Cambodia – S-21 and Killing Field

We visited the prison, generally called the "S-21". It was a school that got converted into an interrogating and torturing centre where "prisoners" were processed for the Cheoung Ek Killing Field just outside Phnom Penh. Our guide told us that about 14,000 people were processed through this centre and only 14 survived the execution because they were the last - just before the regime toppled.

One could be mentally prepared for such a visit; one could have read about the atrocity; one could have seen TV footages of the genocide, etc., but it would still hit one right in the heart of emotion when one was taken through the display or through the actual Killing Field site.

Photo of the exterior of the class rooms – more akin to a concentration camp. High voltage wires surrounding the compound (not shown).

This is a photo of the 1^st Class cell (for high value "prisoners"). This cell is large - the size of the class room. The commoner's cells are about a tenth of this size (see photo further on). This cell has been left in the original state.

This photo shows a regular cell for the "prisoners". Not very big, is it? But large enough for the torturers to go in and abused the daylight out of this inmate. The blood stain in the middle of the floor is original:

More blood stains along the corridor: Unfortunately, these blood stains are not protected and over time, with visitors troddening over them, they will soon fade and lost.

This photo is actual pieces of textile materials recover from the Killing Field placed in a picture frame. The display is now in the museum in S-21.

This photo depicts the quiet suffering of the Cambodians during Pol Pot's genocidal regime. This obedient young woman stood posing for a photo for the "prison's" official record. Quietly, she stood there with her baby in her arms. One single tear drop running down her cheek was the only sigh of protest. Heart wrenching. (Notice the reflection of a skull in the glass of this photo?)

A couple of photos of the exhibits at Cheoung Ek Killing Field:

Human remains: Human bones on footpath at the Killing Field. And clothes that were dug up – just left by the side of footpath.

A mass grave of women and children. You can read the plaque yourself.

It is too ghastly to describe here how little children were killed off. Anyway, this is the tree where it was done.

Cries of the victims were drowned and masked by a loud speaker that was hung on this tree – dubbed as the "Magic Tree".

A lot more mass graves will not be opened up. The authority has decided to leave them undisturbed. But, here is a photo of those graves that have been opened. This caption shows at least 10 such mass graves.

....next blog ... the infamous Angkorean temples...