The Killing Fields

After breakfast this morning we drove by bus to a site some 10 miles outside of Phnom Penh which has been identified as one of the more than 300 "killing fields" in this country. On the way, our local guide struggled to explain the complex history that led up to the 1975-79 genocide in Cambodia. She did an admirable job.

On arrival at the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, we again had some background from the local guide before she led us on a path winding between some of the 100+ mass graves located at this site, of which about three quarters have been excavated. At this very sobering site, we still saw large pieces of human bone on the ground. Every rain here, especially in the rainy season, brings new bones to the surface. Recent finds of bone and clothing fragments were being collected in glass boxes. In a large memorial stupa, hundreds of skulls were shelved in neat rows. A small interpretive museum helped explain the killings that had taken place here.

We returned to the city with many questions about why so few trials have taken place, and why so many of the Khmer Rouge responsible are walking free in Cambodian society today. It is strange that those of us who are Christians, embracing a religion with forgiveness at its heart, have so much difficulty grasping the Cambodian eagerness to put the past behind and build a new country. Of course, the corruption and cronyism in the government that keeps Khmer Rouge sympathizers in power is also a factor.

Back in Phnom Penh we visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, formerly known as Security Office 21, or just S-21. This was the central interrogation center for the Pol Pot regime in the city. A former school, it is built in the familiar Chinese style of multi-storied classroom buildings surrounding a central courtyard. Classrooms were subdivided into tiny cells, playground equipment was transformed into instruments of torture, and barbed wire was woven across classroom balcony hallways. It is estimated that more than 20,000 men, women and children were detained here in sub-human conditions. Most were tortured for information and to extract "confessions," and many died on the spot from extreme trauma. Those who "confessed" were systematically sent to the killing fields for summary execution. Patriotic music was blared from loudspeakers so that people living outside the walls would not be able to hear the screaming of those being tortured, and prisoners were only moved and executed under cover of darkness. On exhibit were hundreds of photographs of the condemned, all kept in the regime's meticulous records.

One of the few survivors of S-21, a man now in his 80s, who makes his living selling a book about his experience at a little stand inside is former prison. Periodically he comes to the cell where he was kept to pass out his card, encouraging potential buyers to come to his stand. He happened to make one of these passes while we were there, and he entered the cell to show how he lived. Since we had a local guide with us to translate, a crowd far larger than our group quickly gathered.

It doesn't seem as though we should be thinking about lunch after that experience, but we got onto the bus and headed to a very fancy restaurant clearly geared to Western tourists. The meal was unique and quite excellent. Our local guide wondered why Mary and I ate so little, but we have been so overfed on this trip that we feel like we've gained pounds, even despite a bout of traveler's diarrhea.

After lunch we were taken to the national museum. The building was built by the French around 1917 but in a Cambodian style. It is nick-named "the house of broken statues," since the French carried all of the best pieces back home with them. Amazingly, the museum survived the Pol Pot period -- the museum was locked up and unmolested, but also not maintained. Thus, some items were damaged by water leaks and other decay, but most items weathered the hiatus in care without problem. The collection is almost entirely sculpture of Hindu gods and Buddhas, arranged in bronze, in stone, and more recent pieces in wood. A docent explained the features of pre-Angkor, Angkor, and post-Angkor sculpture. It was moderately interesting, but we're glad we didn't spend any more time there than we did. One item of passing interest for a guy who teaches media studies, the museum had, on continuous video loop, an old, silent Pathe newsreel on the funeral of King Norodom in 1904, beautifully restored.

Those who wished could go on to the "Russian Market." We saw no Russians there, and it was a large indoor market with narrow aisles, full of cheap Chinese merchandise, like so many other markets around the world. The "food court," however, was bustling with locals stocking up for new year, which was interesting to walk through.

We returned to the hotel to relax and drink a beer until about 6 p.m., when eight of us got a couple of tuk-tuks for a buck per person for a ride to the river front. It was a busy place after dark, with the largest crowd jamming themselves into a tiny temple to Vishnu with their offerings of incense and flowers, while a traditional band of drummers and xylophone gongs played outside. Others went to eat, but Mary and I set out walking back to the hotel at our usual brisk pace -- something we don't get to do with the group. It was probably a three mile walk back to the hotel, but we enjoyed it, and saw some interesting things along the way.