S-21 Prison and the Kiling Fields

The Khmer Rouge were a group that controlled Cambodia for four years. During those four years they eliminated 1.8 million people. The people were Cambodian farmers, landowners, rich people, doctors, lawyers, moms, dads, children, soldiers, etc.—and some foreigners. The S-21 was a secret prison devised by the number one leader, Pol Pot. 15,000 people passed through this secret prison and only seven survived. (This site was found by Vietnamese soldiers when they invaded Phnom Penh and defeated the Khmer Rouge. Some Vietnamese soldiers went to a section of Phnom Penh and found 14 recently murdered men in the buildings. They left and reported their find to their commanders.) These thousands of prisoners were taken, blindfolded, to a place outside the city, now named the Killing Fields. The Killing Fields looked like a plain with hundreds of shallow pits where the prisoners were buried after they were killed. They were killed by having their heads smashed by shovels, picks, bamboo sticks, etc. Visiting this place was a scarey experience. Everyone in Cambodia is related to this history. Everyone has ancestors that were killed by the Khmer Rouge. Nobody can understand why this happened. Right now the Cambodians are having some trials for some of the remaining Khmer Rouge leaders that have been caught. Not including Pol Pot who was captured awhile ago, but died under house arrest in 1998, before the people could give him a trial. These are some pictures of S-21 and the Killing Fields: