Facing the Khmer Rouge’s Legacy in Phnom Penh

A little more than 40 years ago, a genocide was happening in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge had risen to power and were implementing their vision of a Maoist, communist society. This began with converting the country into an agrarian society, expelling people to the countryside. It also involved torturing and murdering the opposition, and as time went on anyone accused of conspiring against the party. Cambodia has made it point to preserve this history, to ensure it isn’t repeated.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

During the Khmer Rouge’s rule, everyone was expelled from Phnom Penh, the capital. The regime outlawed schools. In this newly empty city, what is now known as Tuol Sleng was a high school that was soon dubbed Security Prison 21, or S-21. It’s estimated that around 20,000 prisoners passed through this prison during the four year reign of the Khmer Rouge.

There are four buildings here. One building was used as individual interrogation rooms, where people were tortured for confessions of ways they were conspiring against the government. Once crimes were “confessed” to, the prisoners were forced to give names of “collaborators” who were then rounded up and also imprisoned. After the regime got the information they wanted, the prisoners were killed. Today, this building is preserved they way it was found by the Vietnamese.

The other buildings were converted into cell blocks. The cells were small, but frequently shared by prisoners, chained together. Electrified barbed wire was wrapped around the upper floors to prevent prisoners from jumping to kill themselves. Today, one of those buildings is preserved as it was, while the others house various displays. These displays include a sample of the thousands of photographs taken of the prisoners, the torture instruments used by the regime, and rotating exhibits.

During the week, it’s possible to sit and listen to a survivor of S-21 in the afternoons. This is all a part of the overall mission of the museum, to be place for education and as a memorial for Cambodians.

Choeung Ek Killing Fields

After visiting Tuol Sleng, it makes sense to take the same journey that so many Cambodians took and go to the Choeung Ek Killing Fields, about 15 kilometers outside of Phnom Penh.

After the prisoners provided the information demanded by the regime, whether truthful or not, they were brought here. There are no real estimates for the number of people who were killed here, however nearly 9,000 bodies have been exhumed from one of the dozens of mass grave sites.

There is an excellent audio tour as a part of a visit here that tells the story of the site, including about the various structures that are left from the regime and the memorial buildings.

Our Duty To Witness and Remember

To be clear, these are not fun places to visit. It is difficult to face the atrocities that occurred and to look into mass graves. However, I feel that it is extremely important to visit these places to remember those who were murdered and to be aware of what humans are capable of.