Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Cambodia has a very sad recent history, including civil war and genocide. Chao Ponhea Yat High School was converted into a prison and interrogation centre named S-21 in 1975 after the Khmer Rouge won the Cambodian civil war.

In the 4 years from 1975 to 1979, S-21 is estimated to have had around 17,000 people imprisoned, tortured and many of them killed inside its walls.

The schools class rooms were transformed into makeshift prison cells or interrogation rooms.

The school building were covered in barbed wire, not only to stop escape attempts, but also to stop suicides.

The prison was discovered by the invading Vietnamese army in 1979, and was opened as early as 1980 as a genocide museum by the government of Kampuchea.

It is a sad and horrific place to visit, but with sites like this all over the world, they are an important reminder of humanities past.

For more information and opening times

http://www.tuolslenggenocidemuseum.com/

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