Pol Pot Khmer Rogue Cambodia Genocide Year Zero

Pol Pot Born Saloth Sar Went to an elite school and became interested in the same ideas as Stalin and Mao Led communist group called the Khmer Rogue Prime Minister of Cambodia (1976-79) Makes it communist country Agrarian collectivization Tried to create a fair and just society

Khmer Rogue Radical communist group led by Pol Pot Took control through guerilla warfare One of the most violent regimes of the 20th century Killed over 1.7 million people Execution, forced labor, and starvation Created large collective farms

S-21 Prison A former high school that was converted into an interrogation center in August, 1975 Khmer Rouge adapted it into a prison Electric barbed wire around the outside Classrooms converted to prison cells and torture chambers Windows covered with iron bars and barbed wire Torture system designed to make prisoners confess whatever crimes they were charged with Electric shock Hanging Cutting with knives Suffocating with plastic bags Pulling out fingernails Pouring alcohol on wounds Holding prisoners heads under water Sexual abuse Sleep deprivation

“Year Zero” (1975) Pol Pot’s plan to start over in Cambodia Got name from the French Revolution (Year 1) Destroy all culture and replace it with a new one Wanted to return to a simple society No class division No books No hospitals No schools No religion

Genocide …ELIMINATE all Buddhist in Cambodia 68,000 killed …ELIMINATE all Vietnamese in Cambodia 20,000 killed …ELIMINATE all Chinese in Cambodia 215,000 killed …ELIMINATE all Muslims in Cambodia 90,000 killed

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What you read… April 17, 1975: Khmer Rogue guerillas filed into Phnom Penh signaling the start of a reign of terror which would devastate an ancient culture and cause the deaths of over 2 million Cambodians in just 3 years. Moving from camp to camp, Thay, and his family become the “New People” displaced city dwellers forced to work and live as peasants. “The Jungle of the Dying” begins his journey at the third camp…