The Darkest History in Cambodia

I have been in Cambodia for more than two weeks and I have been avoiding the topic or any visit to any places related to Cambodia's darkest days - the 1970's period.

The Killing Field, Cambodia

The civil wars took place between 1975 - 1979, and since April 17, 1975 when the Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Penh and drove the residents out of the city, about three million  Cambodians died ( about 1/3 of the population at that time).  When the Khmer Rogue was in power, many  innocent Cambodians were executed or murdered for no reason. Some Cambodians I met here still remembered these darkest days of their country. Many told me as long as the person was wearing glasses ( a sign of educated class), or if they held any professional jobs or were seen as intellectuals, they were arrested, detained and later killed while thousands upon thousands died from starvation as a result of this political persecution.

Our mission team visited the  S21 Museum – a Phnom Penh school that was turned into a place of tortured and prison for thousands of innocent victims. I did not go because I could not stomach images  and pictures of  violence and attacks on fellow human beings. I stayed at the church house.

However, I did go with my team members to the Killing field, about twenty km. out of Phnom Penh.

Killing Field - a Place to Remember the Victims

I was very reluctant to go as I hated the thought of watching any violent images. But I needed to go as this is one of the most tragic part of Cambodia’s history. As we have learned from the lost of Jewish lives during WWII, we need to remember these atrocities so that human beings would not repeat the same mistake again.

My team members and I took very few pictures at  both of these museums because of the unspeakable violence which took place there.  Nobody wanted to linger at these sites as we were keenly aware of the suffering and numerous lives lost there. We felt very sad and had sick feelings  and we asked ourselves these common questions:

How were men able to commit such atrocities against their own people, their own race? What compelled them to commit such horrible crimes against humanity? Were they not men with emotions and feelings? How could they stand sights of other human beings ‘suffering?

R.T. Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Nov, 2012