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For our family, today was the most poignant day on the trip so far.

I was 5 years old when the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia. Until researching for our trip, I had very little knowledge of the atrocities that occurred in the Killing Fields. I watched the acclaimed 1984 movie, The Killing Fields. I had Neerav and the kids watch the movie, too. (If you haven’t seen it, you should.)  The purpose of our visit to Phnom Penh was to experience history in person.

From Nathan: One-fourth of Cambodia’s population, 1.7 million people, died between the years of 1975 and 1979 under the Khmer Rouge rule. The Khmer Rouge was a communist group which forced the Cambodians out of the cities and into the countryside to work in labor camps up to 12 hours a day.

From Nathan: Tuol Sleng, or more commonly known as S-21, was a prison and torture center for people who had allegedly committed crimes against the Khmer Rouge. The cells were small, and the ways of torture were gruesome.  In some cases, the Khmer Rouge hung prisoners upside down until they lost consciousness and then dunked them in filthy water, so the prisoners would wake up again. Eventually everyone was killed.

From Neerav: Setting foot inside the walls of S-21 was moving.  It’s hard to believe such atrocities occurred and by the hands of their own people.  What struck me most was the pictures on the walls showing the guards taking pleasure in such acts.

From Nathan: We also went to one of the hundreds of killing fields in Cambodia. This killing field, named Choeung Ek, was outside of Phnom Penh. Toward the end of the Khmer Rouge’s rule, they killed about 300 people a day here. The Khmer Rouge did not use any bullets to kill the people, because the ammunition was too expensive. Instead, the executions were savage.

From Neerav: I would guess that execution would seem like a relief after the brutal torturing at S-21, but the manner that Pol Pot and his army executed prisoners was horrific: machetes, knives, dull instruments, and other cruel means.  As you walked the area, it was hard not to be overwhelmed with emotion, listening to stories of survivors on the audio tour. The most shocking moment: walking by the tree that the Khmer Rouge used to kill babies. It’s difficult to believe more was not done and that Pol Pot was able to live a full life and see his grandchildren born when he was responsible for the murders of one-quarter of the population.

From Nathan: While this awful tragedy to the Cambodian people was happening, the world did nothing. I’d guess that most of the world today doesn’t even know that this mass genocide happened in Cambodia. I wish some country could have stepped in to help resolve the problem. I am glad that the Cambodian government preserved these sights, so they can remind people what happens when a group has absolute power.

I’d encourage you to read the captions on the photos below. To view in gallery mode, simply click on a photo and then scroll.

Entrance to Tuol Sleng Prison, otherwise known as S-21.
Courtyard of S-21
Photo of man tortured
Cell that housed some 30 prisoners
Photo of man tortured
Photo of man tortured
Shackle that held prisoners
Rules of the Khmer Rouge
Boxes for ammunition
Explanation of The Gallows
The Gallows
Photo of the mountain of clothing taken from prisoners and a cabinet of actual clothing
Photos of S-21 prisoners
Prisoner 408
Prisoner 320 and her baby
Prisoner with chain around his neck
The Khmer Rouge did not discriminate. They killed the young…
… and old.
This woman’s husband worked for the government; he was killed. Then her baby was murdered in front of her, before the Khmer Rouge killed her.
The prisoners’ photos go on and on.
Prisoner tags found at S-21
The Khmer Rouge first killed all the government leaders, intellectuals, and professionals and their families. Later, everyone was expendable.
The Khmer Rouge documented the execution of each prisoner.
Seven survivors of S-21
The barbed wire was added to this building to prevent prisoners’ escapes.
Neerav inspects barbed wire.
Individual cells
Imagine being in this cell for 2 to 6 months before your execution.
Instruments of torture
Torture table
Photo of Khmer Rouge labor camp
Photo of Khmer Rouge labor camp
Photo of children in Khmer Rouge labor camp
Photo of children in Khmer Rouge labor camp
Leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, He was never brought to justice and lived to the age of 72.
S-21 Prison
Entrance to Choeung Ek, otherwise known as the Killing Fields
The largest remembrance stupa in Cambodia
Aidan is listening to the audio tour. It was really well done.
Nathan and Aidan listen to the audio tour explain about this mass gravesite, one of many unearthed at the Killing Fields.
Photo of skulls and bones exhumed at this site
Visitors leave bracelets in memory of the victims.
Site of another mass grave
Khmer Rouge guards used the spiked branches from palm trees to slit victims’ throats.
Still today, especially in the rainy season, bones and teeth continue to come to the surface. Caretakers preserve the body parts.
In some spots, you can still see clothing worn by the victims; sometimes it’s stuck in the roots of trees.
Victims’ teeth and bones
This was the most disturbing moment on the tour. The guards would take babies and children by their feet and strike them against this tree until they were dead. Hair and brain matter were found on the bark. Bracelets have been left in the children’s memory.
From this tree, the Khmer Rouge hung loud speakers. At night, music would play to drown out the screaming of those being executed.
Top of remembrance stupa
Inside the remembrance stupa is a tower of skulls and bones from thousands of victims.
The first few levels are skulls; the upper levels are larger bones.
Just some of the skulls of victims unearthed at the Killing Fields
One of the thousands of skulls recovered from the Killing Fields.
The stench from the trash can be overwhelming.
While not as prevalent as in Africa, trash does line some of the streets in Phnom Penh. No one bags trash here. Garbage trucks come along, and using pitch forks, workers throw the rubbish into the back.
Nathan can’t escape the smell from the trash.
Monks out and about in Phnom Pehn.