Writing this with a bit of delay, but it was good to have the extra time to reflect on our experiences.
We were quite apprehensive about seeing the two best known historical sites in Phnom Penh that are associated with the Cambodian Genocide that happened between 1975 and 1979. In just under 4 years, 25% of the population (upto 3 million people) had perished under the murderous Khmer Rouge regime.
Bullets were too expensive, so many victims were bludgeoned to death, tortured or systematically starved to death. It broke our hearts seeing the extent of cruelty that human beings can be capable of, not least the use of child soldiers. I don’t want to write too much more here, but all Cambodians around us wanted us to take as many photos as possible and talked about it frankly; frequently mentioned was the desire to speak of it and have facts known to avert the chance of this happening elsewhere. People’s kindness and friendliness makes it hard to think of the horrors of the past.
We first went to the Genocide museum, which was a former school that was turned into the most notorious prison in Phnom Penh. An estimated 20,000 prisoners were processed here, and either killed on site, or taken to the ‘killing fields’ around 10km away.
The Buddhist stupa now stands in the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, with remains of more than 9,000 people discovered here.
It hurts writing about this, but this needs to be acknowledged- with hope that genocide can never be allowed in to happen again.
We were quite apprehensive about seeing the two best known historical sites in Phnom Penh that are associated with the Cambodian Genocide that happened between 1975 and 1979. In just under 4 years, 25% of the population (upto 3 million people) had perished under the murderous Khmer Rouge regime.
Bullets were too expensive, so many victims were bludgeoned to death, tortured or systematically starved to death. It broke our hearts seeing the extent of cruelty that human beings can be capable of, not least the use of child soldiers. I don’t want to write too much more here, but all Cambodians around us wanted us to take as many photos as possible and talked about it frankly; frequently mentioned was the desire to speak of it and have facts known to avert the chance of this happening elsewhere. People’s kindness and friendliness makes it hard to think of the horrors of the past.
We first went to the Genocide museum, which was a former school that was turned into the most notorious prison in Phnom Penh. An estimated 20,000 prisoners were processed here, and either killed on site, or taken to the ‘killing fields’ around 10km away.
The Buddhist stupa now stands in the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, with remains of more than 9,000 people discovered here.
It hurts writing about this, but this needs to be acknowledged- with hope that genocide can never be allowed in to happen again.
Comments
These genocides should never be repeated.
Very sad. Sorry for the gruesome and harrowing experience of the visit.
Take care and a big hug.
D