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| From killing fields |
There was a somber moment while I was thinking about all those who had died by the hands of the Khmer rogue, that was shattered by the sounds of children at recess at the school next door. I think this kind of summarizes how the Khmer people are handling their past with the present and future. On the way to these fields we passed by a number of factories for overseas companies. Our tuk-tuk driver explained that while the workers don't earn a lot by western standards, their job security, that includes housing and meals, is well appreciated.
We paid $12 for driver to take us to and from Choeung Ek and S21 where we could spend as much time there as we desired. We had to pay an admission fee for $2 at the fields and another $2 at the prison camp. These fees are claimed to be for restoration and preservation, though I hear that the sights were leased to a Japanese company several years ago so the government could made a quick buck; Cambodians get into either for free.
Initially, after you pass through the ticket gate, you are presented with a field that is almost lacking in visual history.
It is once you get behind the row of trees that the horrors emerge. There are several huts that have been constructed to maintain the visual sights of past mass graves.
The unprotected holes that have already been excavated are visual reminders to the magnitude of the sighs.
Bones that have not been collected are made aware through natures grace which shows the necessity of protective huts.
Some bones are used as reminders of the preservation efforts (1980's excavations). . .
A museum to the left of the entrance serves as a guide to the attrocites and a symbol of the reservation efforts at work through historical plaquards, short films about the Khmer Rogue, and agknolegments to those that are helping to protect the sights memory.
From the killing fields we traveled back into the city where S21, a former school turned torture camp is located. This compound was used for "re-education," which really meant admitting the political crimes you were accused of so they could take you to the killing fields. This museum also has been maintained with the addition of fact cards and graphic depictions of what happened within the walls not too long ago. The Khmer Rogue, while terribly brutal, were excellent bookkeepers in their insistence on photographing all their victims. This allows the remains at the field to be identified the faces to be put on the horror as their portraits are hung in remembrance throughout S21.
