I thought i would write a a bit about a small time frame of Cambodian history that was so horrific that it still affects the people today. I knew nothing about this before planning to come to Cambodia and i am sure most other people around the world don't either. These were acts that were far more inhuman than what Hitler carried out, yet it is not taught in schools etc
"Khmer Rouge" was the name the king gave to his communist opponents in the 1960's. Their official name was the Communist Party of Kampuchea(CPK), which took control of Cambodia on April 17, 1975.
The CPK ruled the country until January 1979. No one outside of the party knew who its leaders were and the leaders called themselves Angkar Padevat.
A few days after they took power the Khmer rouge forced 2 million people in Phnom Penh and other cities into the countryside to start agricultural work. Thousands of people died during the evacuations, but that is only the beginning.
The Khmer rouge wanted to change Cambodia into a rural, classless society where there were no rich people, no poor people and no exploitation. to achieve this they abolished money, free markets, normal schooling, private property, foreign clothing styles, religious practices, and traditional Khmer culture. public schools, churches , universities, shops etc were shut or turned into prisons. reeducation camps etc. Leisure activities were severely restricted and people throughout the country, including the CPK leaders had to wear black costumes, which were their traditional revolutionary clothes.
Under this ruling everyone was deprived of their basic rights. You were not even allowed to gather and have a conversation with others. if three people gathered and talked, they could be accused of being enemies and arrested or executed.
Family relationships were also not allowed. They were forbidden to show even the slightest affection, humor or pity. The Khmer rouge asked all Cambodians to believe, obey and respect only Angkar Padevat, which was to be everyone's "mother and father".
They claimed that only pure people were qualified to build the revolution. They arrested and killed thousands of soldiers and civil servants who they did not regard as pure and over the next three years, they executed hundreds of thousands of intellectuals, city residents, minority groups such as chinese and veitnamese and many of there own soldiers and party members who were accused of being traitors.
Under the terms of the CPK's four yeat plan, Cambodians were expected to produce 3 tons of rice per hectare throughout the country. This ment they had to produce rice 12 months of the year and many were forced to work more than 12 hours a day without rest or enough food.
By the end of 1977, clashes broke out with Vietnam. Tens of thousands were sent to fight and thousands of them were killed.
In December 1978, Vietnamese troops fought there way into Cambodia and captured Phnom Penh on January 7, 1979.
The leaders fled to Thai territory to reestablish their forces and were aided by Thailand and China.
the Khmer Rouge continued to exist until 1999 when all of its leaders had given in to the royal government, died or been arrested.
Nearly 2 million Cambodians lives were claimed and tens of thousands left widowed or orphaned. Millions of mines were laid which has lead to thousands of deaths and disabilities since the 1980's. A large proportion of Cambodian people now have mental illnesses because their family members were lost and their spirits damaged.
It is no wonder that Cambodia is so poverty stricken given what they have been through. Nearly every single person knows someone if not themselves who went through this ordeal. The Khmer rouge placed no value on education, none of its leaders had any experience in running a country. They basically turned the whole country into a rice field and the entire population into peasants and prisoners.
The amazing thing is that after so much horror the people of Cambodia have been through they are trying to move on and make a better life for themselves, a smile is never far away from there faces and i believe they deserve all the help they can get.
T His is just a brief outline of this part of history but im sure if you search the net you will find out a lot more.
