Killing fields & torture school. Cambodia Jan 2013

So Khmer Rouge came to  Pnom Pehn in 17 April 1975 and because Cambodians are happy people they were greeting them with excaitment, because they were own fellow people. Sad truth anyway revealed soon when Khmer troops started to evacuate all the cities and forced people to do more than 12 hours long days in the rice fields almost without food. Pol Pot was paranoid leader who executed people at smallest reason, his logic was: better kill innocent by mistake than save accidentally traitor. So i'm in the beautiful garden which in fact had already cemetery before the mass killings, now they dug graves several more. Its hard to believe such a beautiful garden hides stories of such cruelty.

So in beginning i get for myself recorder which acts as a guide, just push on marked places certain numbers and recorder tells what has happened there.

First stopping point is place where truck stopped at the people who brought for execution. Victims eyes were bound and many had said they will get now a new home, part of perhaps believed, part of knew truth.

In the beginning there were 20-30 people coming for executed in the truck that came around 3 weekly intervals but then Pol Pot was so inspirated that there started to be 300 people in by day so they had to build accommodations because they couldn't execute all people in same day even executioners were working late to the night.

People who were waiting next day for execution were placed in dark room so they could't see anything.

After small round i arrive to first mass grave which was found 450 victims. The area is just block loam framed with bamboo shelter with bamboo pen, covered with wrist bands in memory of the victims.

Similar are also other graves, bamboo shelters and wrist bands.

Later comes showcases where inside is victims clothes, bones, teeth and skulls.

Even today those bones always rises from ground after the rain out and some cabinets have been pilled on top some newest skulls and bones.

As the bullets were expensive people were killed mostly by alternative means: neck was cut open with sugar palm leaf, beaten to death with pickaxes etc farmer tools.

with these they were cutting throats open.

Executed people weren't only victims, Khmer troops also killed lots of people by really hard work and too little food.

Later the tape will be individual stories of the survivors and their traumas, i continue to the next mass grave where is found 166 victims without heads.

Typical mass grave

clothes of the victims

Saddest place was simple tree: Khmer troops were taking little children by legs and swinging kids heads in tree in pieces because bullets were expensive. The habit was also throw the child into the air and pierce it with sting.

Three were little kids smashed to death.

Next is the grave where was found women's naked bodies, most had been raped before execution so they were naked. They said that place had been killed more than 100 women and young children.

Tree is also full wrist bands, hard to believe evil of man!!!!

A short distance away is another tree, "the magic tree". The only magic in the tree was that there were hanging speakers which were playing communist songs very loud day and night that the screams of terror of dying people couldn't be heard by near by villages and people waiting for execution.

The last place is about 15 meters high building: stupa, which was dedicated to the victims and was within full cabinets where there were skulls of victims up to 15 meters height.

stupa.

From there i go with tuk tuk to center to check also former school that was modified to torture place during Khmer rule. On the way i look at people here and think that these are same kind of people than had been through this hell, next scooter is small boy shouting me "hellooo" and waving hand.

I smile back and reply "hellooo" but same time i wonder that those were beaten to death in trees and killed with farmer tools :(

I arrive at school and go through buildings and rooms, one by one. Rooms are all basically similar rooms: an empty room, the middle is some kind of metal bed and some torture tools, on the wall there is always some black and white photo of some poor, tortured to death, lying on own blood on the floor, an empty horrified look in his eyes...

typical room of torture school.

The torturer didn't again hadn't lack of imagination, some placed to rope, hanging head down until you get unconscious, then you were drowned to water so you awake again, then lifting up again and waiting to be unconscious again....

this used to hang people head down and pools used to wake them again.

Some victims nipples were opened with pincers and placed inside some toxic insect or something so it would be as painful as possible. To others just poured salt in the wounds etc.

The other rooms have a large number of photos of the victims: Khmer troops were systematic, when someone was brought to there, they were taking picture and name down so if someone would escape then it was easier to find. But i understood no one never escaped.

Soon that tour is over and i saw numerous black and white photos of dead people from their own pool of blood. I go back to guesthouse by tuk tuk and think everything i saw until in city center i see man with a crutch. He harddly walks with crutch and i see that in other leg he has wooden leg above his knee. Man notices that i'm looking at her on my thoughts, he smiles me and shows me thumb up sign. I smile back and show thumb up and i just can admire these peoples attitude to the life, its like man would know what i have seen but still shows thumb up, i think this must be strengt of Cambodians, even there is hard there is always hope, i go back to guesthouse with my mind numb. The end.