Marilyn's Odyssey: The Pol Pot Regime (note not for children)

One of the most emotionally charged mornings we have ever experienced. We visited two of the sites that recall the dark days of the Pol Pot regime. For three years,eight months and twenty days Cambodia experienced one of the most horrific genicides in history and this unbelievably was from 1976-1979. Under the Khmer Rouge regime in this short period of history one quarter of Cambodias eight million people were murdered and almost two million more either died of starvation and overwork or escaped into neighboring countries.

We first visited the killing fields which was one of more than one hundred such sites throughout the country.. Here over 20,000 people were brought here from Toul Slengs torture cells where they were bludgeoned to death to avoid the cost of bulletts. After the Vietnamese army defeated the Pol Pot regime in 1979 mass graves were discovered each containing 100's of remains. It is now a very solemn site where a large memorial stupa filled with the skulls of the victims is a very sobering centerpiece. Pieces of clothing and bone still are found around the grounds.

The second site visited was that of the Toul Slengs Museum also known as S-21. Previously a high school it was taken over by the regime and served as a center of interrogation and torture for people of all ranks. The pictures were unbearable to look at and I cannot believe how any human could inflict such atrocities on anyone. Only 7 individuals survived this prison and we had the honor to meet one who has written his story. While the book is now in my possession I am quite sure that there may be portions I am unable to read. There is not a Cambodian alive who was not touched by this personally and in fact one of our guides came from a family of fourteen and only he and one other survived. I cannot begin to understand how they came through this with the wonderful spirit they exhibit today.