Cambodians, like the Vietnamese, have been through horrific experiences in recent decades through US/allied bombing, the disturbing rule of the Khmer Rouge, ongoing civil war, Vietnamese invasion and the nasty vestiges of war. The eastern part of the country was heavily mined to restrict the movements of the Vietcong and the process of mining continued throughtout multiple regimes, as a way to maim but not always kill enemy combatants. The 'logic' behind this is that injuring a soldier takes two enemy combatants out of action but killing only takes one.
Somehow while growing up, I either never learned or somehow blocked my mind to these tragedies. When I did hear of Pol Pot, I imagined some far off dictator, some regime in South America, something that happened long ago. But the truth is so much closer in time and geography. Some of these heinous crimes occurred before I was born, but much of it so close that people on the street, little older than me must have suffered through the experience in one way or another, and many of those much older could have been directly involved with them, as perpetrator or victim.
S-21 Prison is actually a school that was used as a prison and torture facility after the Khmer Rouge came to power (1975) and drove most people from the cities to the fields. Their brand of communism (like many others I suppose) was the belief that labouring in the fields was a glorious pursuit and that intellectuals and artists were a threat to the regime. People would be brought here for "re-education" or "re-training" if they were not of use in their prior role, if they were somehow a threat to someone in power, or if they were suspected of being a CIA spy (or perhaps that last one was just used as a way to getting rid of people the Khmer Rouge didn't want around). People were whipped, drowned, electrocuted, starved and executed within the walls of this school. If they did survive the prison, many were taken out to the killing fields to be executed.
In one remarkable room, there was a section dedicated to a visit, in the late 70's, of a Swedish journalist who came as one of Pol Pot's guests to Cambodia, and left writing about what a glorious place Cambodia was. He wrote about a classless agricultural communist state could thrive. He now writes about how horribly wrong he was, how ridiculous it seems that the wool had been pulled over his eyes, with he a willing participant. None of the others in his party have similarly stated these revelations. Kat found this display especially fascinating as it was a new addition to since her visit in 2008. It certainly raised questions as to whether we are turning a blind eye to the various conflicts or dictatorships around the world at the moment.
During our visit, we saw a documentary, where two of the only seven known survivors of the camp told of their experience, along with a "prison guard" who told of his role at the prison, and at being forced to murder someone at the killing fields to prove that he was an "absolute" follower.
Now setup as a quasi-museum to expose these crimes for what they were, a visit here is a sad, soul-crushing experience, leaving you to (again) wonder how humans can be capable of such atrocities. Even after being driven out by the Vietnamese invasion in the late 70's, the Khmer Rouge continued a guerilla war to 1991. Disturbingly, the court cases against men like Pol Pot and his cadres have only recently commenced, with the man himself dying in 1998, before justice was done.
Stories we have read and seen are reflective of tragedies elsewhere where people under a dictatorship have been forced to do horrendous things to save loved ones or themselves. It is impossible to know what lengths one would go to in these circumstances. Although evidence perhaps points to the contrary, one would hope we as humans can learn from the devastation of war or turning a blind eye to our neighbouring countries and avoid any sort of repetition of these events. Cambodia is showing tremendous strength in rebuilding their communities with such fresh memories and resulting (and ongoing) pain of a truly horrifying time.
