Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Last weekend I decided to do a little sightseeing in Phnom Penh.  I'm learning my way around the city, but I still haven't really explored and been a tourist, so I wanted to start seeing the sites.  I only had a few spare hours in the afternoon so I decided to head to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.  Since working at the ICTR and learning so much about the Rwandan genocide, I knew this was something I wanted to see.  Although it's not the easiest thing to see, I knew it was a significant period of Cambodian history and would teach me a lot about this place I am calling home for the net year.

It is definitely one of those places that feels heavy as soon as you walk through the entrance.  It's like your body and all its senses can tell something tragic & horrific & utterly indescribable happened in that place.  Tuol Sleng is a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979.  Tuol Sleng means "hill of poisonous trees."  It was only one of at least 150 execution centers in the country, and as many as 20,000 prisoners there were later killed. Overall, it was hard to see but I'm glad I saw it.

Below are the pictures I took from my visit.



Pictures of prisoners who died at S-21

Where the cells were located. 



Tiny, cramped cells where prisoners were held.