The Killing Fields

I've been avoiding writing this post a little bit because it is a difficult and painful topic. Last week, Jes and I went out to see a particular site of the Killing Fields. The Killing Fields include several areas where hundreds of thousands of people were tortured and brutally executed in the late 1970's during the reign of Pol Pot, a leader of the Communist Khmer Rouge regime. It is a spot that many tourists visit, although not one of my favorites. You can feel a weight of sorrow and helplessness in the atmosphere there. They have made the area we visited into a monument with information about the Khmer Rouge and what happened to the Cambodian people during Pol Pot's reign of terror.

As you walk in to the area, you are confronted by a tall building with long glass windows encasing thousands of disintered skulls. Some years ago the government dug up the mass graves there in order to provide evidence of the autrocities commited by the Khmer Rouge "killing machine." These skulls are displayed as part of the monument. You can also see the sites where the victims were unceremoniously buried after they were tortured and killed. As I walked around, with some of my dear Cambodian friends, I felt a mixture of strong emotions. I felt angry that such inhumanity could occur and such disbelief that anyone could treat a fellow human being with such cruelty. I felt heavy with sadness and despair as I contemplated the helpless position that so many found themselves in during that time.

It would be nice to say that all this suffering is a thing of past, but unfortunately it still haunts the Cambodian people in so many ways. I met very few of the older generation here who didn't lose family during that era. Many citizens were forced to leave their homes and relocate. Virtually everyone has been affected in some way. Important documents and records were lost. Economic and technological progress was stymied as those who were skilled, educated, or out-spoken were destroyed. I am incredibly grateful for my opportunity know so many of these great people so intimately. I think this relationship makes my knowledge of their history and their suffering that much more painful. Visiting the Killing Fields is one of those rare and valuable life experiences that reminds you how fragile and precious each life really is.