Cambodian Museum Protects Clothing Worn by Khmer Rouge Victims

 

During the 21 months he spent in a Cambodian prison, Bou Meng strangely felt at ease in the clothing he wore.

Bou Meng was jailed in the late 1970s, when the Khmer Rouge¹ ruled Cambodia. He was held at a secret, but now infamous² Khmer Rouge prison called S-21.

Prison officials gave him black cotton shorts and, when he was lucky, a shirt for the upper half of his body.

“It was very cold at night, as I remember,” Bou Meng told VOA. Prisoners had no blankets to keep warm. Officials refused to let them have personal belongings³.

The prisoners spent most of their days and nights tied to beds inside small rooms. Often they were released only to be tortured. About 14,000 people jailed at S-21 were later executed.

Bou Meng was one of the few prisoners to have survived. For him, the clothing brings back intense memories. They smelled really bad, he said. When he was tortured, “they would strip my shirt off,” he remembered. “My body was covered with blood.”

A museum shows objects from Cambodia’s genocide

Clothing similar to what Bou Meng once wore was left behind when the guards fled the prison. They left just before the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, in January 1979. Vietnamese forces ousted⁴ the Khmer Rouge government that year.

Later, Vietnamese administrators⁵ set up a genocide museum inside the former prison. They saved evidence of mass crimes, devices once used to torture prisoners and documents. But, the clothing was largely ignored.

All the prison uniforms sat untouched for 40 years. Many began to break down because of the effects of age, heat and wet weather.

Now all that is changing, as more Cambodians are recognizing the uniforms’ value.

The Cambodian Ministry⁶ of Culture now administers the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Last month, the museum launched a project to protect up to 5,000 pieces of clothing. The United States government provided a grant of $55,000 to support the program.

For the first time, the clothes will be sorted, protected and, in some cases, shown to the public. They are part of the memorial to the 1.7 million Cambodians who were killed during Khmer Rouge rule, from 1975 to 1979. That number represents 25 percent of the country’s population at the time.

American Julia Brennan is heading the conservation project. She said the effort would use technology to ensure the uniforms are protected without removing the blood and other markings.

Brennan also helped Rwanda’s National Commission for the Fight against Genocide protect 45,000 cloth artifacts belonging to Rwandan genocide victims.

Brennan is working to set up a long-term storage system at Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. She plans to use a technology called DryStore -- a see-through plastic container with two built-in hygrometers. These instruments help to keep objects dry and relative humidity levels low.

DryStore was developed in 2012 by Rhino⁷, a technology provider for the agricultural industry. The company is based in Thailand.

The system uses desiccant beads⁹ that take in water while killing¹⁰ mold and insects. Until now, the beads have mainly been used for seed drying and storage.

Brennan has named the technology a “heritage box.” The museum is using the U.S. grant money to buy about 50 containers. Each one is large enough to protect 72 liters of cloth artifacts.

The first step of the project, Brennan says, is to test the heritage box system and develop a plan that can be followed after she leaves Cambodia. "The storage system is efficient, low cost, and simple to use," she said. She added that if it is successful, it could show that the drying technology “can be applied¹¹ everywhere for cultural heritage preservation¹², especially in humid climates.”

Every piece of clothing or textile item in the museum will also be photographed and documented. A detailed¹³ description of the clothing and its condition will also be included before being stored in the heritage box. All this information will be entered into a computerized collection database.

The textiles have been organized and are sitting in blue and red baskets, waiting to be documented and preserved.

Bou Meng said the program is important to him because it will allow future generations of Cambodians to see exactly what his uniform looked like. Although they are long gone from his possession, he still remembers the black shorts he wore.

He said, “They [the clothes] are a testimony¹⁴ to the genocide. Younger generations are going to certainly benefit from it, so that they know what happened here.”

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

blanket – n. a piece of cloth used as a bed covering

item – n. object

strip – v. to remove clothing

grant – an amount of money that is given by a government or company to be used for a purpose

conservation – n. a careful protection of something

humidity – n. the amount of wetness in the air, or in the atmosphere

desiccant bead⁸ – n. something that causes a substance to dry out

mold – n. a growth caused by a fungus¹⁵, usually caused by water or a break-down of organic material

preservation – n. the protection or safety of something or someone

database – n. a collection of information that is stored on a computer

1 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

2 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

3 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

4 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

5 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 rhino   

n.犀牛，钱, 现金

参考例句：

• The rhino charged headlong towards us.犀牛急速地向我们冲来。
• They have driven the rhino to the edge of extinction.他们已经令犀牛濒临灭绝。

8 bead   

n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠

参考例句：

• She accidentally swallowed a glass bead.她不小心吞下了一颗玻璃珠。
• She has a beautiful glass bead and a bracelet in the box.盒子里有一颗美丽的玻璃珠和手镯。

9 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

12 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

13 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

14 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

15 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。