After our days exploring the ancient temples around Angkor Wat we spent some time in Phnom Penh exploring some more recent history. We arranged a tuktuk to take us out to Choeung Ek, better known as the Killing Fields, and then to Tuol Sleng, better known as S-21, on the way back.
Before coming to Cambodia I knew a little about the Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields, but I was by no means an expert. Following our visit to Choeung Ek and Tuel Slong I am still not an expert, but now I have some understanding of the horrors that went on during the rule of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to early 1979.
At Choeung Ek it is estimated that around 20,000 people were killed and buried here, and 8,895 bodies have so far been discovered. It was a very humbling experience wandering around, having to be careful where you walked as bone fragments and teeth are still coming up through the soil today. The Cambodian Government have done a very good job in turning the site into a memorial for those who were killed at the many Killing Fields around the country. There is an audio guide, included in the ticket price, which has parts of the story narrated by survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime. This explained how people were driven to the site by the truckload from S-21 and what would happen to them once they arrived. There are now thatched shelters erected over some of the more significant mass graves, such as one where 450 bodies were found and another where the headless bodies 166 soldiers were found. There is also the Killing Tree, which was used to children were bludgeoned to death before their bodies were thrown into a pit next to the tree. They have built a large Buddhist Stupa as a mermorial to all those killed during the rule of the Khmer Rouge regime. This stupa contains more than 5,000 skulls which have been excavated from this site, as well as large numbers of other significant human bones.
A mass grave where 450 bodies were found
Each one of the dips was a mass grave containing hundreds of bodies
Most of the victims of Choeung Ek were transported to the site from Tuol Sleng. Tuol Sleng was a former school but during the rule of the Khmer Rouge it was used as a detention centre, also known as Security Prison 21 (S-21). Walking around S-21 the first block you come across contain the rooms which were used to torture some of the prisoners. These rooms still contain the metal bed frames that the prisoners would have been shackled to, along with various other pieces of equipment. The second block photos of many of the prisoners who were kept captive here and later taken to be executed at Choeung Ek. The prison authorities kept very detailed records of each prisoner, with their height being recorded and their photo taken as soon as they arrived at the prison. Although all of the blocks were difficult to walk through, this one was even more so as it put faces to the atrocities which we were hearing and reading about. The third block contained small brick or wooded prison cells, very rudimentory and looking like they would fall down at any moment. The outside of the block was covered in barbed and razor wire to prevent prisoners from escaping. The remaining blocks contained more photos, some personal accounts of life in Tuol Sleng by survivors and a number of human skulls showing the punishment that the prisoners received.
A bed frame prisoners were shackled to
Photographic records showing some of hte prisoners
It was a very difficult trip to see these two sights, but it certainly opened our eyes to the atrocities that went on during the rule of the Khmer Rouge regime. In just over three years that the Khmer Rouge were in power, it is estimated that almost two million Cambodians were killed – around 1 in 5 of the population at the time!
Photos from Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng can either be viewed below or at http://photos.andywicks.com/ChoeungEkandTuolSleng?noredirect=1
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