However, having spent time in Cambodia and Phnom Penh in August, it's clear that the Cambodian view is that people should speak about this subject and educate others as to prevent new generations creating the same situation again. So here is my post about the Tuol Sleng Genocide prison (S21) and Killing Fields in Phnom Penh.
Let me be clear, I am certainly no expert and a google search with tell you more about the terrible genocide and forced labour regime that wiped out an estimated 25 percent of the Cambodian population in just four years. However, whilst in Phnom Penh, we were privileged enough to visit two of the sites that commemorate the sufferings and tragedies of those years.
Both the prison (a former high school) and the killing fields make for grim visiting. The air of oppression is tangible and much of the sites have been left the same. In the prison, there is still blood staining the cramped prison cells and rusty, broken beds, chains and torture devices in the torture rooms. The names and photos of every one of the poor souls tortured and killed in the place aline the walls of the prison, forcing you to stare into their eyes and wonder about their last months, weeks and moments. There are collections of their clothes and personal details and the only survivors sit in the courtyard of the prison, now peaceful, hoping to tell their stories and prevent further atrocities.
However awful the prison is, it is nothing compared to the experience of visiting the killing fields. The blistering heat, the stench from the nearby rivers, endless, huge pits dug in the ground with clothing, teeth and bone fragments sticking out of the ground. Worst of all, the killing tree. The sign will explain its purpose. This is not a place for the feint hearted but it is an important place and the experience of standing on the edge of one of those pits, the sound of a generator and Khmer Rouge chanting blaring in my ears will be one that sticks with me for a long time.
