Day 4

Day 4 was a Monday and was the day before we would be leaving Phnom Penh (pronounced pnum pen) for Siem Riep, the ancient and majestic province and city of temples. We were all very tired from our many experiences we had already had, so we did not have a lot planned for Monday - and what we did have planned was enough of an experience, truly, to last for days. The reason I say this is because on Monday we visited Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, otherwise known as The Killing Fields, which carried a lot of emotional weight for all of us. Before I go into our visit of the genocidal center, I would like to write a few paragraphs describing the history of Cambodia and what led to the Cambodian genocide.

A brief history of Cambodia

There is not a very detailed account of the ancient history of the Khmer empire. In fact, archeologists and historians are still piecing together the ancient history of what is now Cambodia and its surrounding countries (Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos). However, it is known that at one time, what is now Cambodia was a vast empire encompassing large parts of what are now Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. Between the 9th and 13th centuries, the Khmer empire was at its height, and unlike its European counterparts whose large cities were known to have populations in the low hundred thousands, the Siem Riep region of Cambodia (the capital of the Khmer empire) is known to have had a population of millions of people. During this time, the kings being either Brahminist or Buddhist built cities of temples for their gods. Well, over time, Thailand (then Siam) and Vietnam began to make their way into Cambodia and want their rich, fertile land. Since the end of the 13h century, there has been constant feuding, fighting, and cessation of and over Cambodian land. In the 19th century, Cambodia sought the aid of France to keep Thailand away, and wound themselves up into becoming a protectorate, a colony, of France.

Jump ahead to the mid 20th century and France had put their trust in a man named Sihanouk who they believed would further their interests in Cambodia. However, Sihanouk had his own plans in mind and helped his country gain independence from France in 1953. His praise was short-lived, though, as he would begin a precedent for bad leadership, selfish control, and desire for power that would manifest through time into today. It seems that all the leaders of Cambodia start out with a vision to help their country, but fall in love with the idea of power and end up doing absolutely anything, whether it cruel or inhumane, to keep that power. In the case of Sihanouk, he was able to keep Cambodia out of major trouble until 1970, always working to keep Cambodia as neutral as possible, and ultimately siding with the North Vietnamese during their war with the United States in order to keep them from taking over Cambodia. Well, in 1970, while taking vacation in France, Sihanouk was overthrown by a faction that named Lon Nol as their new leader. This faction wanted a government that could stand up against Vietnam and side with the United States, however Lon Nol had no idea how to be a leader, not in the least.

Lon Nol ruled Cambodia for 5 years, from 1970 to 1975, and was so completely incompetent as a leader that he was known to sit around in the Royal Palace listening to the French radio stations to find out about the state of political affairs in his own country. Ultimately this utter lack of leadership for 5 years allowed for Cambodia's, and one of the world's cruelest leaders, Saloth Sar, to gain a following and build an army. Saloth Sar was a communist who built his ideas of a utopian Cambodia by watching and observing Mao in China, as well as working with the North Vietnamese. Upon returning from China, he spent a lot of time out in the jungles recruiting peasants with his ideologies. He also spent time as a teacher and slowly began to preach his ideologies to children as young as ten and eleven years old. Once  Sihanouk was overthrown by Lon Nol, Saloth Sar changed his name to Pol Pot, built an organization around his ideas and started taking over villages along the borders of Cambodia. He forced children into his army and was able to build an army strong enough to take over Cambodia. Well, in April 1975, the United States pulled out of Cambodia, and Pol Pot and his organization know as Angka or Angkar took over Cambodia.

Pol Pot's regime was based on eliminating any semblance of Westernization. Within 3 days of taking over Phnom Penh, he had forced the entire population of the capital city out into the countryside, leaving Phnom Penh a virtual ghost town. He had his peasant and child soldiers kill any person with an education, a corporate background, a connection to the Lon Nol establishment, or any action or background deemed traitorous to Angkar. He forced families apart. He forced every person to work the fields, with two scheduled meals per day. Pol Pot's regime ultimately became so brutal that people were viciously killed by the Khmer Rouge soldiers for any reason or no reason. Any person suspected of thinking of themselves instead of the community could be lined up and beaten, shot, stabbed,  or whatever form of murder was convenient or entertaining for the soldiers at the time. By the end of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, it is know that up to 3.5 million (25% of the entire population) had died of murder, malnutrition, starvation, or disease. I will write more about this as I describe our visit to the Killing Fields.


Well, in 1979, Vietnam was able to take over and occupy Cambodia, overthrowing Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge, leaving them to escape for the jungles near the border of Thailand, but not without leaving landmines all along the way. Between 1979 and 1993, Cambodia suffered through constant civil upheaval due to the treacherous rule of the Vietnamese who did not rule with much less brutality than the    Khmer Rouge.


In 1993, Cambodia held their first democratic elections, and are now a Constitutional Monarchy, but that is putting it very simply as this country is still very corrupt, especially those first few elections in the 90s. Vietnam still holds a strong political influence over the ruling Cambodian parties today. However, despite the corruption of the government, Cambodia is on a slow incline, and it is a safe country for foreigners to visit, as tourists are treated very well for the economic boost they bring to the country.

Ok, I know I wrote more than a couple paragraphs, but I find that the Cambodian history pulls you in and makes you want to know more and more. As I prepared for coming on this trip, I found myself reading book after book about this history, as sadly, I never learned a thing about this in my K-12 education and university studies. By the way, most of the information I just provided came from the books  Cambodia  by Henry Kamm and On the Wings of a White Horse by Oni Vitandham, as well as details I learned about as I visited museums and historical sites in Cambodia.

So, we visited the "main" Killing Fields site in Cambodia, about 15 miles outside of Phnom Penh on Monday. When I say the main site, I mean that it is the largest memorial site and museum in the country, but there are known to be Killing Field sites numbering into the 70's throughout the country. 

The Killing Fields existed for similar reasons as the concentration camps of the Jewish holocaust. Cambodian people who were decided to be traitorous to their country by being educated, being discovered to be a "self-believer", or any other nonsense reason were sent by truck to this site to be killed. They were brutally killed and dumped into mass graves. When bullets became too much of a cost for the Khmer Rouge, people were killed by being beaten to death or having their bodies dismembered. At this site alone, thousands of skeletons were found in mass graves. A memorial has been set up so that people can remember what happened, and so that the people who died here can finally have some honor and respect shown to their bodies. Women and children were no exception, as some graves were found with naked women's bodies. What's worse (and I have trouble even typing these words) is that babies whose parents had been killed were beaten against trees until they died in order to not have to deal with them or the idea of how vengeful they would grow up. I am going to post the pictures I took while visiting this site and leave my post at that. You will be able to see the memorial where the bones are housed. You will be able to see where some graves were found without heads. You will be able to see the tree that was used to kill babies. You will see the numerous depressions in the earth where mass graves had been filled with dead bodies. Please take the time to look at each picture and understand the depth of what happened. Being at these killing fields was one of the saddest experiences I have ever lived through, and I had never felt the kind of emotions and sickness that I felt as I walked along the earth knowing how many bodies had been there - but not just bodies. I thought about the people that had lived in those bodies and the children that had lined up for their deaths, and I cried for them and prayed for their souls. At the very least, they deserve a few moments to reflect silently.