I was recently enamored with the reality that the people who surround me every day in Cambodia have a recent history of deep pain and suffering. The Khmer Rouge Genocide began in 1975 and in the following four years 3 million people were slaughtered in an effort by leader Pol Pot to make Cambodia an agriculturally based society once again. He persuaded the educated men and women into the countryside by telling them the cities were in danger because of the nearby Vietnam War. After he lured them away he then ordered his army to begin killing them.
I know it is sobering to read but sometimes being faced with reality isn’t pretty. However I believe it is important to face this reality before trying to relate to this culture which has been defined by this terrible act of devaluing the human life.
I was able to visit the Killing Fields as well as the Genocide Museum, both of these places are committed to the remembrance of the Khmer Rouge. I do not regret visiting these places but I know that I will remember them forever, and I will never need to visit them again.
The sheer violence that was captured by this communist regime was displayed through photos on the walls of a former school turned into a prison. They documented headshots of their victims as well as pictures of their lifeless bodies that had been beaten breathless. Many of these rooms I was only able to glimpse into as my heart was too heavy to continue.
School that was used as a prison during the Khmer Rouge
At the Killing Fields I was able to walk in the where hundreds of people walked there final steps. This was just one of the many camps across the country where people came to from the city, only to discover that they did not flee into safety. Thirty years later bones form the mass graves still surface when there is heavy rain. They have built a monument to honor those who lost their life in this appalling act of violence.
Mass grave at the Killing Fields
Memorial at the Killing Fields
Painting by a Cambodian child describing peace
I was not able to take many pictures because of the soberness of this day but I hope this gives you a glimpse of the reality of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. I choose to share this in hopes that you would remember many people have been affected by this, maybe even a Khmer refugee who lives in your community. Please remember the value of human life and pray that we would never take our freedom as Americans for granted. My heart broke for the Khmer people when I embraced this tragedy, and I know that only the grace of God can lift a burden this heavy from a broken people. I have also seen the light of the gospel as I have traveled through Cambodia and I know that there is hope in Jesus.
Thank you for taking time to read my blog. God bless!
<3
Emily
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