Genocide in Cambodia - 1975-1979

The first of the Indochinese countries to collapse, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, fell to the Khmer Rouge, the communist forces in Cambodia, on April 17, 1975. As recreated in the movie, "The Killing Fields", the Khmer Rouge evacuated the entire city of Phnom Penh, forcing everyone out into the countryside. Their goal was to create a new "Angkar", a new country based on the ideology that their leaders had developed over the previous decades. Angkar was going to be self-sufficient and the old ways were going to be replaced. The residents of the cities were the "new people" and they needed to be re-educated. The communist cadre were suspicious of the city folks, especially the intelligensia. Immediately they were singled out, with parents separated from children as the Khmer sought to discover who was educated. Those that were educated or spoke more than Cambodian or wore glasses were executed.

Elizabeth Becker, in her book "When the War was Over!" explains that the Khmer Rouge leadership had developed this distorted sense of nationalism as a result of the lack of support that they had received during their fights, first against the French,then the US. Although many had been educated in North Vietnam and had had contact with China, none of the other communist entities had given them much support in their struggles. As a result, they trusted no one and were forced to develop their own ideology of extreme self-sufficiency.

We visited one of the killing fields on our second day in Phnom Penh, one of over 100 in the country. There were many, many pits that had contained the executed and we walked around them, stunned at the events that had taken place there. A monument, probably several stories high held 10 platforms, enclosed in glass, of skulls of the victims, as well as their clothing. We asked our guide if Cambodia children learned about this and he replied that they did, but that with each generation there were less who cared about it.


Back in Phnom Penh, we visited Tuol Sleng S-21, the notorious prison. The prison warden, Duich, has been recently tried and convicted and is awaiting sentencing for the activities there. The building itself had been a school, with the classrooms used for torture and holding cells. Even some non-Cambodians were held, tortured, and executed here. When the evacuation of Phnom Penh occurred, those who could not provde with a passport that they were another nationality were in trouble. The Khmer Rouge documented all their prisoners here and their photos are on display, along with a sign that says "No smiling while taking the photo." Who could have smiled in such a place???


"Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it"