Cheung Ek is its name. If you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ve likely been to the killing fields yourself. If not, the slaughter of one quarter of Cambodia’s population—only 20 years after the end of World War II—may come as a surprise to you.
Today, our team drove about twenty minutes from our home this month to go visit the site that memorializes the millions killed during the Khmer Rouge regime.
Stepping into the land (memorial) is peaceful. Trees line the dirt paths, and birds chirp freely. The grounds are well-kept, albeit some random tatters of cloth scattered about.
It’s a simple walk with little to see. We have an audio tour, so I listen to stories of Cheung Ek as I stand in the place of old chemical sheds, mass graves, and collections of bone fragments. It’s not a happy place.
On April 17th, 1975, communist leader Pol Pot made a declaration to Cambodia that would forever shape its future. With the idea of establishing a utopian, agrarian society in Cambodia, the country was demarcated: the “old people”, farmers, peasants, and land workers; and the “new people” those from the cities, with educations or technical training. The Pol Pot regime went to work eviscerating a whole section of society: the “new people”.
To this end, about 1 in every 4 Cambodians were brutally murdered. People who were educated, spoke a foreign language, wore glasses, or had soft hands were included. I hear this and look down at my own hands, lacking callouses from field work. I’m Educated, a glasses-wearer. I would have been considered a “new person”—a threat to Pol Pot. I keep listening. Loaded into trucks, 50-70 people at a time would be taken to the killing fields. They were told they were being transported to a new home. The new home, as it was, would be their final resting place on earth.
Khmer Rouge soldiers were often recruited as children and teenagers, taught to view the “new people” as enemies. Hunger, bombing from the Vietnamese war, and any other form of tragedy was all channeled into hatred of the city-dwellers.
As we walk around the Cheng Ek killing fields, I see a sign that says “don’t step on bone”. Fragments of bone, teeth, and clothing of the victims are continuously unearthed here. I look down and see chips of bone. Clothing of victims is still partially buried along the path where tourists walk to engage with this nations history.
Toward the end, I take off my shoes to walk into the memorial stupa. This small building, resembling a Buddhist relic house, is filled with skulls from the victims of Cambodia’s genocide. Fragments collected from the 129 killing fields in Cambodia are categorized here.
“Evidence of death by metal pole”
“Victims over 60”
“Clothes used to bind, gag, & blindfold victim”
And then, the one that makes my heart catch in my throat:
“Victims under 20”
These skulls are smaller. Little bodies with much growing yet to do. Many of these people would be in their 40s and 50s now with families and children of their own. Instead, they are on display behind glass, organized by the type of torture and forced used to bring about their death.
I walk through the tight corners of the building, my eyes consuming with the sight before me of the thousands of lives represented.
Oh, God, have mercy on us. Awaken us to the spiritual realities of light and dark, and show us who you are. There is no other way to peace exist through you. Bring peace on earth through the revelation of Peace Himself. Amen.
