Advertisement
Published: August 16th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Founded in the 15
th century, Phnom Penh is the largest city in Cambodia, and its capital. Indeed, it possessed all the sights, smells and sounds of a large Asian city, chiefly the scent of diesel mixed with something fleshy frying in oil, amidst dust and dirt, with the incessant engine whir and beeping of thousands of surrounding motorbikes. Thus, other than with a periphery view, we did not absorb many sites in the city proper, but did visit the obligatory Killing Fields and S-21 Prison.
Genocide has been occurring since the dawn of history, a cruel blotch in the stories of too many countries, including the US government’s systematic murder of Native Americans and China’s current political stance towards Tibet, a country that will most likely cease to exist in our generation. It is one of the most distressing, murderous trends in the history of our humanity, yet people, and other nations, absurdly stand by as it occurs. One sad reminder I had, as we walked the Choeung Ek Killing Fields, was that - in the words of Tadeusz Borowski, who was a Polish survivor of Auschwitz – “people did this to people”.
The Khmer
Rouge instituted many killing fields across Cambodia, but the most infamous mass grave is Choeung Ek, located near Phnom Penh. The visit took us along a somber path through different areas of torture, such as a detention center, chemical and killing tools storage rooms, and execution buildings. Although the buildings were dismantled by either famished locals or the Vietnamese army when Communist Vietnam overthrew the Khmer Rouge in the late ‘70s, signs still mark the places of their existence. As we walked farther along the path, we came upon a mass grave which, to this day, unearths bones and teeth fragments during the monsoon season. These fragments are left to lie in the area untouched for some duration, then, once a year or so, are collected, analyzed, catalogued and exhibited in a glass casing. We passed some tearful tourists when we reached the “Killing Tree”, which executioners utilized to kill children by swinging them in the air and violently bashing their heads against it; they subsequently dumped them into a pit next to the tree. Blood still stains the tree, upon which mournful visitors hang their bracelets and other trinkets.
In the middle of the field stands
a Buddhist stupa, constructed of acrylic glass and filled with 5000 human skulls, all of which bear brutal signs of injury. We entered the stupa and witnessed the skulls directly: they have been categorized by the types of tools used to kill the living people to whom these skulls once belonged, with hammers and large steel nails being the tools most effectively used by the Khmer Rouge.
It is a difficult place to visit. The audio tour, which is a must when visiting, describes each section of the killing field and tells the tales of some of its survivors. One such story describes the use of the “Magic Tree”, on which were hung loudspeakers to blare the anthems of the Khmer Rouge to drown out the sounds of executions. The audio tour then provides an example of what might have been heard by frightened and unaware prisoners in detention rooms: first, the narrator of the audio tour suggested that listeners close their eyes to simulate the darkness that would have surrounded the prisoners; next, Khmer Rouge propaganda music resounded loudly, while strange, menancing sounds vibrated in the distance, like that of a motor running, or like a
chainsaw or like steel hitting steel - but it was not any of these in reality because these tools were expensive, so the Khmer Rouge preferred to utilize more "primitive" tools when conducting executions, such as pitchforks and nails; suddenly, the music would stop and there was nothing but silence. We returned to Phnom Penh in silence as well, as we deliberated on the most basic question when confronted with an atrocity of this scale: how do you let this happen?
The S-21 prison, now known as Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide, was another place of murder and torture utilized by the Khmer Rouge. Once a high school, the building became an execution center for 14,000 people. Seven people have survived this place and relive its crimes through books and films available at the museum. An interesting trait of those performing the genocide is to keep expansive records of the detainees and the methods used to torture and consequently kill those detainees; these records customarily include pictures and portraits. We walked the hallways and stared into the eyes of the prisoners: some of them were emotionless, others pained or angry, and some others smiled defiantly.
Outside,
in the courtyard of the prison, stood torture devices as well as the rules and regulations of the prison, announcing directives such as “During lashes and electric shocks, you must not cry out at all” and “If you disobey, you will receive 10 lashes or 5 electric shocks”. I did not dwell long upon these and continued to walk the courtyard.
I spoke to some of the survivors of the prison who were present, some promoting books, others there for educational purposes only. They all averred that the Cambodian people remain optimistic about the future of their country and are prepared to move beyond the horrific years under the Khmer Rouge. Yes, sites such as the Killing Fields and S-21 prison must remain as reminders of what is possible, a reminder of the incredible acts of violence human beings are capable. But, as one individual said, in a resilient tone, “…it is time to live...”
Advertisement
Tot: 0.202s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 41; dbt: 0.0505s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb