Among the many tourist attractions in Phnom Penh is the Genocide Museum. With strong ties to the Killing Fields, this reminder of the atrocities endured by the Khmer people under Pol Pot’s regime at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. If you don’t have the time to visit the Killing Fields (located 9 miles / 14.5 kilometers) outside of the city, the Genocide Museum is accessible and educational. We didn’t have time to visit both sites, but were told by many to visit the Genocide Museum if we didn’t have time for both. It is a cheap and easy ride from the waterfront and it is easy to pick up a ride back once you have finished your visit. The museum is a sobering experience and a good way to learn more about the very important and eerily recent history of this country. In the 1970s Pol Pot turned the former High School into a detention center for political enemies of the Khmer Rouge. Here many people were imprisoned, tortured and eventually murdered. The building remains largely untouched with haunting reminders of the horrific events around every corner. Bed frames with shackles attached and schoolrooms converted into cell blocks serve as a reminder of man’s … Other rooms serve to educate visitors on the people that were incarcerated here, most who met their end behind these walls. Guests my tour the facilities on their own, or may hire a guide. We explored the grounds ourselves, sans guide, and still felt we were well educated by the experience. I can equate this experience to that of visiting the concentrations camps of WWII, much less aneseptic than Dachau but slightly less gritty than Birkenau but moving all the same. You won’t leave this place the same person. 

Admission: USD2

Hours of Operation: 7a–11:30a, 2p–5:30p

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Address:  Corner of Street 113 and Street 350
Website:   http://www.tuolsleng.com/

I think it is essential to visit Tuol Sleng to understand the extent of the Khmer Rouge madness. Without a doubt it is a truly disturbing place to visit, but at the same time it is important to be aware of the shocking horrors that happened here. I think it is particularly important to realize that such crimes have been comitted many times in the past and are still happening today. As such, what is of utmost importance is not to paint the Khmer Rouge as some inhuman devils, as if there weren't part of the human race, but rather to come to understand that people anywhere in the world are essentially the same, although obviously some may have more negative tendencies, and that we are all capable of committing atrocities when put in certain circumstances. If we accept this we might have a chance to prevent such horrific things from happening again. After all many of the guards at Tuol Sleng were young people who somehow felt obliged to carry out these dreadful orders, sometimes as a mean to guarantee their own survival, sometimes because they were convinced that this was the right thing to do. Likewise young people committed terrible crimes during the cultural revolution in China, many thought they were doing the right thing. And again the same thing happened under Nazi Germany. What is most shocking in Tuol Sleng is how normal people were transformed into monsters.
The real positive thing about Tuol Sleng is that it shows that the Cambodiam people rightly understand the atrocities of the past, and horrific history has not been forgotten. What disturbs me about a country like China, is that Mao is still seen as a semi-god, despite the atrocities that he committed during his rule. When that is the case, I cannot see how future horrors can be prevented. Tibet is another sad example. Only when the Chinese governement will come clean about past and present atrocities will I feel more positive about the future of this mighty nation.
To sum it up here is a phrase by photojournalist Nic Dunlopp:
'The realisation that we all have this ability to do great good and also great evil is a sobering one. If we start from that point, then we might stand a chance of preventing these things from occuring again.'

The entire prison is just eery, especially since they left one block as it looked while the compound was being used as a prison. In one area, photos of the prisoners are displayed and it is just heart-breaking.

There is a movie that is shown at the museum but it is only played twice daily so make sure to find out what time it is played before going to the museum

It was probably one of the most terrible things I ever saw in my life. But definitly worth a visit, especially if you want to understand, what the Khmer rouge did to the people. Take a guide, that explains what happened, since the things inside the museum are not explained very well. And be prepared to be confronted with a horrible history.

This museum is very disturbing. There are pictures of all the victims and some of the horrible things done to them. It's set in an old school that the Khmer Rouge took over as a place to torture and murder people.