As horrible as learning all this was (not that that even compares to the horrid that was living through it), what not only shocked me, but genuinely bothered me is the fact that 2 hours before the tour of the prison, I had never heard about any of this. I had heard the words “the Khmer Rouge”, but I didn’t know what it was and I had no idea that any of this had happened. And this struck me since this entire history of events and Pol Pot and everything else was such a huge, extreme point in history and very few things can compare to it. I’m beating myself up for not knowing about it, but how could I have? I’ve never talked about this in history class, I never heard anything about it on the news or any other source of media and that disturbs me beyond belief. How do I have the right to get mad at someone for not knowing basic parts of history, such as what the Holocaust was, when I didn’t know about this? It makes me wonder how blocked off our society is and what else there is that is this big, or even bigger, that I don’t know about. But then again, do I have the right to blame society for not being aware of this? Or can I only blame my own ignorance?
The only thing, at the moment, that bothers me more than the fact that I was unaware about any of this, is that if you were to say 9/11 to practically anyone in any developed society around the world, they will know exactly what you’re talking about, but if you were to say Khmer Rouge Regime, probably half of them won’t know what that is. I find that despicable especially since the two are nowhere near to being on the same level; the latter is worse by a landslide.
The tour guide said something that I found interesting, she said that, of those who were alive during the time of the Khmer Rouge Regime, everyone was either tortured and killed through this reign or was related to someone who was. On the actual historical aspect, the thing that I found most shocking was that there was no foreign aid from any country; no one tried to support Cambodia or help get them out of this. And I know that it was tough to know exactly what was happening at the time, but still… it makes me wonder if anything has changed…. If something like this were to happen today, would it be different? Would foreign support be able to bring it to an end?
Also, of course, I find it completely unfair how Pol Pot was never put on trial and so conveniently died, almost as if he got away with it, which is disgusting to think about. I’m trying to understand the level of paranoia he must have had, for killing even his own men and accusing them of being in the CIA or the KGB. Finally, the story of the seven survivors is beyond amazing and the fact that we got to meet two of them is really cool. As for the actual prison, I don’t know what to say… for the actual current museum that is there, I like the fact that they kept one of the buildings in its original state, in some ways I saw it as the uncensored version of what happened in the prison.
I need time to think through everything I learned today because that’s a lot to take in in a 1-hour tour…
LM
The only thing, at the moment, that bothers me more than the fact that I was unaware about any of this, is that if you were to say 9/11 to practically anyone in any developed society around the world, they will know exactly what you’re talking about, but if you were to say Khmer Rouge Regime, probably half of them won’t know what that is. I find that despicable especially since the two are nowhere near to being on the same level; the latter is worse by a landslide.
The tour guide said something that I found interesting, she said that, of those who were alive during the time of the Khmer Rouge Regime, everyone was either tortured and killed through this reign or was related to someone who was. On the actual historical aspect, the thing that I found most shocking was that there was no foreign aid from any country; no one tried to support Cambodia or help get them out of this. And I know that it was tough to know exactly what was happening at the time, but still… it makes me wonder if anything has changed…. If something like this were to happen today, would it be different? Would foreign support be able to bring it to an end?
Also, of course, I find it completely unfair how Pol Pot was never put on trial and so conveniently died, almost as if he got away with it, which is disgusting to think about. I’m trying to understand the level of paranoia he must have had, for killing even his own men and accusing them of being in the CIA or the KGB. Finally, the story of the seven survivors is beyond amazing and the fact that we got to meet two of them is really cool. As for the actual prison, I don’t know what to say… for the actual current museum that is there, I like the fact that they kept one of the buildings in its original state, in some ways I saw it as the uncensored version of what happened in the prison.
I need time to think through everything I learned today because that’s a lot to take in in a 1-hour tour…
LM
