We met a few friends to go tour S21 in the afternoon. S21 is a school that was taken over by the Khmer Rouge and turned into a prison where Cambodians were tortured and killed. We paid a three dollar entrance fee and hired an English speaking guide to take us around. S21 was different than the Killing Fields. The Khmer Rouge were extremely organized in thier operation of S21. They took pictures of every soldier and prisoner that was there during the four years of its operation. Walking through the hall filled with these pictures I connected with so many faces. I thought about my students in the U.S. who sometimes joke about the restrictive rules, calling school a prision. Here I was in a school that perhaps even some of the young people in these pictures had attended to get an education. For some it was the fact that they were educated that brought them back here under much different circumstances. Even when seeing the pictures of the soldiers, I felt for them. They were just young boys. All dressed in black with matching black caps, they could easily be the boys I teach back home. What made these boys different was their lack of education. They were easily manipulated by Pol Pot, having been promised a more equal society. Most came from poor farming backgrounds. I am not making excuses for their decisions or behavior. There is no excuse for what happened at that prison, I am just saying that when you are poor and desperate and someone offers you something that looks like a solution it is easy to say yes. Seeing the faces of the young soldiers I felt sorry for them but at the same time angry at their actions.
Despicable, perhaps unforgivable things happened there.
In the first few rooms there were metal bed frames with shackles attached. On the wall they displayed pictures of dead bodies found shackled to the beds. These pictures were taken by the Vietnamese soldiers that liberated the prision. The bodies were beaten (some barely recognizable as being human faces) and killed or left to die. I had to try hard to keep from getting sick from the combination of these graphic images and the heat.
We moved on to see the cells. The first grouping of cells was made sloppily from brick and concrete. It was not the work of a skilled laborer. The cells were smaller than a twin sized bed. Each cell would house one or two pensioners. The other rooms filled with cells that were still standing were made from wood. Many of the cells still had empty old ammunition boxes in them that had been used as toilets. You have to remember that the prisoners kept here had committed no crime. The Khmer Ruge imprissioned the educated. They tortured them with beatings and by hanging them from rope and dipping their heads in excrement until they confessed to made up crimes.
Our guide was fifteen and living in Phnom Penh when the Khmer Rouge evacuated the city. During our time with him, he talked calmly about what his people did to one another during that time. Using the terms "my people" and "my country" frequently, he helped me feel his connection to this time and place. He was obviously saddened talking about what happened here. He serves as not only a guide but also a curator of the museum. My assumption is that this is a calling for him and that he longs for people to be informed about what happened here so something like this will not happen again.
The last few rooms talked about the trials of Khmer Rouge soldiers. It was difficult for me to understand why some Khmer Rouge soldiers are just now being prosecuted and why some will never face prosecution. There was an exhibit by a photographer who attempted to find some of the young soldiers who worked at the S21 prision. He interviewed and photographed the few he found. Many of them did not feel guilty for their actions. They claimed they were doing what was necessary for their survival. I don't feel I can make a judgement on everything that happened during that time. I wasn't there and can not understand the compexities of what was happening. I am an educated woman from a fairly well off family, I doubt I would have survived the genocide had I been a Cambodian living during the Khmer Rouge. I do, however, judge the lack of guilt associated with their crimes. How can you kill, torture or rape someone and not feel guilty? I've never had to use my survival instincts, in fact I'm not sure I have them. I think my sympathy and love for the human race is much stronger than my drive to survive, but it's easy to think that when I haven't faced such trials. This afternoon was difficult. Perhaps more difficult for me than the killing fields because I could connect with the thousands of photographs of the victims here.
If you ever visit Cambodia, I encourage you to visit both the killing fields and S21. It is important to understand Cambodia's recent past to have a greater understanding of why they are where they are today. If you have the option to choose, I would go to S21 first. I also encourage you to hire a guide.
$3 S21 entrance fee
$2 $10 tip for guide/5
$1 candy bar at the market
Afternoon Total: $6.00
Afternoon Total: $6.00
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