The Killing Fields

Thursday Shirley completed her last IV infusion and we met with the cardiologist who signed the "Fit to Fly" documentation needed for our homeward bound trip to be arranged.  We were picked up at the hospital by our guide & driver and we ventured about an hour outside of town to Choeung Ek, the site of memorial to the victims of the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields.  

Prior to the Khmer Rouge reign of terror (1975-1979), this site had been a cemetery for Chinese families living in Phnom Penh.  It became one of thousands of mass grave sites around the country used by the Pol Pot regime as they attempted to ethnically cleanse the country.  In all, somewhere between 1.3 to 1.7 million people were executed in these Killing Fields.  Another million-plus died of disease or starvation during the period.

This particular site has had the remains of roughly 20,000 people recovered.  Trucks arrived several times per week at first and then several daily as the pace of the purge picked up.  Bullets were scarce, so the executions were done by more brutal means.  Deep pits were dug, victims were lined up along the pit wall and then they were hacked, stabbed to beaten before being pushed into the pits.   Chemicals (mostly DDT) were then dumped on the bodies to both cover the stench and to finish off any not killed.

To this day, 45 years later, when it rains bone fragments and scraps of cloth rise to the surface.  We saw both as we walked, as well as small piles that had been collected from the prior night's rain.  

Man's ability to be so cruel to fellow human beings was on full display here.  But what was most disturbing to me is how we haven't yet learned our lessons.  Why do we continue to hate and kill our neighbors?  Why did Hamas strike the Jewish settlements on October 7?  Why has Israel responded with such brutality on the people of Palestine?  When will we learn?

We met a group of young Buddhist monks who were also visiting the site.  We chatted with them for quite some time.  We learned that much like the priesthood of medieval Europe, "extra sons" are sent to the monasteries by poor families who can't afford to raise their children.  We spoke to one young man, Hey, at length.  He was 18 years old and had been living in the monastery since he was 9.   He was from a poor farming family in rural Cambodia.  He was about to finish his secondary education and was looking forward to a class trip to Angkor Wat to see the temple complex.

Our new monk friends

Some of the bones that have recently surfaced

This was called the killing tree, as children's
heads were smashed against it before being
thrown into the pit to the right.  It is now
covered with thousands of bracelets and other tokens
of remembrance.

Mass grave site where the bodies of over 100
naked women and children were recovered.

Soldiers who defected from the Cambodian army were
beheaded and tossed into this pit.  Over 100
headless bodies in uniform were recovered.

The largest mass grave at this site held more than 450 bodies.