Phnom Penh - Independence Monument and Tuol Sleng Museum

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Cambodia's Independence Monument shines in the night.  It has been standing at the intersection of Norodom Blvd and Sihanouk Blvd since 1956, celebrating the independence from foreign rule.  After the end of the Cambodian War, it has an additional meaning to the country.   Hope that it will never go back to the darkness and brutal history.
The design embodies key elements of the country: Naga heads (multi-headed cobras) and towers of the Angkor Wat. Next to the monument is another remarkable statue, shines but I don't know the name.

Going a bit further stands the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument. The concrete monument commemorates the former alliance between Vietnam and Cambodia.  It was built by the Communist regime in the 1970s.  Vietnamese and Cambodian soldiers stand at the back of a Cambodian woman and baby, protecting them.

















These monuments have a close tie to the history, the cruel civil war during the 1970s.  People were sent to and tortured at the Security Prison 21 (S-21).  The site was was a high school and today the Tuol Sleng Museum.  Tuol Sleng means Hills of the Poisonous Trees.  It was one of the 150 execution centres between 1975 and 1979.   20,000 people were killed.


Text, paintings, photos and the remains reflect the horror of the time and the darkest side of human beings.  Cambodians killed Cambodians.  A lot of them were innocent citizens, farmers, children.   They were harmless but suspected, tortured and exterminated.  The good and the bad people look similar.  From the outlook, you can never differentiate between the murder and victim.

 






Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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