'Keeping you is not a gain, losing you is not a loss.' Killing Fields.

'Keeping you is not a gain, losing you is not a loss.'

Bullets are too expensive; killing was done with simple handcrafted agricultural tools. 

Killing was done with the sharp, pointed leaves of the palm. 'People whose throats are cut by them can no longer make a sound.' A silent killing.

Every day. 300 people. For 4 years. There were 300 Killing Fields in Cambodia.

Chemicals were poured over the bodies. To mask the stench. And to ensure that remaining lives would ultimately die. The neutralization of the decay smell was meant to keep the attention of those outside the camps away. 

Headless bodies. Bodiless heads. Alleged traitors. 'The body is Cambodian, the head is Vietnamese.' Bodies and heads were buried separately.

'When the pagoda was full of remains, the guardians decided to leave the remaining dead resting in their graves. To this day, remains, especially during the rainy season, are washed up and pushed up from the earth. The guardians of the place collect them. It’s almost as if the spirits of the deceased cannot find rest.'

'One must remove the roots to destroy the tree - Killing Tree.' If no children survive, the family is eradicated. 

The survivors’ descriptions tell of hope, anger, hate, love, dreams. They speak of people who attracted deadly attention to themselves to distract from younger, weaker prisoners. They recount efforts to survive by inventing absurd confessions, with much imagination, names, processes, situations. 

After the liberation by Vietnam in 1979: One of the family leaves for another country, with a more promising future. 'No one leaves for themselves; it’s not a free choice; the mother, father, sister, brother ask you to go. A decision of the family council.'

Even after the liberation in 1979: 
Wounds, fears, shame, ostracization.  Taboo.                                          Hatred, nightmares, trauma. Many adults are dead. Today, very few old people are seen. The average age of the population is under 30 years.                              

Autogenocide.                                              
1979 Cambodia. It happened... a people that destroys its own people.            
1945 Germany.                              
Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan,....

Quotes and thoughts I noted during the guided tour with an audio guide, words that touched me. 
Some of my photos have explanations.

Between 1979 and 1990, the Khmer Rouge successfully defended their seat at the United Nations...

Then again
what no one may have believed
what no one could have known
what no one was allowed to suspect
that again will be
what no one wanted
Erich Fried

I recommend Thomas's blog, which presents the visit to the memorial differently, with background and structure, as well as his wonderful images and thoughts: vakantio.de/worldwrite