Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Torture and extermination

Typical confessions ran into thousands of words in which the prisoner would interweave true events in their lives with imaginary accounts of their espionage activities for the CIA, the KGB, or Vietnam. Physical torture was combined with sleep deprivation and deliberate neglect of the prisoners. The torture implements are on display in the museum. It is believed that the vast majority of prisoners were innocent of the charges against them and that the torture produced false confessions.

Interior Lines: A military strategy which holds that the fastest, most efficient maneuvers, transportation and communication are conducted within an enclosed geographic area as opposed to outside the geographic area.

Vedette(or vidette): A mounted sentry stationed in advance of a picket line.

Greenbacks: Paper currency which began to circulate in the North after February 1862 with the passage of the Legal Tender Act. The bills were called "greenbacks" because of their color.

Spike: To make an artillery piece unusable so that it could not be used by the enemy if captured.

Ironclad: A ship protected by iron armor.