoubtedly been one of the most devasting examples of crimes against humanity.
