💀💀 Cambodia's Tale 💀💀
(Read to the very end)
I purchased a ticket to enter the KillingFields... The woman seated at the ticket counter told us, "You have only an hour and a half... After that, the site will close... So, please make sure you return before 6:00 PM."
I replied, "Okay."
Her next question was, "Do you require a guide?"
When I answered in the affirmative, a slender, short-statured gentleman stepped forward and introduced himself as our guide.
We set off with the guide... First, he led us to a tower.
What I saw there made my head spin.
That tower was a spire of human skulls... More than 5,000 human skulls were stacked inside a glass enclosure.
My eyes remained wide with shock. Composing myself, I asked the guide, "What is this?"
The guide began to explain, speaking in hushed tones:
"These are the heads of those unfortunate Cambodians whom PolPot brought here between 1975 and 1979—only to have them murdered."
We were left speechless.
The words escaped my lips: "But why?" The guide explained... "The Communist government sought to transform Cambodia back into an agrarian nation; consequently, orders were issued to dismantle the cities and relocate the entire population to the villages. Anyone who dared to disobey these orders was taken to the KillingFields and executed. Right here, where you are standing, more than 30,000 people were slaughtered. Most were not killed by gunfire; instead, they were bludgeoned into a semi-conscious state—struck on the back of the head with a hoe—and then buried alive in pits..."
Upon hearing this, we immediately made our way out of the area!
The guide then led us toward a nearby grove... He continued, "This used to be a mango orchard, which PolPot subsequently repurposed and developed into the KillingFields."
There were pits scattered throughout the site.
Pointing toward these pits, the guide revealed that they served as MassGraves. People were transported here in military trucks—children, the elderly, the young, men, and women alike—and everyone was lined up in a queue right here... Those who were "lucky"... were shot dead... and those who were "unlucky"... were struck on the head with a hoe... Upon receiving the blow to the head... they would collapse, writhing in agony... and then, while still alive, they were buried en masse in a pit...
In most cases, the pits were dug by those very unfortunate souls themselves... In one spot, some old clothes lay scattered...
The guide explained... these clothes belonged to the unfortunate victims who were murdered here... The soldiers would strip the corpses of any valuables they possessed... Every day, trucks packed with people were brought in... and this same gruesome process was repeated... In this garden alone, 30,000 people were murdered... There are over three hundred such "Killing Fields" scattered across Cambodia... where more than 1.5 million people lost their lives...
By now, my legs were trembling... I had lost my voice... My eyes were wide with shock and horror... I felt on the verge of vomiting...
The guide led us to a specific spot... where he pointed out... that bones had been discovered there indicating the victims were less than six months old... This meant that even infants under the age of six months had been murdered...
My resolve was crumbling... and our allotted time was running out... We exited the site with the guide... Stepping back outside, I felt a sense of slight relief...
Taking a deep breath... I remarked to the guide, "What a twisted monster he was... PolPot."
The guide replied, "Such monsters have always existed on this earth..."
I countered, "I doubt it... I question whether there has ever been another monster quite like him..."
At that very moment, what the guide said next left us utterly stunned...
He stated... "Such monsters have existed in great numbers in your own country as well... During the SecondBattleOfPanipat, Akbar beheaded 55,000 people