1/15/2024 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia: We went on a very heavy tour, where we learned about the Khmer Rouge and the genocide of Cambodians.
1/15/2024 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia: We went on a very heavy tour, where we learned about the Khmer Rouge and the genocid e of Cambodians. We first went to S21 a previously secret prison where they would torture and interrogate prisoners. We walked through the rooms while listening to an audio guide describing what had happened to them. The Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot interrogated and killed anyone they thought were of the an "elitist" class - professionals, intellectuals, Buddhist monks, and ethnic minorities. Even those people who were stereotypically thought of as having intellectual qualities, such as wearing glasses or speaking multiple languages, were executed out of fear that they would rebel against the Khmer Rouge. They would interrogate and torture them at s21 to try to have them "name" others. Next we went to the killing fields, the place where the victims from S21 and others would go to be brutally killed. Over one million people were killed here. We wou...