Where’s the Devil? (Part 2)

“The Killing Fields”

Jonathan A. Cray
Jul 23, 2017 · 4 min read

The same tuk-tuk guy brought us to the ‘Killing Fields’. Gates opened into a large green open space with a tall structure in the center. It was even quieter here and the overcast sky dramatized the air and the mood.

What You See Upon Entering

Again we had the headphone tour guide — which suited me just fine.

On went the headphones, a quick nod to the friends and once again it was the narrator and me. A wooden walkway meandered through the fields showing us the way. The depressions in the ground on either side were mass graves. Some holes were filled with 50 bodies, some with 350 and some with even more.

The Walkway Through the Fields

Prisoners from S 21 were told they were being taken to their families and being freed. They didn’t know they were being brought here to be lined up and hammered to death.

One must remember that almost all the people killed by the regime were innocent, upstanding members of a flourishing and prosperous Cambodian society. The regime even killed anybody who could read or write as their idea was to take Cambodia back in time. Cities were emptied forcing people to slave in the countryside fields. The entire educated class was wiped out. The general’s orders were to “smash” all opposition. So most people had the back of their heads bashed in with wooden beams. As they fell forward into the pits, their necks were slit to ensure death. If however they still had some life left in them, they were covered with dirt and buried alive.

Human bones still stick out of the ground in many places.

Bones Lie Half Buried

Some detainee clothes lie cased in a glass box. Also on display in another glass box were broken femurs, some teeth, a sandal and a whip.

What Was Found When Graves Were Dug Up

The most disturbing area of all was this tree. As the sign reads, the heads of infants were bashed against the massive trunk of this tree. Tourists tie their colorful wristbands all over the trunk. I played for a while with a cute little pup right under that tree. Grateful to be alive, both the pup and I.

Killing Tree for Bashing Infants

The main memorial structure was about to close for the day. We rushed in and soon realized that the skulls of the dead would be inches away from our faces. No more than 2 meters of space was allowed for around the central glass display, making for a very intimate experience. Hundreds of hollow eye-sockets stacked up from floor to ceiling, staring right at you. Below lie teeth, bones and weapons used to kill these poor souls.

Skulls of the Victims

You could see the areas where their skulls had been smashed in and the holes made by the metal daggers to finish the job. Dear God!

We needed a drink. Many drinks rather, so we got back to our hostel and got leathered in an hour.

Much Needed Multiple Jager-bombs

When I do return to this country and return I will, I look forward to finding an opportunity to talk more with the local people. Hopefully I will get to listen to their version of their past. I know well that every adult alive in Cambodia today will remember something from those dreadful years. They say it will take the nation over a hundred years to recover from the economic loss and damage done by the Khmer Rouge. I wonder however if they will ever recover from the psychological damage.

Cambodia was once the jewel of South East Asia and had a glorious history to be proud of. It took one small group of psychopaths and the blind eye of the rest of the world to turn it into a scarred third world country where poverty is rife and tourists flock mostly for cheap drinks and sunny weather.

Every place you visit has a history to be learned and respected.


Have you visited Cambodia? How was your experience? If you haven’t yet, would you go? Leave a comment or just show some love ❤ :) Thanks for reading!

You can also find me at https://www.instagram.com/joeycray/

Jonathan A. Cray

Written by

Been around a bit and I’ve been thinking.

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