1. The Cambodian Genocide
Background Information
Adapted from PBS Lesson Plan: “Perspectives from the Perpetrators of Genocide in Cambodia” by Cari Ladd: s

2. Where is Cambodia?

3. Timeline 1953: Cambodia becomes independent from France
: As the Cold War heats up, U.S. President Eisenhower worries Cambodia will fall to communist influences in North Vietnam. Cambodia begins to assist the Viet Cong (the North Vietnamese communists) in the Vietnam War.
1960s: Meanwhile, a communist rebellion begins within Cambodia, led by a rebel group known as the Khmer Rouge (KR).

4. Timeline
: The United States begins secretly bombing parts of Cambodia as part of the Vietnam War 1970: Americans begin to invade Cambodia. The United States backs off after a series of protests, including the famous Kent State protest. 1975: The Khmer Rouge, after gaining strength, take over Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capitol. The KR evacuate the city and push residents into the countryside.

5. Timeline
: The Angkor (the ruling organization) creates forced labor camps, outlaws all property and money, crushes all religion, and attempts to completely re-educate Cambodians (and especially “new people”) to believe in their communist utopian vision.
Two million people die of starvation, exhaustion, torture, and brutal massacres in the resulting genocide.
1980: Vietnam invades Cambodia, ousting the KR, who continue to shape politics in Cambodia for many years (with American support). Many refugees leave.
1992: Cambodia reestablishes a constitutional monarchy and begins to rebuild.

9. Perpetrator Behavior Discussion Questions:
Clip 1: “I Want You to Know the Exact Place”
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Discussion Questions:
Why do you think perpetrators such as the man in this clip choose to tell their stories?
What do you think motivated these men to kill?
Who should be held accountable for the killing fields?

10. Perpetrator Behavior Discussion Questions: Clip 2: “We Had No Choice”
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Discussion Questions:
What similarities do you notice between the testimony of the men and woman in the video and what we read from perpetrators of the Holocaust?
Describe the language the woman uses in her testimony. How is this similar to the language in the orders given to Reserve Police Battalion 101 in the Holocaust?
What are your personal reactions to the clip? Do you agree? Did they have a choice?

11. Perpetrator Behavior Discussion Questions:
Clip 3: “The Individual I Cast Aside”
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Discussion Questions:
This man was the second-in-command in the KR. What was the motivation behind the KR’s killings?
Nuon Chea says in choosing between the individual and the nation, he chooses the nation. What does this mean? How is this similar to Hitler’s ideology? Which would you choose?

12. Victim Testimonies Discussion Questions Read “The Reprieve”.
What were the conditions at the forced labor camps? List some examples from the story.
Who were the “new people” and who were the “old people”? What was the impact of this identification?
Explain how identity and membership contributed to the Cambodian genocide.

13. “The Killing Fields”
Beginning tomorrow, we will watch a film called “The Killing Fields,” which tells the true story of a journalist caught in the labor camps of Cambodia.
While you watch, you will compare the Cambodian genocide with what you have learned so far about the stories of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Keep this background information in mind as you watch the film.
To watch the film, you MUST have turned in a signed permission slip by tomorrow.