One by one they were tossed into the air, then speared with a sharp stick. Then they were tossed into the large pit along with many others. I am not talking about some animal slaughter, but these are human babies killed in this brutal, inhumane manner as their parents are forced to watch. Then, the parents are killed.

Today I am at "The Well of Shadows" . Samnang brought me here on his moto. In 1976 the communist party in power in Cambodia seized this Buddhist temple just outside Battambang and turned it into a prison. The surrounding area became a killing field where over 10,000 people were murdered. The warden introduced cannibalism, putting prisoners to death and then eating parts of their body.

This is a monument to the Khmer Rouge genocide that took place in Cambodia between 1975 and1979. There are skulls and bones encased in a glass edifice.

There are other monuments around Cambodia with human skulls on display as a result of the Khmer Rouge era when up to 2 million or more Cambodians were mercilessly executed. What makes this one different is that it sits on two large tiers. On the front of these tiers there are bas-reliefs (slightly raised images engraved in the concrete) depicting the fall of the area to the Khmer Rouge. It is a graphic description of the atrocities that took place against the Cambodian people .

I stop to read what is written on one side of the monument::
"In May 1976, the Khmer Rouge seized the Buddhist temple Wat Somrong Knong, turning it into a prison, and the surrounding area turned into a killing field where 10,008 people were put to death. The prison warden was Son, alias Sot, the executioners were Korlot and Plet. In 1977, Yom became the warden, under whose administration cannibalism was introduced. Poisonous snakes were used to terrify and kill their prisoners, while others had their skulls or chests split open with hoes. This monument portrays still other torturers used by the Khmer Rouge to subjugate district 44 and region 4.The full extent of Cambodia's tragedy will never be known. The remains of some of the victims of this genocide may never be recovered, nor their murderers identified. But, the gentle and forgiving Khmer, an energetic and optimistic people, will now walk confidently through the well of shadows to reclaim their ancient culture, and restore this beautiful land to become again, the legendary paradise of celestial Apsara's ."
The old Wat was used as a prison. Those who were kept here in horrendous conditions either died of disease, starvation or were brutally executed. The Wat is locked up as a sort of monument in memory of those that were confined here. A new Wat is being built here now.

I walked around the tiers, looking and reading the bas-reliefs. Samnang was nearby. Kids his age missed the Khmer Rouge era by a few years, but many of them hear their parents tell how one or more of their parents or other relatives were taken away and killed during that time. It's an eerie feeling to walk around, looking at human skulls and bones. It's even made more somber being here with a Cambodian whose family suffered through that period.

I want to say something to him about how sorry I am for him and his country for the horrors they went through, but we just walk in silence. All this was happening during my lifetime while I lived in a different world thousands of miles away . I saw the killing caves here in Battambang when I first arrived and wrote about it in an earlier post. Samnang says I will see even more once I get to the capitol, Phnom Penh. There are these genocide memorials all over Cambodia.

I walk around and read the descriptions on the bas-reliefs. Each one has an inscription i am listing here, in case you cannot read it from the photos.

"As a prelude to a mass execution, the victims are strung together with rope that was threaded through holes that had been cut into their hands, to prevent their escape.""The people are drafted into agricultural labor battalion.""The people create a new village.""24 April 1975, The Khmer Rouge order the People to abandon Battambang.""Plastic bags are used to suffocate victims during interrogation. Water dunking is used to terrify victims.""The torturers split open their victims chests and abdomen, remove their livers and cannabilize their organs.""A buddhist temple is used as a prison and descetrated .""Women are raped and killed.""The sharp edge of a palm leaf is used as a knife to slit the throat of a victim.""During interrogation, the victims are forced to admit and confess to any crime posed by their jailers.""A Lon Nol Officer and his family are tortured, the children are killed while the parents are forced to watch, then they are killed."

I will go more into detail about the reason for the genocide in a later post.

The temple itself that was used as a prison has been mostly abandoned. You can see from the exterior of it, though, that it was quite elaborate in its day. There are a number of graves on the grounds that we tour before leaving. A new Wat is being built since the old one cannot be re-consecrated.

It was a sobering visit to this place, but I am glad to have visited it. I have a more realistic empathy for other people in the world.

On the ride home I got a video of a conversation I tried to have with Samnang . I thought you might like to hear what some of our conversations, with the language barrier, sounds like. He was saying something I never did understand. Was he saying sno-cone or soccer or what? Maybe you can tell. I never did figure it out.