Remembering the Dark Past

My morning in Phnom Penh was to include three stops; but because Obama might arrive anytime for the ASEAN meeting and the late Cambodian king's funeral, my guide suggested we cut the tour short to get to the airport before the army closed the roads. I insisted we make one visit—to the Genocide Museum. I felt it important to be a witness to the atrocity that befell these kind people, to in some small way honor the victims.

The museum displays the short, brutal reign of the Khmer Rouge (KR) from April 1975 to late 1978. A sign at the start of the tour (below) lists the rules each prisoner had to follow. While #6 seems like the toughest rule, the first one, though ambiguous, means “always answer yes.” Imagine being asked if you were an enemy of the revolution and could only answer in the affirmative.

The museum buildings occupy a former high school that the KR used to hold and torture prisoners. Over 10,000 victims passed through. The poignancy of my visit was heightened because my local tour guide, Hong Seang, was a student at the school when the KR invaded the city. Seang is also a survivor of the Killing Fields.

Seang at his former school

The museum includes classrooms divided by crude brickworks into cells where prisoners were chained.

There are long displays of black & white photos of victims—the KR made each victim wear a number for the photo records. Some rooms display torture equipment and graphic paintings of how the KR employed the machines. The final room has several display cases of bones and skulls.

As we drove to the airport, Seang related how he was the sole survivor in his immediate family. His parents and a brother died of starvation. Two other brothers and the family of his aunt and uncle were executed. He spoke through tears.