Tuol Sleng Museum (S-21)

Today I went to the Tuol Sleng Museum (S-21), a former school that was turned into a prison during the Khmer Rouge. Thousands of people were imprisoned, tortured, and killed at the prison. Victims tended to be intellectuals and other professionals who were claimed "enemies of the revolution". Many foreigners also met their fate in S-21.

Rules of the prison.

Each room of the prison has the bed that victims were tied to as well as a photograph of their tortured bodies. A Vietnamese photographer discovered the prison in 1979 and found these corpses.

These fourteen graves represent the last people who were killed at the prison as Phnom Penh was being liberated from the Khmer Rouge.

Like the Natzi's, the Khmer Rouge documented their atrocities. Each prisoner was photographed and their personal information was documented. This smiling man caught my attention.

Tuol Sleng was profoundly depressing. It is also terrifying that the prison was active so recently (1975-1979).