It was the most casual display of historical torture I've seen, placed in the corner of the street with hardly any fancy renovations dictating it as a museum. Yet, the barred windows of the building stood tall and loomed over the walls that contained it so no one could question the purpose of this place. I've visited many museums before from the Holocaust Museum in D.C. and the Torture Museum in San Diego but nothing made my heart drop more than this simple display of what happened just nearly 40 years prior at the previous S-21 prison active during the Khmer Rouge retime. There were rooms with a couple of "beds" that really was just woven pieces of leather and iron cuffs and chains used for containing the victims. A splotched and blurred black and white photo what you could barely make out as a man body accompanied the bed on the wall. The bed and the photo, that was all that was in the room, as if they were never moved and just nearly 40 years prior, a victim was tortured and killed at the very spot you were standing. This was the first thing I saw in this prison, but it was not the last and most definitely not the most impactful.
There were about 3 things that set this apart from any other displays of torture I've seen.
1. The giant board of rules
Translated into English, this was a huge board that stood in the middle of the field facing the building full of written rules mostly about obeying the regime, answering interrogation quickly, and one that did not allow you to cry when receiving electric lashes. A simple display, but it made me shudder as I imagined these prisoners seeing this board every day. You can see several images of torture, but these rules showed what led to it, and it really isn't much.
2. The gallows
The gallows was a giant wooden structure that resembled the structure I which people were hanged for execution back in the somewhat old days. There were three large clay plots underneath the beam of the structure and a clay sculpture of a terrified man with his hands tied behind his back next to it. These gallows were in the middle of the prison in the fields where it could be visible from all areas. It had metal hoops underneath the beam for rope to be pulled through. This structure was originally used during PE for the high school. It was turned into a torture device that consisted of hanging victims upside down until they lose consciousness and dumping them into the pots full of dirty water and fecal matter. In broad daylight, everything was clear and I was able to visualize a little too well the torturing of an unfortunate victim right before my eyes every time I saw the structure while walking through the buildings.
3. The individual cells
Absolutely the most chilling thing I've experienced. There were rooms in a building encased in barbed wire that showed the individual cells prisoners were kept in. It was used to prevent desperate prisoners from committing suicide. They were small, no longer than maybe 5ft long and 2 or 3 feet wide, and made up of brick or wood. There were no lights and I'm barely able to squeeze through the entrance of each cell. In some, I saw red markings on the floor or walls that seemed like it could've been dried blood. I walked through the small rooms with maybe 10 cells cramped in each room and I imagined the prisoner sitting there in shackles just nearly 40 years ago. Most of the things were untouched. I walked upstairs to the wooden cells and I found myself alone and scared to even walk through the wooden cells. These were more cramped than the brick and doors were open for me to enter through but all it seems to lead to after a short while was a door to another prison. Something about the way that the display of the cells was placed made it seem like it was endless. I got so many chills I didn't even know I could received as I walked through them alone.
My experience here made my heart grow for the people of the land and their genocide unknown to many across the world. My conversation with a bank teller showed that some people do not know where Cambodia is located or how to spell it. I might even go as far to say that he did not know that it was s country. Nearly 40 years ago was what ran constant through my mind as I came to the understanding of the raise that history merely repeats itself. There is truly nothing new under the sun. It's a shame that this prison doesn't get as nearly as many visitors as it should. Instead, people go to Cambodia to visit a grand temple. This was a chilling and powerful experience that makes me question whether or not humanity as a whole is actually able to grow toward peace.
Nicole
There were about 3 things that set this apart from any other displays of torture I've seen.
1. The giant board of rules
Translated into English, this was a huge board that stood in the middle of the field facing the building full of written rules mostly about obeying the regime, answering interrogation quickly, and one that did not allow you to cry when receiving electric lashes. A simple display, but it made me shudder as I imagined these prisoners seeing this board every day. You can see several images of torture, but these rules showed what led to it, and it really isn't much.
2. The gallows
The gallows was a giant wooden structure that resembled the structure I which people were hanged for execution back in the somewhat old days. There were three large clay plots underneath the beam of the structure and a clay sculpture of a terrified man with his hands tied behind his back next to it. These gallows were in the middle of the prison in the fields where it could be visible from all areas. It had metal hoops underneath the beam for rope to be pulled through. This structure was originally used during PE for the high school. It was turned into a torture device that consisted of hanging victims upside down until they lose consciousness and dumping them into the pots full of dirty water and fecal matter. In broad daylight, everything was clear and I was able to visualize a little too well the torturing of an unfortunate victim right before my eyes every time I saw the structure while walking through the buildings.
3. The individual cells
Absolutely the most chilling thing I've experienced. There were rooms in a building encased in barbed wire that showed the individual cells prisoners were kept in. It was used to prevent desperate prisoners from committing suicide. They were small, no longer than maybe 5ft long and 2 or 3 feet wide, and made up of brick or wood. There were no lights and I'm barely able to squeeze through the entrance of each cell. In some, I saw red markings on the floor or walls that seemed like it could've been dried blood. I walked through the small rooms with maybe 10 cells cramped in each room and I imagined the prisoner sitting there in shackles just nearly 40 years ago. Most of the things were untouched. I walked upstairs to the wooden cells and I found myself alone and scared to even walk through the wooden cells. These were more cramped than the brick and doors were open for me to enter through but all it seems to lead to after a short while was a door to another prison. Something about the way that the display of the cells was placed made it seem like it was endless. I got so many chills I didn't even know I could received as I walked through them alone.
My experience here made my heart grow for the people of the land and their genocide unknown to many across the world. My conversation with a bank teller showed that some people do not know where Cambodia is located or how to spell it. I might even go as far to say that he did not know that it was s country. Nearly 40 years ago was what ran constant through my mind as I came to the understanding of the raise that history merely repeats itself. There is truly nothing new under the sun. It's a shame that this prison doesn't get as nearly as many visitors as it should. Instead, people go to Cambodia to visit a grand temple. This was a chilling and powerful experience that makes me question whether or not humanity as a whole is actually able to grow toward peace.
Nicole
