The top of the memorial Stupa at Choeung Ek is beautifully decorated with lots of intricate details. It doesn't prepare you for what you find inside.
The Stupa is filled with more than 5,000 skulls that were gathered from the mass graves here at Choeung Ek. They are sorted by sex and approximate age. There are also color-coded markers on the skulls to sort them by manner of death.
I debated whether I should post this photo, and although it's brutal and shocking, the Cambodian people want visitors to see exactly what happened here. There can be no denying the terrors the Khmer Rouge put the Cambodian people through once you have witnessed a scene like this. If you want to read more about the Cambodian Genocide, this is a good site. Photos taken in December 2016.
There are no words to describe this.
ReplyDeleteUm memorial chocante com as atrocidades que o povo do Cambodja viveu.
ReplyDeleteUm abraço e bom fim-de-semana.
Andarilhar
Dedais de Francisco e Idalisa
O prazer dos livros
I have been to Cambodia for 3 weeks. Well, I have only been to two Asian countries. Japan is the other one, and both so very very different to most places I have been to over the years.
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying your images and text, and the photos brings back many memories. Thanks for sharing.
...such a difference between the exterior and interior.
ReplyDeleteGood that you hesitated, but better that you posted. These horrors shouldn't be hidden.
ReplyDeleteprayers
Haunting.
ReplyDeleteFive thousand! We all need reminders like this. It's one of the extremes that comes from de-humanizing people, from hating an "other."
ReplyDeleteOh my word that is so sad. It's hard to be reminded of evil and sad chapters of history sometimes ... and every country has them I suppose. Though this is one of the most graphic reminders ever, like all the other monuments to horror, it is important to remember. And to honor memories. So thank you for posting it.
ReplyDeleteAnd now we have ISIS pretty much doing the same things. Scary.
ReplyDelete