Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

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The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a museum in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, chronicling the Cambodian genocide. A school, a prison, the end of the road; Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum was one of hundreds of detention and interrogation centers created all over Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge — who gave the former high school the sinisterly innocuous name S-21 — where countless thousands of Cambodians were ruthlessly processed until they were dead.

The site has four main buildings, known as Building A, B, C, and D. Building A holds the large cells in which the bodies of the last victims were discovered. Building B holds galleries of photographs. Building C holds the rooms sub-divided into small cells for prisoners. Building D holds other memorabilia including instruments of torture.

A visit to Tuol Sleng is a profoundly depressing experience. The sheer ordinariness of the place makes it even more horrific: the suburban setting, the plain school buildings, the grassy playing area where children kick around balls juxtaposed with rusted beds, instruments of torture and wall after wall of disturbing portraits. It demonstrates the darkest side of the human spirit that lurks within us all. Tuol Sleng is not for the squeamish.

There are several rooms with photos of victims "before" (ie.when they came into S21) and "after" ie after they had been tortured. This is sad viewing- it includes children.

Another block houses a museum of torture implements along with graphic paintings of how they were used. These paintings were done by a survivor of the camp who has written a book about his experience there.