BKinASIA: Welcome to S21 and the Killing Fields

As stated in my previous post, it was not as moving as i had expected. Well, not as moving as the Vietnam War Museum I previously visited. But here are some pictures to help with the story. Sorry for the poor quality, my 5mp fone camera is not nearly as good as my Canon. Carl Zeiss my ass.

Some interesting facts. Most of the people were killed by either being beaten to death, tortured to death, shot, or had their throats cut. Women and children were not spared this fate. Interestingly, a sugar palm tree was also used as an instrument of death. The branches of the tree had a stiff long edge which had serrations on it and were used to cut the throats of victims. Soldiers also killed children and babies by holding their legs and bashing their heads into a tree. Also, they sometimes tossed babies in the air and shot them or caught them on the end of their gun which of course had a bayonet. The stories told are amazing descriptions of acts of cruelty which i thought were only possible in ones twisted imagination. You know what they say, the truth is stranger than fiction.

Walking around the killing fields, one can even see actual human bones still stuck in the ground along with old pieces of clothing of the dead that are still buried. Its published that about 2 million people were killed but my guide has told me that the figure is more like 3-3.5 million. Its a sobering thought when you stand in a field where only 30 years ago, was filled to the brim with dead bodes.

Security center 21
The most infamous prison in Cambodia. Victims were brought here to be tortured (sometimes killed) and then moved to the killing fields to be executed. This place was previously a school.

Holding cells made from desk found in the school. They were large enough to contain one person lying down, all of which were chained to their bed, fed little water and bread, and forced to urinate and defecate in a machine gun ammo box