Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
This old school, turned into Security
Prison 21, is where thousands of Cambodians perished at the hands of the
Khmer Rouge from 1975 to1979. Pol Pot turned this ordinary high school
into a centre for interrogation, torture and execution. Most of those emprisoned
were there simply because of their educational background, success in the
community, or even because they wore glasses and looked like intellectuals.
On display are many of the torture
devices that brutalized as many as 20,000 men, women and children. The
grounds are peaceful and beautifully kept, in stark contrast to the horrific
memories held within the cold cement walls of the four 3-storey buildings.
These evil rooms contain primitive cells, shackles, barbed wire, waterboarding
tubs, and other torture devices -- there are still blood stains on some
of the floors. The walls are lined with skulls, graphic paintings,
and photographs of countless faces -- faces showing hopelessness, fear
and suffering.
Those who survived the torture
were sent to the killing fields for execution and mass burial. On hand
to meet visitors are two of the men who did survive the ordeal: Chum Mey
and Bou Meng. They have related their stories in books that are for sale
on site. They are deaf from too many electrical shocks and have no teeth
-- the result of constant punching -- but are very friendly and quite willing
to share their many Tuol Seng stories.
