Facing Genocide

On our last day in Cambodia, we visited the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Estimates vary as to how many people were killed by the Khmer Rouge, from hundreds of thousands to 2 million, as they attempted to create a rural, classless society. In a span of 4 years, they had murdered almost all educated Cambodians. Estimates are that only around 80 Cambodians who could read and write were still alive by the end of the Khmer Rouge. For more about the Khmer Rouge, go to the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor .

Choeung Ek Genocidal Center

The Killing Fields are 15 kilometers (a little over 9 miles) outside of Phnom Penh in Choeung Ek. The area was originally chosen because of its distance and former function (Chinese cemetery), allowing the Khmer Rouge to kill and bury people secretly.





Bones from the Killing Fields

Today grass covers the fields. Bones continue to work their way to the surface, even where skeletal remains have been exhumed. Theresa, one of the women I was traveling with, said: "The Killing Fields show me that no matter what form oppression takes, it tears the fabric of society."

Butterflies at the Killing Fields

Hundreds of butterflies flitted about the fields--hauntingly beautiful. Our guide said that some people believe the butterflies are the spirits of people who were killed. A Buddhist stupa containing over 5000 skulls is on the site and a memorial park has been built around the mass graves containing thousands of people who were killed. The winding pathways around the killing sites, the mass graves, and the stupa create a quiet respectfulness for those whose lives were so brutally taken.

Shrine at the Killing Fields

No Laughing
At the entrance to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Pehn, there is a visual image of "no smiling/laughing." Our guide said this sign was not for foreigners but for Cambodian school children because some do not believe that Cambodians killed one another and laugh or smile at the contents of the museum.

The museum contains photos of Khmer Rouge victims (the regine kept meticulous visual and written records), instruments of torture, and the original interrogation rooms.

Rules for Prisoners

People were required to look into the camera as their photo was taken. Only a few did not look. Collectively so many different emotions are communicated through the eyes of those photographed--fear, defiance, resignation, anger,sadness. I looked at each photo, feeling a responsibility to witness the loss of each vital person. My eyes were filled with tears throughout my visit to the Museum. My deep sadness was coupled with incredulity that once students at Kent State were killed for protesting the invasion of Cambodia that I did not stay focused on Cambodia and what was happening there.


Gallows at Tuol Sleng

Shackles at Tuol Sleng