A history of Killing

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The trip to Phnom Penh was, for me, the history class that I never took in high school or college and, unfortunately, never taught at Global Visions. Two weeks in Cambodia has been as eye opening as almost 5 months in China. At first, China seemed normal and not too far off from America, but the longer I am there, the less subtle the differences become. But, Cambodia, has just been a constant reoccurance of jaw-dropping revelations.

The killings of the Khmer, the crazy number of lexus driving through a 3rd world country where most people don't have fresh water.

Here is some wikipedia info...something i couldn't get in china.

The Khmer regime is remembered mainly for the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million people, estimates range from 750,000 to 3 million, under its regime, through execution, starvation and forced labor. Although directly responsible for the death of a large amount of that number, the policies of the Khmer Rouge led many others to die from starvation and displacement. In terms of the number of people killed as a proportion of the population of the country it ruled, it was one of the most lethal regimes of the 20th century. One of their mottos, in reference to the New People, was: "To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss

About the S-21 Security prison.
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The site is a former high school which was used as the Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the communist Khmer Rouge regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979. Tuol Sleng is a Khmer name meaning "hill of the poisonous trees."

There is just too much......too much that most people, including myself never knew, and I am a history teacher.....Everyone learns about the holocaust, which was devasting and vast, but that is just one incident.....there are so many more.

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Photos

S-21, Prison Cells
An Individual prison cell where people were held from 2-4 months until they wrote their confessions....about how they were traders to the khmer rouge

S-21, Security Prison
S-21 was one of the many prisons used bye the Khmer Rouge during the mass killings in 1975-79. It held many babies, children, teenagers and adults. Most were believed to be somekind of foreign intelligence. All were innocent victims. The pictures on the wall was how the prison, a former high school, was found after the Khmer Rouge fled.

The killing fields
about 17k from Phnom Phen's downtown. People were sent here to be executed. They found something like 89 mass gravesites. You could see the land was all dugout ditchs....

The road to killing
the road to the killing fields is being repaved and becoming an major tourist site. the Cambodian government has sold the rights to sell tickets to the killing fields to a japanese company. amazing!

leftovers
clothing and bones of the victims

Prisioner Art
The prisoners at S-21 were forced to make busts of Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge. He told the people that the year was now year zero, abolished money, clothing, crops, possesions, etc. A purist when it comes to communism

Saving bullets
many of the skulls were shattered, saving the bullets for the khmer rouge

Bantreay Srei
One of the kings built this for his mother....and there were no popsicle sticks used in the entire temple, which kept use saying, "how'd he do that?"

Foreign Correspondants Club
We broke into the FCC in pHnom phen and thought we were rich and fabluous for at least one evening. The food, drinks, et al. were amazing. Here Jaime and I are throwing the secret hand sign.

Picture Perfect
Banteay Srei, one of the many temples of Angkor and more importantly my favorite.

How many Cambodians can you fit on one motobike
about 3 more than mary and I did, and they didn't crash. here are four on one bike.

Sitting on the dock of the bay
waiting for our 7am boat ride from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh

Hello, sunburn!
5+ hours on top of the boat with a tub of sunscreen below deck. What do you get with 3 college degrees, but no parents in sight....can we say sunburn!

Sunset on Silkounkaville beaches
Cambodia at its best

Comments

[KLS]

Hi - great blog today. love the pics the captions and the Khumer Rouge stories. Hope one day I can see it too-