Phenm Phen - S-21 and the Killing Fields
The Khmer Rouge created a network of security areas where they could hold citizens suspected of holding education or being against the regime in any way. One such area was once a high school for the children of Phenm Phen and converted to Security area 21 (S-21.) Walking the halls of this place where people were once held as a stopping point between life and death was a very eery feeling. They have keep the school much as it was found after the Vietnamese pushed out the regime in 1979. Various cells were created from classrooms to hold detainees while they were questioned and as they waited for the trucks to take them off to one of the killing fields.
Just outside of town we were able to visit one of the sites where the educated were taken to be killed. The site is crowned with a tall monument with the skulls of hundreds of victims that lost their lives at the field. The bright, grassy fields only gave their secrets upon closer inspection displaying fragments of bone and torn pieces of clothing throughout the area. A large speaker playing the only music allowed was hung from a tree to cover the screams of those about to be killed so that the neighboring farmers would not become too suspicious.
At night, after dinner we visited the night market and were happy to see that a local organization was putting on a fundraiser show to help keep the city safe at night. The show featured acting and singing with a very comedic touch that helped to lighten our moods.
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