On Friday, we visited what was once a school before it was turned into a prison. Then we went to “the killing field” where thousands the of prisoners were taken to be killed and have their bodies dumped. I don’t know a lot about the history but what I do I’d like to share with you.
From what I understand, in hopes of recreating civilization and making everyone equal Pol Pot and a few others forced people to work in fields and then took anyone who was educated, such as doctors and teachers, to a jail they created inside of four school buildings. While prisoners were held in jail they were inhumanly tortured and interrogated. The families of these men and woman who were held captive were also murdered, even women, children and babies. All of the above has been documented by photographs and films that are now on display.
Once the victims were tortured and interrogated, they were taken in mass amounts, hidden in the back of trucks to the killing fields. At first they were killed upon arrival, but when the number of prisoners rose to 300 people per day, they were put in a dark holding place and brutally murdered later.
One tree was marked as the tree that officials used for beating babies, kids and teenagers to death. Another tree was marked as being the tree where a loudspeaker was placed so that people in the area wouldn’t hear the moans and screams of those who were about to face the inevitable.
At the killing fields there was a tall building in memory of the lives that were unjustly stolen. It was filled with hundreds of thousands of their skulls. Teeth were strewn in the dirt, there was a glass case filled with bones and sitting on top was a lone skull, almost as if it was guarding the bones of the dead. It was odd to me that there would be a skull out in the open. It was almost as if it had gotten lost in the chaos. And I wondered if anybody would even notice if it went missing. Would it even matter seeing as there are thousands more to replace it?
How do you distinguish one skull from another? The thing about skulls is they are all the same- faceless and lifeless. You can’t tell one from the other. So really, in the end Pol Pot got what he wanted. They’re all the same, they’re all eaqual. Only problem is, they’re dead. That’s the only way everybody will ever be the same, united in death. I guess Pol Pot didn’t realize that he’d be left out of the final product of his “master plan”. Rather than re-creating civilization he just completely destroyed it. I wonder if he’d still have done it if he knew.
Unfortunately, the men behind all of this destruction that are still alive are still on trial and have not been punished for the crimes they have commited. How can peace be restored if there isn’t closure? 3 million innocent Cambodians lost their lives. 14 of them were burried in front of the school where they were murdered, their bodies forever held prisoners of this earth and it’s evil. 4 survived and live to tell the stories of horror. One man was at the school when we visited and I didn’t get to talk with him but Andrea did and prayed with him. He had a crushed finger, a crushed toe and the on left side of his face he can’t see or hear because it’s paralyzed from being beat on the head. He’s wounded but atleast he still has his life, although I don’t know if he’d even want it after what happened.
Ironically, despite all of the bones and skulls, the killing fields didn’t look like a place that was once a slaughtering ground. Birds whispered their songs and chattered back and forth. The sun turned its gaze on the brightly colored grass and trees that rippled and swayed with the help of a gentle breeze and thousands of butterflies fluttered and danced amongst the wildflowers. There wasn’t a heaviness in the air like at the school. It was almost peaceful. If it hadn’t been the place of so many deaths it might be somewhere I’d go to sit, bask in the sun and spend time with my Daddy. It’s ironic how a place of evil, brokenness, unrest and death could now be a place brimming with life, beauty and peace. It’s kind of like what God does to us. He comes into our lives easily swayed by satan, full of brokenness and unrest. We die to ourselves and God comes in whispering sweet words that create new life, beauty and peace.
Graves of 14 of the 2 million victims.
The bed of a prisoner and some tools of torture. They did not have mattresses.
They were chained to the bed.
In every room there is a picture of the prisoner, most of them in a pool of blood almost dead, that inhabited the room.
There were about 3 rooms full of huge boards of pictures of the prisoners.
The map of action
One of the jail cells. There were about 3 rooms full of these.
Written on one of the walls. So sad!
A memorial at the killing fields. The building is full of skulls.
One of the many mass graves
Paying respect to the dead.
