In order to understand a people you need to understand their culture, and in order to understand their culture you need to know some of their history.
When I came to Cambodia, three weeks ago I had a vague knowledge of the Khmer Rouge (thanks to my love of history and holocaust stories) Several years ago I had read the book Church Behind the Wire, I had picked it up because the story sounded interesting but I had no context for the setting of the story. Last weekend in Phnom Penh I was able to put context to that story.
The Khmer Rouge happened during the reign of Pol Pot (1975-1979) and resulted in the death of 1.4-2.2 million people. In three days the city of Phnom Penh was emptied and people were moved to collective farms. Anybody who was educated was killed to equalize the society. If you wore glasses you were also in danger of being killed (the irony is that one of the top men in the Khmer Rouge wore glasses)because it was a sign of wealth and/or education. People who were moved from the city to farms soon died because they had no idea how to farm or survive in that environment.
Another aspect of the Khmer Rouge was the killing fields and prisons. The killing fields were areas where they would bring 50-300 people and kill them within 24 hours. As the numbers increased they would have to put them in detention buildings till they could get around to them.
It was 4 years of absolute horror for an entire country. It changed the future of Cambodia by setting them years back.
One of the mass graves discovered after the fact
In Jewish culture visitors will place stones on graves or memorials, such as Auschwitz,here they leave bracelets.
This used to be a thriving productive orchard before the Khmer Rouge took over the land and turned it into a killing field
An unknown number of bodies were buried in this lake in mass graves
Also known as S21, it was a school that was taken over by the Khmer Rouge and used as a prison and a place of torture
This used to be where children would play during recess. It was turned into a means of unbelievable torture
Classrooms were turned into small cells
Prisoners were forced to write outlandish confessions of ridiculous crimes and then killed. Kerry Hamill was a New Zealander who was sailing with a friend and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were captured, “confessions” extracted and then they were killed.Go to: www.eccc.gov.kh/en/document/court/annex-6-confession-kerry-george-hamill if you want to read his written “confession”.
One of 15 survivors of S21, only two are still alive. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33096971 is part of their story.
What happened during the Khmer Rouge is not a well known topic. Few people even know it happened. I do, or at least a portion of it, it changed a culture and a people and not for the better, and that knowledge has some responsibility with it- to be a voice for the people who no longer have a voice.
A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots. Marcus GarveyWithout memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future. Elie Wiesel
