Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - History

To accommodate the victims of purges that were important enough for the attention of the Khmer Rouge, a new detention center was planned in the building that was formerly known as Tuol Svay Prey High School, named after a royal ancestor of King Norodom Sihanouk, the five buildings of the complex were converted in March or April 1976 into a prison and an interrogation center. Before, other buildings in town were used already as prison S-21. The Khmer Rouge renamed the complex "Security Prison 21" (S-21) and construction began to adapt the prison for the inmates: the buildings were enclosed in electrified barbed wire, the classrooms converted into tiny prison and torture chambers, and all windows were covered with iron bars and barbed wire to prevent escapes and suicides.

Recruits: The term used to describe new soldiers.

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

Ambulance: A two-wheeled or four-wheeled wagon or cart used to transport wounded or sick soldiers.

Foraging: A term used for "living off the land," as well as plundering committed by soldiers.

Green Troops: Phrase used to describe soldiers who were either new to the military or had never fought in a battle before.