Phnom Penh

(Again, I must apologize for the lull in my posts but life back home has been hectic, with May containing more bdays than any other month... including my own :) A wet and muddy camp-out in our back 40 acres on the long weekend was a memorable experience for sure, but Phnom Penh is on another level...)

Our short busride to the capital of Cambodia was spent reflecting on the most magnificent architectural masterpieces we've ever seen. 17 times the size of Manhattan island, medieval Angkor's urban sprawl is astounding. But we were headed to the new capital and largest city in the country, once known as the "Pearl of Asia" for its lovely French architecture. However, our purpose was not to sightsee the modernisation ordered by King Sihanouk, it was to see the destruction ordered by Pol Pot on not only the city but the whole country. 

Obviously they weren't well liked

His Khmer Rouge soldiers arrested and eventually executed almost everyone suspected of connections with the former or foreign governments, as well as professionals and intellectuals. Ethnic Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese were also targets of persecution, as well as Cambodian Muslims, Christians and the Buddhist monkhood. Out of ~50,000 monks only ~1,000 survived to carry on their religion, and 95% of Buddhist temples were destroyed. Unable to tolerate so powerful an institution, Pol Pot was "the Hitler of Cambodia" and "a genocidal tyrant." He sought a return to an agrarian economy, forcing all city dwellers to do labour on rural farms in conditions close to slavery. Failure to comply with his rules resulted in detainment, interrogation and torture at the Democratic Kampuchea's Security Office.

Tuol Sleng School was turned into the S-21 Prison Camp for these exact purposes, with it's classrooms turned into rows of small cells. Surrounding the grounds are 2 rows of corrugated iron fence covered with dense barbed wire, and the fronts of each building are covered in fishnet barbed wire to prevent prisoners from jumping to commit suicide.

Building A was used for detaining cadres who were accused of leading the uprising against Pol Pot's revolution, with paneled windows to minimize the sound of screams during torture. 

Building B, C and D were reconstructed differently: the ground floor was divided into small cells with brick walls; the upper floors were large cells to crowd multiple prisoners together. 

The central courtyard had a wooden pole that was once used for students' physical education, but was the perfect torture machine. Interrogators tied both hands of prisoners behind their backs and hung them upside down until consciousness was lost. To shock them back into consciousness, their heads were dipped into a barrel of filthy water and interrogation was continued. 

In 1975 there were 154 prisoners, 1976 = 2250, 1977 = 2350 and in 1978 a record of 5765. These figures don't include children, which is estimated at 20 thousand. Each and every victim was numbered, measured and photographed...

... with hundreds on display in viewing rooms where relatives have come, discovering that their long lost family member ended up there. This sign is a given...

The last 14 victims before the S-21 personnel fled in 1979, were discovered in Building A by the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea. They were unidentifiable due to bad decomposition so were buried in the courtyard. 

The UFNSK feels it mandatory to preserve the evidence of the bloody regime and remember the oppression, anguish and suffering caused by the Khmer Rouge. Keeping the memory of the atrocities committed on Cambodian soil alive is the key to building a new strong state. For this same reason, the Phnom Penh Killing Fields have been turned into the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center. 15 km out of town is where the S-21 prisoners were taken, and also the most well known of over 300 killing fields throughout the country. 

In order to pay respect to the spirits of the 3 million victims all over the country, a memorial stupa was constructed where incense and candles are lit and flowers are offered. 

The clear glass stupa holds bones on it's upper shelves and around 8000 skulls on it's lower shelves, but about 20,000 people were executed there. 

  Half of the 129 mass graves have not been excavated, allowing the remains to rest in peace. 

However, some victims were required to dig their own graves and their weakness limited how deep they dug so clothing and bones frequently surface after heavy rainfalls. 

Notice how the executioners used everything BUT expensive ammunition,... 

even the sharp edges of palm leaves.

Certain victims were more frail, so a simple tree...  

was enough to get them in the adjacent pit.

Music was played over a loud speaker hung from a central tree...

to muffle the cries as acid was poured on those who wouldn't give up...

 Standing on these killing fields was a horribly disturbing experience to say the least. 

We needed a break from staring Cambodia's brutal history in the face, so we headed down to the relaxed beach town of Sihanoukville.