I knew about Cambodia’s genocide before we came – only because Stew told me. I’d read a bit about it on Wikipedia, but nothing compared to visiting the genocide museum and hearing in detail about the awful events that took place between 1975 – 1979.
During this time, a mass genocide took place resulting in 1.5 – 2 million deaths. Led by Pol Pot, rulers killed their own people, targeting intellectuals. Doctors, teachers, Buddhists, businessmen, journalists and more were killed. Soft hands and wearing glasses were associated with intelligence and was enough to be a pre-cursor to death.
To save on bullets, innocent people were killed by a blow to the head using a bar or pick axe. But, not before they “confessed”. To get lengthy confessions people were tortured in the most awful ways. Forced confessions are not considered an effective way to extract the truth.
I simply can’t do justice for this event in a couple Instagram post, so do read up on it.
The museum was incredibly hard to walk around for about 2 hours. We opted for the audio guide and were so glad we did. It was a hard listen, but very well done.
Throughout the duration I had a knot in my stomach as I heard the harrowing stories and saw the torture devices and the faces of hundreds of victims and perpetrators; everything was so carefully recorded, akin to the holocaust. The deep, deep sadness and horror of what occurred during those years was compounded by the fact that a lot of torture took place in schools. The genocide museum is in one of those schools. Sports apparatuses were turned into torture devices to force confessions.
At one point, it did get a bit too much for me 😢 it’s been heavy, understanding what took place here. I feel like I’ve carried this new-found information like a burden. Every so often I think about it and I almost wish I didn’t know, but it’s important that we do…
No one will know the full extent of what happened during this time, but with it being such a recent event, there are of course survivors including a teacher who was taken there with his wife. She was killed and he lived a life with survivor’s guilt.
The genocide museum seems to hold nothing back. The story is told in what feels like it’s rawest form. And for that, I commend Cambodia. Likely every single person in Cambodia has been directly or indirectly impacted by the genocide with many living without family members who otherwise would be there. The emotional waves caused by the genocide are more than I can begin to image.
The thing is, you’d never guess it. Not that you’d ever really expect to, I suppose, but the country seems to have moved forward in a way that is so commendable in a short time.
Considering intellectuals were killed, those speaking multi-languages would’ve been a target, yet the country speaks English so incredibly well. Clearly, some investment has been done to bring in teachers.
The museum attempts to record the genocide in a way that is true and honest so that we may learn from it and not repeat it.
At the end of the museum we saw artist depictions of the killing fields and the skulls of those killed. Skulls are preserved in glass cabinets and the auto post results written on a plaque. You can visit the killing fields but we didn’t want to.
In the audio tour it asked that we share the message so it may never happen again. So, here I am, doing my bit.
The scary things is, the Cambodian Genocide isn’t the first of its kind and it isn’t the last. There will always be something.
We have to question everything at all times. Question your beliefs, question what you fight for, because most of the worlds problems are man-made. In the grand scheme of things, nothing matters. We all have the potential to fall prey to manipulation. Choose your battles wisely or you’ll find yourself sucked in to someone else’s.
Cambodian people are so incredibly hardworking and warm. Their work ethic and hospitality radiates – everyone is busy in Cambodia 😃
A great nation that has overcome such a lot.
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