Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Prison Staff

The interrogation unit was split into three separate groups: Krom Noyobai or the political unit, Krom Kdao or the hot unit and Krom Angkiem, or the chewing unit. The hot unit (sometimes called the cruel unit) was allowed to use torture. In contrast, the cold unit (sometimes called the gentle unit) was prohibited from using torture to obtain confessions. If they could not make prisoners confess, they would transfer them to the hot unit. The chewing unit dealt with tough and important cases. Those who worked as interrogators were literate and usually in their 20s.

Drill: To practice marching, military formations and the steps in firing and handling one's weapon.

Barrel: The long metal tube on a gun through which a projectile is fired.

Recruits: The term used to describe new soldiers.

Dysentery: (pronounced DISS-ehn-terr-ee) Intestinal disease causing severe diarrhea. Dysentery was a leading cause of deaths by disease.

Siege lines: Lines of works and fortifications that are built by both armies during a siege. The defenders build earthworks to strengthen their position inside a fort or city against assault while the besieging army constructs fortifications to protect siege guns and soldiers from sharpshooters inside the city.