Pensive in Phnom Penh

Inside of the Buddhist Memorial at the Killing Fields

        Full from banana cake and armed with cookies for the journey, we settled onto our seven hour bus ride from Saigon to Phnom Penh. The border crossing was exceptionally easy, as we had already paid for an e-visa. Even with the additional quickness we gained, we were still the last people back onto the bus, as everyone else was from Cambodia or Vietnam. As we continued, we came upon a ferry crossing. As the bus drove onto the ferry, small children, some missing limbs, climbed aboard the bus and begged for money. A few just sat on the steps and wailed as an uncomfortable silence and sadness filled the bus. Crossing the waterway, the children left, going back across the river to try their luck again.

Arriving in Phnom Penh, a tuk-tuk driver waved at us. Assuming it was ours, we walked towards him, only to see another driver holding a sign with Rebecca’s name on it. Apologizing to the first driver, we walked off through the dirt to our tuk-tuk. Climbing awkwardly into this tuk-tuk, we immediately noticed the pictures he had posted on the inside of the roof- a young white guy holding a bunch of different guns, including AK-47’s. Huh. Interesting. We asked our tuk-tuk driver about  who he was, and from what we could garner, he was a friend who went to the shooting range. Apparently you can shoot almost anything there. And then he asked if we would like to go tomorrow. “Ummm…No thanks, “ we politely declined. As I went to take pictures of the street,  the driver started yelling “no pictures!” He then explained (kind of) that people who steal would grab it as we were driving along. Hopefully the rest of the visit wouldn’t be like this.

Buddhist memorial at the Killing Fields

The next day, we woke up early to go to the Killing Fields and S-21, the Khmer Rouge’s secret prison. Taking a tuk-tuk to the Killing Fields, we walked around the mass graves and giant memorial to the victims. Neither of us realized the extent of Pol Pot’s regime, or that it wasn’t just a minority group he was targeting, but anyone that didn’t conform to his ideal way of living. We didn’t realize that there were many instances of Killing Fields and prisons, these were just the largest. The Khmer Rouge reign spread throughout all of Cambodia and wiped out a fourth of their population.  They wanted Cambodia to be a classless society, burning books and abolishing money to attempt to spread communism. Thus, many intellectuals, scholars and political activists were taken, tortured and murdered along with their children. They were taken against their will, forced to smile in photos to symbolize their “agreement” to being contained and either immediately taken by truckload to the Killing Fields, where they were brutally murdered, or taken to S-21, where people that could “help” the regime were horrifically tortured until they admitted to falsehoods that the Khmer Rouge accused them of. 

a mass grave at the Killing Fields

              In the Killing Fields, people were murdered in groups, never kept alive longer than a day after they were brought there. Their children were killed in front of them in order to keep them from seeking retaliation for their parents’ deaths when they grew up. The were often smacked and beaten against a tree until they were dead. Older people were beheaded or had their throats slit. Their bodies were then disposed off in mass graves of hundreds of people. 

Walking silently through the Killing Fields, we reflected upon the atrocities committed there. When there is heavy rainfall, bones and clothing still surface, as many of the graves have not been excavated. As a memorial to the people who perished, a Buddhist monument stands in the middle of the fields, holding the skulls of many victims. After placing money in the donation bin, we walked into the small museum there, and then left to go to the Genocide Museum, the former S-21 Prison.

In the prison, dissenters were strapped down to metal bed frames while brutally interrogated or many other forms of torture were used. Electrical power was placed in their ears, their nails were removed and they were held underwater for extended amounts of time. One woman jumped to her death, and as a result of this, barbed wire was placed along all of the balconies to keep the same incident from occurring. And the Khmer Rouge documented everything, from photos of their members (anyone from a young boy to old woman), to photos of the prisoners, the torture inflicted upon them, and even their brutal death. 

an interrogation room at S-21

The prison was kept as it was found when the Khmer Rouge lost power. Torture implements are in their places, and cells and shackles were kept as is. In some of the larger rooms, floor to ceiling photos are displayed of Khmer Rouge members, victims, and conditions in the prison. There are two living survivors of this prison, and both of them were at this prison, sharing their stories. Not only do the survivors wish to speak about their recollections, but many Cambodians want everyone to know about the atrocities that were committed, so it is never repeated. 

photos of the Khmer Rouge

After walking around in silence and speaking with a guide, Becca and I had a lot to discuss, including the United States’ role in the Khmer Rouge regime and the future of Cambodia. In the United States’ zeal to be vehemently anti-Vietnamese and anti-Soviet, we sided with China and backed the Khmer Rouge regime, or Democratic Kampuchea. Even after the fall of the regime, the Khmer Rouge refugee camps in Thailand were used as a planning ground to wage war within Cambodia. The aid they received there came from international relief agencies, at the request of the United States. Perhaps they’re not the only ones that have learned something from this cruel regime.