SE Asia Day 35: Phnom Penh

Somber start to Christmas Day with a visit to the infamous and tragic Killing Fields.

Not to get too much into a history that can be Googled but when the communist leader Pol Pot took control in 1975 his hatred of those he called Capitalists, which meant anyone in government, in business, in education, any intellectual, anyone who wore glasses (which meant they could read), who had soft hands (meant they had an easy, indoors job) and so on, were the enemy. None of these people could be the mindless workers he wanted to serve his new regime and therefore could potentially rebel against his dictatorship so they, and their families, were rounded up and sent to work camps, and/or tortured for information, and/or murdered. All labeled as “enemies of the revolution”. More than 20,000 bodies were found in the mass graves at the Killing Fields, and there were 100’s of mass graves all over the country. In all 3 million out of a population of 7 million died between 1975 and 1979.

*some disturbing photos below*

*129 mass graves here, 43 left interred. Many several meters deep but rain/nature slowly filling in the cavities of the excavated ones*. *Up to 300 people were killed per day. Worst fact is most of the soldiers that did this were children, 8-18 years old, indoctrinated to hate the oppressive higher classes*

*Clothing and bones are still slowly making* *their way to the surface*

The site was once an old Chinese cemetery. The victims were brought in at night in “Red Cross” trucks, killed by knife so neighbors wouldn’t hear gunshots and speakers played loud music to cover their screams

*Many in the group crying by this point*

*1988 Memorial stupa built to contain the skeletons of all those exhumed*

In the City the regime converted a large high school (all schools, factories, offices, etc had been shut down/destroyed) into a “Reeducation Center”, or prison. The so-called Capitalists were imprisoned here and tortured until they confessed all the names/information the regime was looking for. Some stayed for months until either died there or were transported to the Killing Fields.

*Old school had 60 classrooms in four 3-storey buildings that were converted to torture chambers and prison cells*

*They kept records of everyone imprisoned but burned all on site when the regime fell. Luckily some negatives were found in a nearby office so some record remains of those lost*

*No one ever left the prison alive except for 7 slave workers who were taken as hostages by escaping guards* *when the regime fell in 1978*

*And this is one of those 7. Only 2 are still alive; this gentleman is 95 years old. He was imprisoned in the cell above > 4 months. Kept alive as he was useful as a mechanic*

We returned to the hotel and went our separate ways for the afternoon. The 5 of us singles when to a Happy Jack-recommended restaurant for lunch, then 3 of us ladies strolled back to the hotel via the Central Market.

*Our noodle lunch was made by hand before our eyes*

*The Central Market’s ginormous dome; halls filled with household goods & souvenirs branched off like spokes on a wheel*

At 4:30pm Happy Jack had arranged Tuk Tuks to take us for a 2-hour sunset cruise. Rather than a sunset we ended up with a deep blue overcast sky that turned into pouring rain just as we returned to the dock. It was a fun, wet Tuk Tuk ride back to the hotel for dinner!