Killing fields, day 3.

I am jumping ahead writing this up, but have just left this site and while it is fresh in my mind I wanted to get this down.

Before we went to the Killing Fields we went to S21, the prison in Phom Penh. One of twenty high schools I believe that was turned into a prison by Pol Pot and his army. I find it fitting that he used schools as a weapon against the people considering his hatred for intellectuals. In fact I am certtain he would have had that in his mind at the time.

Over 3 floors he house men, women and children. Kept like animals and tortured before they were sent to the Killing Fields, where it wasnt a certain death but guaranteed.

Twenty thousand people were held and passed through S21. Seven survived. They survived because they serves a purpose. They could use their skills to assist (mechanic, truck driver) or to aid propganda (and artist and sculptor were alst amongst those saved, the artiset later returned to paint images of what the reality of S21 was. We saw these too. I am not sure the image of a soldier throwing a child into the air for another soldier to shoot, like a clay pigeon, will leave my mind) We saw the intrustments of torture, we saw the cells that were consturcted to hold prisoners in tiny confined spaces alone (ground floor had many rooms cordoned off in this manner – prisoners chained like animals in tiny brick cells) we also saw the rooms where 14 prisoners were found after torture and killed before the cowards who perpetrated these crimes ran off into hiding. These where the only victims left on the premises. They are buried outside.

We left here and went to the killing fields. Hard ro descrbe what its like to actually be there. Mass graves everywhere, graves that the victims dug themselves, before being beaten (not shot, a bullet on one person was a waste of money) to death or near death, as long as they fell into the hole that was the general rule it would seem. All the bodies then mounded up, before chemicals thrown on them to ensure they were dead before the hole was filled in. It was traumatic walking along the path and seeing the bones beneath our feet as they slowly worked up through the soil. More upsetting was the clothing, which too was emerging from the ground. It was everywhere.

The worst thing? The pit for women and children where about 100 bodies were found. The suspicions were that these people had been sexually abused, this has been confirmed as the truth by the 1 bastard that is alive and capable of standing trial, Duich (sp?)who is now going through trial. Next to this pit was a tree. This tree was used by the executeoners to kill the children. They were beaten to death off this tree,

That was were it was too much for me.

Tally, our guide through this is 39. She lived through these atrocities, as have many people in Cambodia today. She told us some stories, stories I will tell in real life. I dont think its appropriate to tell her story on this.

Tough day.

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