Tuŏl Tumpung

**genocide museum and killing fields description**

I went in head first for my first day in Cambodia today, and visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and killing fields.
I never learnt about the Cambodian genocide at school, or had really heard of it prior to travelling. I'd done a bit of research before coming to prepare for what I'd learn.
A very brief poorly worded summary of the Genocide:
The Khmer Rouge was the name given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (Cambodia), and by extension to the regime through which they ruled Cambodia between 1975-1979. Khmer simply means Cambodian, it originates from the ancient Khmer empire (formed in the 9th century), and is still used today. Cambodian people speak Khmer and traditional Cambodia food is Khmer food. Rouge is the french work for red, the colour of communism.
When the Khmer Rouge came into power the leader, Pol Pot, declared 1975 to be 'year zero,' when Cambodia was to be isolated and society remade in accordance with communist ideals. Civil rights, the construct of owning property and the use of money were immediately eliminated, and any public expression of religious belief was forbidden. Taking the view that Cambodian society had been corrupted by exposure to the world beyond Cambodia’s borders, the new regime started destroying evidence of Western influence, emptying cities and force-marching the urban population into the countryside and forced to work on agricultural projects.
People associated in any significant way with the previous government, religion, or education (professions like doctors and lawyers), as well as members of ethnic minorites , were targeted for persecution, imprisonment, torture and murder. The Khmer Rouge created 189 prisons and over 300 killing fields, where prisoners were executed.
In prisons such as the Tuol Sleng prison, people were forced to sign false confessions, claiming to be a part of the CIA or KGB, and made to name family and friends also associated with these organisations, who then would be found and also killed.
Aside from the senseless killing, the communal living and farming system the Khmer Rouge implemented caused thousands more deaths from starvation and disease, or simple refusal to work or petty crime (stealing a fruit from a tree) could be punished with death.
The Khmer Rouge regime in just under 4 years killed approximately 2 million people (ranging from 1.3-3 million as bodies are still being discovered) which at the time was at least 25% of the population.
The Tuel Sleng is the only remaining prison from the regime, and has mostly remained intact, with a museum created in a section of it. The museum was very thoroughly curated. I'd been advised to so the audio guide, which very thoroughly lead me through the various buildings and courtyards. Some of the photos were hard to look at, other rooms were filled with hundreds of photos of prisoners held in the cells, and subsequently killed. The guide was very informative, but also had stories from survivors and ex prison workers. Only 12 people are thought to have survived the prison, 3 of whom were children who hid when the Khmer Rouge was taken out of power and the prison abandoned.
They had really not changed a lot of the interior of the prison, the first rooms had original beds from where prisoners were kept and tortured. A whole block was filled with tiny wooden or brick cells, with torture instruments displayed on the ground floor.
It was pretty gruelling to see and hear about, but the audio guide allowed you to take your time, sit on benches in the shade of trees in the courtyard and listen to stories. It took me about 3 hours to walk around before I finished the audio, and went to find lunch.
In the afternoon I got a tuk tuk to Phnom Penh killing fields, where prisoners from Tuol Seng were taken and killed. It's estimated up to 20,000 were executed here.
The Khmer Rouge did not want to waste ammunition or create noise as they operated in 'secret', so killed people with a blow to the back of the head, and also slit prisoners throats to make sure they were dead, and were pushed into pits in the ground.
The set up was the same, I had an audio guide which led me round. There was not a lot to see, manly grass with trees and some signs and benches you could sit on and listen. There were mass graves that had been excavated that were roped off, the hardest of which to see was a small pit where over 100 bodies of women and children were found. Around the grave, there were hundreds of colourful bracelets that people had left which was quite beautiful.
The whole place was very peaceful, there was barely any people there. When it started to rain half way through, it was kind of added to the heart-braking atmosphere. The museum was a lot more visually hard to see, where the story telling in this audio guide was hard to hear, and with less visual aids, each word sunk in more.
The one sight I did find crazy, was that as you walked on the elevated boarding over the fields, you actually see pieces of bones and rags of clothes which had been uncovered by heavy rain. A main excavation of the site had been conducted in 1989, but since then no more has been done. There is lake which they believe has more bodies buried under, but decided not to dig up anymore if the area and let the bodies there lay to rest. The bone and cloth fragments are collected by workers every three months, and placed into glass cabinets, the ones most recently collected were just sat on top within arms distance which was crazy to see.
The final stop of the tour was a memorial, inside of which was over 9,000 skulls.
The day was very intense but very important to do, even writing this up 2 weeks later, it still weighs heavy. But I'm so glad I saw it all.
The most upsetting take away from the day was that genocide in countries is still happening today, and I feel powerless. When the Cambodian genocide occured, no one knew as they'd closed the borders and the world was not connected like it is today. But it makes you think, even if it did occur today, if anyone would have put a stop to it.Read more