THE HORRORS OF TUOL SLENG GENOCIDE MUSEUM AND THE KILLING FIELDS OF CAMBODIA
Holidays are meant to be fun, however, some ƉůĂĐĞƐ ĂƌĞ ďŽƚŚ ŵŽǀŝŶŐ͕ ƵŶƐĞƩůŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĂƚ ŵĂŬĞƐ ƚŚĞ ŚĂŝƌƐ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ŽƵƌ ŶĞĐŬƐ ƐƚĂŶĚ ƵƉ ĨŽƌ all the wrong reasons – the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and The Killing Fields of Cambodia are ƚǁŽ ƐƵĐŚ ƉůĂĐĞƐ͕ ƚǁŽ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ŚŽƌƌŝĮĐ ĂŶĚ ƵŶƐĞƩůŝŶŐ ƉůĂĐĞƐ ƚŚĂƚ / ŚĂǀĞ ĞǀĞƌ ǀŝƐŝƚĞĚ ĂŶĚ ǁŽƵůĚ not even dare to call the experience fun – but as uncomfortable though it may be, it’s important ƚŚĂƚ ƚŚĞ ƉĂƐƚ ŝƐ ŶŽƚ ĨŽƌŐŽƩĞŶ͘
These sites just a short drive on the outskirts of Phnom Penh are relics of the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s and are among the darkest of dark tourism sites in the world – the only other place I can compare them to is the German EĂnjŝ ĐŽŶĐĞŶƚƌĂƟŽŶ ĂŶĚ ĞdžƚĞƌŵŝŶĂƟŽŶ ĐĂŵƉ ŝŶ Auschwitz, Poland – but then I had read and studied the history of World War II and the Holocaust.
A visit to Tuol Sleng was a profoundly depressing ĞdžƉĞƌŝĞŶĐĞ͕ ƚŚĞ ĮƌƐƚ ƚŚŝŶŐ ƚŚĂƚ ƐƚƌƵĐŬ ŵĞ Ăƚ ƚŚĞ Killing Fields was how crude everything once was – even the murders. Especially the murders.
The people killed here were not even worth the ƉƌŝĐĞ ŽĨ Ă ďƵůůĞƚ ʹ ĂŵŵƵŶŝƟŽŶ ǁĂƐ ŝŶ ƐŚŽƌƚ ƐƵƉƉůLJ ĂŶĚ ƚŽŽ ĞdžƉĞŶƐŝǀĞ ƐŽ ƚŚĞ ƉĞŽƉůĞ ŬŝůůĞĚ ŚĞƌĞ ǁĞƌĞ hacked to death with spades, machetes and even the thorny plants that grew nearby.
tŚĞŶ WŽů WŽƚ ĂŶĚ ŚŝƐ ŵƵƌĚĞƌŽƵƐ ŽƌŐĂŶŝnjĂƟŽŶ͕ ƚŚĞ Khmer Rouge, took control of Cambodia in 1975 they tried to enforce the communist dream through a nightmare of fear and violence – and anyone with the ability to think for themselves was seen as a threat that had to be eliminated. Simply having a career as a lawyer, doctor, linguist or teacher was enough to be marked for death, the fact that Pol WŽƚ ŚŝŵƐĞůĨ ǁĂƐ ŽŶĐĞ Ă ƚĞĂĐŚĞƌ ĂŶĚ ƐƉŽŬĞ ŵƵůƟƉůĞ languages was irrelevant in this shameless genocide.
In 1975 Tuol Svay Prey High School was taken over by Pol Pot’s security forces and turned into Tuol Sleng prison known as Security Prison 21 or ^ͲϮϭ͕ ƚŚĞ ŵĂŝŶ ƉŽůŝƟĐĂů ƉƌŝƐŽŶ ǁŚĞƌĞ ƐƵƐƉĞĐƚĞĚ enemies of Angkar were sent; as Pol Pot and the top commanders’ paranoia spiralled, so did the number of Cambodians detained here and it soon became ƚŚĞ ůĂƌŐĞƐƚ ĐĞŶƚƌĞ ŽĨ ĚĞƚĞŶƟŽŶ ĂŶĚ ƚŽƌƚƵƌĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ country. Once inside, prisoners were either tortured to death or sent to nearby Choeung Ek for reĞĚƵĐĂƟŽŶ ʹ ŵĞĂŶŝŶŐ ĞdžĞĐƵƟŽŶ͘ dŚĞ <ŚŵĞƌ ZŽƵŐĞ ůĞĂĚĞƌƐ ŬĞƉƚ ŵĞƟĐƵůŽƵƐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞŝƌ ďĂƌďĂƌŝƐŵ ǁŝƚŚ ĞĂĐŚ prisoner who passed through S-21 photographed, ƐŽŵĞƟŵĞƐ ďĞĨŽƌĞ ĂŶĚ ĂŌĞƌ ƚŽƌƚƵƌĞ͘
Today the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum’s display ŝŶĐůƵĚĞƐ ƌŽŽŵ ĂŌĞƌ ƌŽŽŵ ŽĨ ŚĂƌƌŽǁŝŶŐ ůĂĐŬ and White photographs of the men, women and children who were killed – including foreigners from Australia, New Zealand and the USA who were held at S-21 before being murdered.
KĨ ƚŚĞ ĞƐƟŵĂƚĞĚ ϭϮ͕Ϯϳϯ ĚĞƚĂŝŶĞĞƐ Ăƚ ^ͲϮϭ͕ ƚŚĞƌĞ were only seven prisoners alive, all of whom had ƵƐĞĚ ƚŚĞŝƌ ƐŬŝůůƐ͕ ƐƵĐŚ ĂƐ ƉĂŝŶƟŶŐ Žƌ ƉŚŽƚŽŐƌĂƉŚLJ͕ to stay alive, when the Vietnamese army liberated Phnom Penh in early 1979.