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Toul Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21)

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Heydecke
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4 out of 5
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Tuol Sleng

  • August 30, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Sandvand from Ås, Norway
A visit to Tuol Sleng Museum is a shocking experience, displaying the most evil forces humans are capable of portraying. Yet I would recommend anyone to visit this museum. It gives you a deep insight into the troubled recent history of Cambodia.

From journal Cambodia

Editor Pick

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

  • March 16, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by dackelynn from Misaka, Japan
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a sobering reminder from the not-so-distant past of what can go incredibly wrong. Tuol Sleng used to be a high school but was transformed into a place of torture and death during the terrifying reign of the Khmer Rouge. Thousands of people were brought here to be interrogated (tortured) by Khmer Rouge. Most were later taken to the nearby killing fields to put be put to death.

You will probably cry here. You'll probably get very upset and angry. To think that a high school is the setting for such evil is almost mind-destroying. You can still see some of the torture devices and traces of blood. There are photographs of the people taken here by the Khmer Rouge set up in the school rooms. You'll learn that many of the people who were tortured and killed were just children, or wives of men suspected of causing trouble for the regime. Also, many of the guards and torturers were just children themselves. It's disarming to gaze into the straight, blank faces of those who would be tortured and killed for no reason. But I believe this experience is necessary so that we won't make these mistakes again and so we can work towards a better, peaceful future.

The museum is supposed to be closed during lunch but when I was inside during the lunch period I wasn't asked to leave. So be sure to buy your ticket in the morning or afternoon. There's a lot to explore inside the school so give yourself over an hour. Photographs are allowed but they ask you to keep your voices to a minimum.

The exhibits are labeled well in English. Still, if you can read about the background of this depressing period then I highly recommend it. The museum also offers a documentary video but it is not shown often (ask at the front desk for the specific times). They also offer you the choice of a paid guide but I felt it was best to experience this sad place on my own. Just be prepared to be overwhelmed with emotion.

Those with children, you should be warned that there are graphic depictions of torture and death. If you choose to take your child or children there, make sure they are well-prepared for the sights they will encounter.

From journal Siem Reap, Cambodia

Editor Pick

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

  • December 28, 2006
  • Rated 3 of 5 by Kez from Broadbeach Waters, Australia
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

With an estimated 1.7 million victims, I really think that you should visit the notorious Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum which was known as the S-21 prison. Yes, it is very upsetting and may even bring to tears but it will make you admire how the people have bounced back with such positive attitudes and it makes you ponder how this could ever have happened at all especially that it occurred in recent history as it was only back in 1976.

According to the locals many of the people who wielded the power to carry out these acts are still free and even more surprising still hold positions in the current government. The setting of this horrific place in a school makes it all the more shocking. The rusty and disused swings and monkey bars still stand desolate in the playground making it even more unbelievable.

Shaped as a horseshoe on the right side of the courtyard are a series of rooms with a photo of some of the guards and prisoners as they are now and a faded sepia photo of them back when this occurred and the story of how they came to end up in this dreadful place. So many of the guards reiterate they were doing their jobs and it was carry out orders or suffer the same fate.

At the rear are the classrooms that have been converted into tiny, cramped and dirty cells for the unfortunates to be kept captive. These are still preserved as they were found with their crudely bricked walls and barred windows. It makes one feel claustrophobic to be looking in without having been locked in there indefinitely.

On the left hand side is the torture devices left as they were found but far more jarring were the meticulous records of the hundreds of photographs of the victims. I found these so moving I still cannot find the words to express my feelings. These poor souls ranged from young children and new born babies through to older people and all age ranges in between. Whole families were targeted including many foreigners but the majority of people taken were intellectuals such as engineers, teachers, farmers many other random people. I will never forget the look of total and absolute despair mirrored in their eyes and captured through the camera lens. I was literally moved to tears.

In one final room there is a map of Cambodia made up of victim’s skulls – fittingly with the Mekong River shown in red – absolutely abhorrent. I really cannot understand how anyone could do this to so many especially as so many were their own people and innocent of any real crime, worse still how did our governments stand by and let it take place? It is beyond comprehension.

I feel that here and the Killing Fields are the worst places that you could possibly choose to visit, that in doing so at least you are doing so out of respect for the victims memories.

From journal Phnom Penh - Cambodia's frenetic Capital City

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

  • January 6, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Kazazi from Anytown-Anywhere, Quebec
This one is a doozy. It is much like visiting a very small, quiet actual concentration camp from the Holocaust. What happened in Cambodia was very very similar to what happened in the Holocaust, and the real difference is that for the Khamai people it only ended several years ago. The museum is actually a schoolhouse that was taken over by the Khmer Rouge (you can read all about their history and their leader, Pol Pot, online), who turned it into a torture camp. It is really incredible to see, and you will not soon forget it. You will be able to watch a documentary in one of the upper rooms of the schoolhouse on a projector wall and then walk through the rooms where people were tortured and witness the instruments used, see photographs of the individuals, and read some of their sad stories. It is difficult to see but is definitely worth seeing in order to understand what these people have been through and to better understand them as a people.

From journal The World in My Pocket

Editor Pick

Toul Sleng & Cheoung Ek Killing Fields

  • October 18, 2004
  • Rated 4 of 5 by holeeling from Singapore, Singapore
Toul Sleng & Cheoung Ek Killing Fields

Toul Sleng Genocidal Museum is the infamous S-21 torture and detention centre used by the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s. Having a Khmer Rouge survivor as a guide made the experience real and helped us understand the period even more intensely. The museum itself is stark - the ground floor of the first building shows panels and panels of black and white portraits of the victims and their captors. The second building shows past instruments of torture. The last building allows visitors to enter the tiny dark cells and is enclosed in barbed wire. Although the exhibits look relatively "clean", closer examination reveals traces of their gruesome past. A visit here is more memorable with some background possibly from one of the many books available on the Khmer Rouge period.

Most people visit the Cheoung Ek killing fields after S-21. This is the place most of the S-21 residents were executed and "buried" - often piled up in shallow graves. One of the largest of the many killing fields located in Cambodia, it is best to engage a guide to navigate you through this "seemingly innocent and peaceful" place but with a sad past.

Note that the ride to the killing fields is very bumpy and there are many flies there. Bring repellent if you are sensitive to flying creatures.

From journal 10 days in Phnom Penh

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