Cambodian Killing Fields
Victims of the Khmer Rouge
In Cambodia the "killing fields" of Choeung Ek have become a tourist attraction, horrifying and fascinating. Choeung Ek is one of thousands of sites around the country where the Khmer Rouge practiced genocide during the late 1970s.
The Khmer Rouge was the Cambodian political party in power from 1975 -1979, but in that short time inflicted deep wounds on Cambodia and its people that will endure for generations to come. During their time in power the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, left 1.7 million Cambodians dead.
Pol Pot’s attempts to turn Cambodia into a communist state and peasant farming community left one quarter of the country’s population dead from over work, starvation and execution. No one in Cambodia was untouched by the Cambodia genocide.
Every single Cambodian citizen lost family members, or was injured in some way by the Khmer Rouge’s influence in the country.
Pol Pot’s rise to power was helped by the constant conflict caused by the Vietnam War. Most of his support came from Cambodians who were fed up with being bombed by the Americans who were trying to get rid of the North Vietnamese Army in Cambodia.
When the US invaded Cambodia to drive out the North Vietnamese the US ultimately joined forces with Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. However, in 1975 when the US withdrew from Vietnam, Cambodia was left with a government who was corrupt and ineffective, and had now lost American support. On April 17, 1975 Pol Pot seized his chance at overthrowing a weak government and his army of Khmer Rouge peasants marched into Phnom Penh, the capitol city, and took control of Cambodia.
Within days of seizing control of the government Pol Pot began an attempt to turn Cambodia into a Communist farming society. The Khmer Rouge began to “cleanse” the country of evil threats to Pol Pot's idea of a perfect Cambodia, intellectualism, city life, religion and capitalism.
All foreigners were deported from the country, other languages were banned, newspapers and TV stations were all shut down, money was forbidden, religion banned, education and health care stopped. Even parental guardianship was taken away. Cambodia was completely closed off from the rest of the world.
One of the most infamous of Pol Pot’s horrific achievements was the Killing Fields of Cambodia. Most of Phnom Penh’s residents were forcibly removed at gunpoint from the city and made to work in the fields as slaves.
The people were worked until they collapsed and died of exhaustion, from disease or starvation. Workers were given only one portion of rice every two days to nourish them while starting the work day at 4am in the fields and not stopping until 10pm at night. They were constantly guarded by soldiers who would kill for even the smallest misdemeanor.
Under Pol Pot entire groups of Cambodian society were marked for extermination such as Buddhist monks, western educated individuals (despite the fact that Pol Pot had been educated in France), all Muslims, the wealthy, landowners, and intellectuals.
The Khmer Rouge was the Cambodian political party in power from 1975 -1979, but in that short time inflicted deep wounds on Cambodia and its people that will endure for generations to come. During their time in power the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, left 1.7 million Cambodians dead.
Pol Pot’s attempts to turn Cambodia into a communist state and peasant farming community left one quarter of the country’s population dead from over work, starvation and execution. No one in Cambodia was untouched by the Cambodia genocide.
Every single Cambodian citizen lost family members, or was injured in some way by the Khmer Rouge’s influence in the country.
Pol Pot’s rise to power was helped by the constant conflict caused by the Vietnam War. Most of his support came from Cambodians who were fed up with being bombed by the Americans who were trying to get rid of the North Vietnamese Army in Cambodia.
When the US invaded Cambodia to drive out the North Vietnamese the US ultimately joined forces with Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. However, in 1975 when the US withdrew from Vietnam, Cambodia was left with a government who was corrupt and ineffective, and had now lost American support. On April 17, 1975 Pol Pot seized his chance at overthrowing a weak government and his army of Khmer Rouge peasants marched into Phnom Penh, the capitol city, and took control of Cambodia.
Within days of seizing control of the government Pol Pot began an attempt to turn Cambodia into a Communist farming society. The Khmer Rouge began to “cleanse” the country of evil threats to Pol Pot's idea of a perfect Cambodia, intellectualism, city life, religion and capitalism.
All foreigners were deported from the country, other languages were banned, newspapers and TV stations were all shut down, money was forbidden, religion banned, education and health care stopped. Even parental guardianship was taken away. Cambodia was completely closed off from the rest of the world.
One of the most infamous of Pol Pot’s horrific achievements was the Killing Fields of Cambodia. Most of Phnom Penh’s residents were forcibly removed at gunpoint from the city and made to work in the fields as slaves.
The people were worked until they collapsed and died of exhaustion, from disease or starvation. Workers were given only one portion of rice every two days to nourish them while starting the work day at 4am in the fields and not stopping until 10pm at night. They were constantly guarded by soldiers who would kill for even the smallest misdemeanor.
Under Pol Pot entire groups of Cambodian society were marked for extermination such as Buddhist monks, western educated individuals (despite the fact that Pol Pot had been educated in France), all Muslims, the wealthy, landowners, and intellectuals.