Pol Pot's infamous extermination centre, through the entrance of which passed about 16,000 victims, lies off a quiet, dusty side street in the southern suburbs of Cambodia's bustling river port capital, Phnom Penh. Khmer know the old French lycee as Tuol Sleng, or Hill of Poisoned Trees.
A sign that tells tourists that it's not very wise to be laughing away in the premises. But with history so grim, who would have such audacity to invoke the spirits of those who died violently without a proper Buddhist burial, or so they believe.
From the moment you arrived as a prisoner at S-21, your rights and responsibilities were made painfully clear by a set of ten standing orders. These rules dictated how you acted, how you responded to questioning, and how you had no choice but to accept the fact that you were a traitor and would be treated as such.
In the prison courtyard stood a large wooden frame once used by students for gymnastics practice. The Khmer Rouge converted it into gallows for the hanging torture and execution of prisoners.
here, ending your own life seemed like the easiest way to go, but sadly, it is not an option.
The knowledge of what happened at S-21 makes a visit to the complex of scruffy three-storey buildings set around the old school playground a wrenching experience.
A sign that tells tourists that it's not very wise to be laughing away in the premises. But with history so grim, who would have such audacity to invoke the spirits of those who died violently without a proper Buddhist burial, or so they believe.
From the moment you arrived as a prisoner at S-21, your rights and responsibilities were made painfully clear by a set of ten standing orders. These rules dictated how you acted, how you responded to questioning, and how you had no choice but to accept the fact that you were a traitor and would be treated as such.
In the prison courtyard stood a large wooden frame once used by students for gymnastics practice. The Khmer Rouge converted it into gallows for the hanging torture and execution of prisoners.
here, ending your own life seemed like the easiest way to go, but sadly, it is not an option.
The knowledge of what happened at S-21 makes a visit to the complex of scruffy three-storey buildings set around the old school playground a wrenching experience.
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