Students Meet S-21 Survivor, Learn Cambodia’s Past Under the Pol Pot Regime

AP children twelve years and older broached the subject of Cambodia’s history under the Khmer Rouge regime with a trip to the Tuol Sleng Genocidal Museum in Phnom Penh. The history of the genocide is currently not part of all public school’s curriculum, so discussing the past in a truthful and sensitive manner is of high priority to AP.

The students first met with Mr. Vann Nath, one of seven survivors of the former S-21 prison. The infamous prison was converted from a public school from 1975-1979 where over 14,000 people were tortured, then sent to the Killing Fields for execution. Mr. Vann’s paintings of the torture and abuse at the prison are famous today and are on display at the museum. He is also a well-known advocate for teaching youth the history of the genocide. He recently testified against Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, the S-21 prison warden, at the Khmer Rouge Tribunals now taking place. AP students had a chance to have a one-on-one discussion with Mr. Vann and ask him questions about his time in the prison. The children were then taken on a guided tour of the prison.

Following the students’ visit to Toul Sleng, volunteer Diana Chende and Assistant Director Soy Socheat team-taught a class in Khmer and English to guide the students to think more about Cambodia’s past and how it affects their future and the future of Cambodia. To put their newly-acquired knowledge into perspective, the children read excerpts from The Diary of Anne Frank as well as from, First They Killed My Father, Loung Ung’s memoir about her childhood and survival during the years of the Pol Pot regime. In learning about genocides that were also perpetrated in other countries, the children gained a broader understanding of what happened in Cambodia and to help them think critically about their country’s history.