Friday, March 26, 2010

A visit to Tuol Sleng

Some of the images I have below could be quite disturbing - but that is exactly what Tuol Sleng is. I really had no idea of the atrocities that the people of Cambodia faced back in those terrible 4 years when their country was seized by their own country men. It was horrific. I've learned a lot more since this time - but on this occasion my eyes were opened in a way that I'm not sure I'll ever recover from - I'll certainly never be the same person.
What the people of Cambodia have survived is nothing short of a miracle. It's testament to the amazing resilient people they are....or have come to be. Over 2 million lives were lost and quite a few were lost at Tuol Sleng. Tuol Sleng was a school where children learned and played. Then it was taken over and became a place of horrific torture. Inhumane treatment - atrocities - violence and cruelty. I hope the images give you some idea - but I'm not sure they will. The guide who took us around is a survivor of these times. He often had to find a reserve of strength to continue on. I think because we were so deeply affected it made him relive it differently than if people don't really grasp the horror.

So here are some of the photo's - more for me in the future than anything else.





These are quite graphic photo's of the torture of the people...












Amongst all the pictures of people that were killed - this woman stood out. She holds her little baby in her arms. In the second photo you can actually see a tear slipping from her eye. It wasn't long after this photo was taken that her and her child were both murdered.




Photo from the killing fields of Cambodia...


Some of the many people that were murdered...


Images around Tuol Sleng...




One of the few survivors when Pol Pot's reign was over - was an artist and these are just some of his paintings of what he saw/experienced while imprisoned.... the are quite horrific.




















Another image from the Killing Fields...


These skulls were in the building of Tuol Sleng...

No comments: