What happened?
The Khmer Rouge took control on April 17, 1975. Factories, schools, universities, hospitals and multiple other places were shut down and turned into prisons, stables, reeducation camps, or granaries. The employees of these places were sometimes killed and their extended families were targeted next. Temples and churches were also burned and buddhist monks and christian missionaries were killed after. People were stripped of their basic rights that they had once owned which had involved their emotion, this included laughing, crying, or smiling. (World, 2015).
Anyone that happened to be affiliated with Lon Nol’s regime or military was immediately killed. There was no need for evidence in order to send someone to prison and people often thought their confessions of crimes could end their torment. There was actually more executions once a person had given up a list of names of new people that could be arrested. In the beginning they didn’t use executions to get rid of people, starvation was often used to dispose of undesirable populations. After some time more people were being sent to prison, that is when the Khmer Rouge moved over to the “killing fields” which were established all over Cambodia. Family relationship were criticized which means that young children which were turned into soldiers were a huge tool to the Khmer Rouge. Being young these kids followed what they were told to do easily and without any hesitation, it got to the point where many of the children were forced to shoot their own parents. (Genocide, 2016)
The Khmer Rouge took control on April 17, 1975. Factories, schools, universities, hospitals and multiple other places were shut down and turned into prisons, stables, reeducation camps, or granaries. The employees of these places were sometimes killed and their extended families were targeted next. Temples and churches were also burned and buddhist monks and christian missionaries were killed after. People were stripped of their basic rights that they had once owned which had involved their emotion, this included laughing, crying, or smiling. (World, 2015).
Anyone that happened to be affiliated with Lon Nol’s regime or military was immediately killed. There was no need for evidence in order to send someone to prison and people often thought their confessions of crimes could end their torment. There was actually more executions once a person had given up a list of names of new people that could be arrested. In the beginning they didn’t use executions to get rid of people, starvation was often used to dispose of undesirable populations. After some time more people were being sent to prison, that is when the Khmer Rouge moved over to the “killing fields” which were established all over Cambodia. Family relationship were criticized which means that young children which were turned into soldiers were a huge tool to the Khmer Rouge. Being young these kids followed what they were told to do easily and without any hesitation, it got to the point where many of the children were forced to shoot their own parents. (Genocide, 2016)
(19grobela, 2016)
People Targeted:
The Khmer Rouge had a list called “potential opposition”, this included journalists, doctors, lawyers, professionals, students and teachers, and people from the upper class. There were religious enthusiasts that were also targeted, this involved Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodians with Chinese, and people with similar ancestry. They were often questioned and vigorously interrogated and sometimes executed if they showed any suspicion of treachery or sabotage. Similar to other genocides survival for civilians was determined on their ability to work. This means that the elderly, handicapped, sick, and young children usually suffered because they were unable to do the labor others were able to do. (World, 2015)
Unlike the other genocides, no one was safe from being branded an enemy. If one day you were saw as being on the good side, it was common for the “good side” to change by the day. Because of this many of the own members from the Khmer Rouge were murdered by their own peers. When they say that no one was safe from being targeted, they mean that. This even includes children and babies, it was noted “to stop the weeds you must also pull up their roots.” (Genocide, 2016)
The Khmer Rouge had a list called “potential opposition”, this included journalists, doctors, lawyers, professionals, students and teachers, and people from the upper class. There were religious enthusiasts that were also targeted, this involved Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodians with Chinese, and people with similar ancestry. They were often questioned and vigorously interrogated and sometimes executed if they showed any suspicion of treachery or sabotage. Similar to other genocides survival for civilians was determined on their ability to work. This means that the elderly, handicapped, sick, and young children usually suffered because they were unable to do the labor others were able to do. (World, 2015)
Unlike the other genocides, no one was safe from being branded an enemy. If one day you were saw as being on the good side, it was common for the “good side” to change by the day. Because of this many of the own members from the Khmer Rouge were murdered by their own peers. When they say that no one was safe from being targeted, they mean that. This even includes children and babies, it was noted “to stop the weeds you must also pull up their roots.” (Genocide, 2016)
After the Khmer Rouge:
Finally after multiple years Vietnam invaded Cambodia and took over the Khmer Rouge. On July 25, 1983 A Research Committee on Pol Pot’s Genocidal Regime issued a final report. It was estimated that about one and a half to about three million Cambodians had lost their life. The data showed that the total number of deaths was about 3,314,768 people. That would be about 25% of the Cambodian population that died in the hands of the Khmer Rouge due to policies of relocation, torture, mass executions, forced labor, and malnutrition. Even after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodians still suffered greatly. Thousands of people had fled to Thailand where they were forced to eat leaves, roots, and bugs along the way. Many had died from malnutrition, or died from stepping on landmines that the Khmer Rouge soldiers had laid down everywhere along the western border to prevent victims from fleeing. Those who did make it to Thailand happened to bring malaria, typhoid, cholera, and many other illnesses. It is estimated that about 650,000 more people died within the next year. (World, 2015)
For a long time the country didn’t have any teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, or other professionals because they had all been murdered by the Khmer Rouge. The destruction that had been done at the time still has an impact on Cambodians today which contributes to the large amounts of poverty they face. Still recovering, the country is still filled with landmines which still contribute to death and disabilities up until the present. It had been estimated that about 40,000 more people in Cambodia have been a victim of these landmines. Many of the families that had been separated during this period still have not been reunited. (Genocide, 2016)
Survival Stories:
Sisowath Doung Chanto
The first survival story is about a boy who knows, and talks about his father's death. Out of all of his family members his father was executed, and his mother still lives in Cambodia with one of his three sisters. A name was not given of the son who is telling the story, but the father’s name is Sisowath Doung Kara. The boy says that he cannot understand why his father was executed along with multiple men that lived around him. He believed that his father was a good man and was not involved in politics nor any crime, but loved to work hard and was a great protector and provider for his family and the people who worked in his shipping company. Sisowath did not leave Cambodia during the 1970-1975 civil war because he devoted his energy and resources to help rebuild the country after the war.
“The Brutality of his punishment was so extreme that even the executioner himself could not speak of it without shock.”
The rest of the family was able to meet the executioner in 1985, about eight years after Sisowath had been executed. The former Khmer Rouge cadre was named Met Chan, who explained the ways his comrades had punished Sisowath. This is where they were finally about to learn how his father had been beaten, starved, and murdered.
“From the time they took my father out of the hut, he was kicked, dragged and beaten all the way to the killing site.”
The boy talks about how Sisowath was cuffed in chains along with three other men where they were trapped in the basement of an abandoned temple. Sisowath and the other men went several days without food because the Khmer Rouge knew they were going to die anyways. With his face all bruised and his back and ribs broken from the beating, it had gotten to the point where Sisowath was paralyzed and could not speak or barely stay conscious. By this time he was laying on the floor unable to beg for mercy, his last words were calling for his family.
“I guessed he was thinking about his family even though he was dying.”
Finally after two days of beating and interrogation, he was brought to the killing grounds. This is where they took a metal bar and delivered multiple blows to the back of the head, whether he had died immediately from the hits was not mentioned nor did Sisowath’s wife want to know more. Sisowath Doung Kara has officially been executed on July 1978, which was just five months before the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia and liberated it from the Khmer Rouge. (DACHS, 2011)
Sisowath Doung Chanto
The first survival story is about a boy who knows, and talks about his father's death. Out of all of his family members his father was executed, and his mother still lives in Cambodia with one of his three sisters. A name was not given of the son who is telling the story, but the father’s name is Sisowath Doung Kara. The boy says that he cannot understand why his father was executed along with multiple men that lived around him. He believed that his father was a good man and was not involved in politics nor any crime, but loved to work hard and was a great protector and provider for his family and the people who worked in his shipping company. Sisowath did not leave Cambodia during the 1970-1975 civil war because he devoted his energy and resources to help rebuild the country after the war.
“The Brutality of his punishment was so extreme that even the executioner himself could not speak of it without shock.”
The rest of the family was able to meet the executioner in 1985, about eight years after Sisowath had been executed. The former Khmer Rouge cadre was named Met Chan, who explained the ways his comrades had punished Sisowath. This is where they were finally about to learn how his father had been beaten, starved, and murdered.
“From the time they took my father out of the hut, he was kicked, dragged and beaten all the way to the killing site.”
The boy talks about how Sisowath was cuffed in chains along with three other men where they were trapped in the basement of an abandoned temple. Sisowath and the other men went several days without food because the Khmer Rouge knew they were going to die anyways. With his face all bruised and his back and ribs broken from the beating, it had gotten to the point where Sisowath was paralyzed and could not speak or barely stay conscious. By this time he was laying on the floor unable to beg for mercy, his last words were calling for his family.
“I guessed he was thinking about his family even though he was dying.”
Finally after two days of beating and interrogation, he was brought to the killing grounds. This is where they took a metal bar and delivered multiple blows to the back of the head, whether he had died immediately from the hits was not mentioned nor did Sisowath’s wife want to know more. Sisowath Doung Kara has officially been executed on July 1978, which was just five months before the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia and liberated it from the Khmer Rouge. (DACHS, 2011)
(Global Degree, 2016)