The worst years were 1975 to 1979. I was in my late twenties and in 1977, in the midst of one of the worst atrocities in human history, flew over Laos on my way to Europe. It was a night of full moon and I always remember the beauty of the moonlight reflecting off the rice paddies. I had no inkling of the awful events that were unfolding beneath me. Nor, it seems, did the rest of the world, as the leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, kept the country isolated under his totalitarian rule.
The memorial stupa at the Choueng Ek killing field contains around 5,000 skulls.
The upshot of Pol Pot's attempt to return Cambodia to its rural roots and reject all things foreign was the death of huge numbers of the country's citizens* - estimates range from 1.5 million (25% of the population) to 3.5 million (50% of the population). The exact numbers are not known, because during periods of conflict in the 1970's and 80's, landmines were put down by various factions. As in Laos, these weapons continue to kill and injure people today and make some areas still unsafe to go into. (There are estimated to be four to six million land mines still unexploded here today, especially in rural areas.) Many of the killing fields were in areas that are not safe to assess today, due to the landmines.
*These numbers include deaths from starvation also due to the complete disruption of the society, in addition to the executions at the many killing fields.
I have visited the USS Arizona, Hiroshima, The World Trade Center and now the Killing Field, Choueng Ek, in Phnom Penh. I haven't really WANTED to go to any of these places, but it seemed to be the respectful action when I found myself in their vicinity. My mind and heart approaches them with the dread of knowing that something awful happened here, yet I feel sadly numb - unable to really 'feel' the true dimension of the historic and profoundly painful events that occurred in such places. I probably am grateful for this, as the alternative would most likely be too painful, but it left me feeling just a little phony as I walked the grounds of Choueng Ek - right where people were shot and had their throats cut and where children's heads were bashed against a tree.
The other disconnect was the question of photographs. The monument consists of hundreds of human skulls that were removed from the site. I was conflicted as to whether it would be disrespectful to treat these souls as objects for photography, or whether telling the story gave these souls greater dignity.
The site is not sophisticated. Apart from the stupa in which many skulls have been collected, it is left untouched. We were told when it rains, new evidence rises to the surface of the soil and is left much like this clothing and bone.
Our guide (whose name I don't remember), in the white shirt, did a wonderful job of telling us of the events that led to the rise of the Khmer Rouge and the terrible things that were done during their rule. He expressed the opinion that the story needs to be told, so I decided that photography was OK.
The hardest part of the story to hear was the cold calculation of the killers - bashing peoples heads so that death was slower, so that the sound of gunshot wouldn't be heard by nearby villagers and so that ammunition was not 'wasted'. This shovel is left as a reminder of some of the tools used, along with teeth that have risen to the top of the soils. I appreciated the scattering of frangipani as an offering to honor the lives that were lost here.
The people being killed were almost everyone suspected of connections with the former government or with foreign governments, as well as professionals and intellectuals.
There were some origami cranes in the stupa, but the memorial device that people are using here is the bracelet. There are many colorful bracelets wrapped around the fence-posts. I love our human desire to bring color and signs of peace to even the darkest places!
The young soldiers who carried out the killings were young males and females from peasant families. Their bodies were thrown into mass graves. 8,895 bodies were discovered at Choeung Ek after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime.
The people who were killed at Choueng Ek were mostly political prisoners who had been held at a compound in the city called Tuol Sleng Detention Center, or S-21, (Security Prison 21) which had been converted from a high school. The photo above shows the regulations that prisoners had to abide by.
It was a pretty grim place, too - even more uncomfortable than Choueng Ek, as one could see blood stains on the floor and walls, photos of the victims and instruments of torture. And it had an odor to it - just a nondescript, musty odor which left me feeling quite creeped out! We were asked not to photograph inside, so you are spared that, at least!
It's estimated that 17,000 prisoners were detained here. Only nine survived - four children and five adults. This poster showed Vietnamese 'rescuers' with the four children.
One of the adults comes to the prison frequently to tell his story and sell a book that he wrote. He has a beautiful healthy face with dramatic, very clear eyes. I bought one of his books and had my picture taken with him.
The most remarkable and chilling part of the story is how Pol Pot was able to secure Phnom Penh and set up areas like this without neighbors nearby to hear screams of people being tortured. He simply told the population - about 2.5 million at the time - that the Americans were going to bomb the city. People were told to leave for three days and to leave their belongings because the Khmer Rouge would take care of things while they were gone. It makes one pause to realize the power of this act of 'disinformation'. While there is some relief in the fact that the US was not involved in these atrocities, it is pretty unfortunate that the threat of being bombed by them was believed so readily by the Cambodians! Many people who left never returned.
By the time we had finished our visits two these two sites, I was spent emotionally! Thus followed a quiet evening at the hotel.
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