330: HORRIFIC PAST

A tiny cell (0.8 x 2 m) at Tuol Sleng prison, formerly a high school.

More than two out of the population of eight million in Cambodia died during the genocide under the four year rule of the Khmer Rouge. Their leader, Pol Pot, was a Cambodian Hitler, who declared 1975 as Year Zero. Right now, 50% of the current population is under the age of 25, because so many of the older generation were killed.  Doctors, lawyers, teachers, scientists, and any other professionals were all executed for being educated. Even people whose only crimes were having glasses, pale skin, or uncallused hands - they were also tortured and murdered, for appearing educated.

It sickens me to know that today, some of the former Khmer Rouge officials are working in positions of power in the Cambodian government. This is because the people in this country are too afraid to speak out, because they have endured so much death and sorrow in these recent years. Almost all Cambodians have relatives who were killed under the reign of the Khmer Rouge, and so now, all they want is some peace.

Barbed wire to prevent prisoners from jumping and committing suicide

I literally felt like I was going to throw up as my tour guide (who grew up under the Khmer Rouge regime) described all the gory details of how they tortured prisoners.

The Choeung Ek Killing Fields, one of many Killing Fields across the country, is where about 17 000 people were executed. From time to time, the heavy rains will wash away the top layer of soil, revealing even more bones and clothing of the dead.

(No, they weren't actually walking through the mass grave)

Bullets were too precious to be used, so people were bludgeoned to death instead. This is the tree against which they used to smash babies' bodies...

 

I cannot even imagine how it must feel for a Cambodian to come face to face with a former Khmer Rouge official. In the words of my guide, "I met one, and I really wanted to kill him. But I knew I would get into trouble, and I have a family. If I killed him, I would not be able to support my family, and how would they eat without me?"