Three Hours of Silence.

When I was younger my father sometimes told me stories about the Second World War- You form a picture of these things in your head. Only if you lived at the same time can you form a fairly true image. Today's generation will remember what was happening in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq if they visit these countries in say 20 years time. I remember the crisis and war in Bosnia from TV and had the opportunity later to visit these places. I remember the Vietnam War and the some of the following war in Cambodia.

Everyone knows about the genocide in de second world war and during the conflict in Bosnia. I am now in Cambodia, things have happened here what has passed many people by.

Some really bad things happened here during the period 1975 to 1979. The ultra left communist party of the Khmer Rouge lead by Pol Pot took over the country. After the takeover Cambodia was sealed for nearly 5 years and no news of what happening got out.

Pol Pot had a plan to make this country self sufficient. Within weeks everyone in the cities had to leave their home and possessions and walk into the country to work the land. On leaving the cities people were examined and if you had soft hands or wore glasses you were considered an intellectual and automatically considered an enemy of the state. Schools and Universities were closed as learning was considered unnecessary for people working the land. Religion was banned and anyone caught participating in any kind of religious activity was put to death.

What happened in this country was very different than what had happened anywhere else in the world during the 20th century. Outside the county no one knew about it. The Khmer Rouge regime exterminated about 2 million of its own people, which was a quarter of country’s population. Imagine that.

I remember in the news that there were reports that the Vietnamese had noted 1000’s of bodies floating down the Mekong River into their country. When the Vietnamese liberated the people of Cambodia they found 20.000 areas of mass graves; now known as "The Killing Fields" Some of these mass graves have been exhumed but many are still surrounded by minefields. Even the large killing filed just outside Phnom Penh which is now a national remembrance centre some mass graves have not been opened. Within the city of Phnom Penh is the infamous high school known as the S21 Security Prison. The classrooms had been turned into torture chambers and only a handful survived their ordeal. The school is now called the Tual Sleng Genocide museum. Worth looking up in Google. There were 150 such centre throughout the country. In four years between 17 and 20.000 people were tortured and killed in this place alone, multiply that by 150.

After the torture people were trucked to the nearby killing field. Babies were allowed to travel with their mothers but at the camp taken away, as they did not want any survivors who could possibly be a witness against the regime in later years. They did not have bullets or gas. Everyone was just butchered with a spike, hammer, stick, knife or whatever was available. Babies were held by their feet en their heads smashed against a tree; after that they were thrown into a pit behind the tree. While visiting the site visitors are given a head set and the stories are related at numbered places. I tell you what is hard to keep eyes dry when you see what has happened there. While walking the paths you still see and walk over human remains and clothing sticking out from the earth. The signs ask for silence and respect. Words fail when you are there, other visitors young and old walk around with bewilderment in their eyes. How was this possible? The Khmer Rouge was even recognised by the United Nations and had a seat there, until it came to light what they did to their own country. We spent 2 hours at the killing field and one hour at the Tual Sleng high school museum in total silence.

–further comment with the pictures