1. March 24, 2015
Objectives: Students will be able to describe and evaluate the Cambodian Genocide.
NO Opening and closing
Agenda: Notes
Video with Questions

2. Led by Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge (Red Cambodians)
Cambodia Genocide
Led by Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge (Red Cambodians)
million deaths

3. Map Of Cambodia

4. History of Cambodian Genocide
In 1953, Cambodia gained independence after nearly 100 years of French rule
Prince Norodom Sihanouk took charge of the newly born state.

5. History of Cambodian Genocide
Prince Sihanouk alienated the U.S.:
Struck up friendship with China, America’s foe
Irritated President Nixon by trying to keep Cambodia neutral in the war with Vietnam
U.S. backed Lon Nol
Pro-American, but also corrupt, repressive, and incompetent
Unfortunately the U.S. backed a loser in Lon Nol
In 1972, he declared himself president, prime minister, defense minister, and marshal of the armed forces. The United States only cared that he was a staunch anti-Communist.
The U.S. spent $1.85 billion between 1970 and 1975, popping up his regime.

6. Background
In 1949 Pol Pot- real name was Soloth Sar- went to college in Paris
Became interested in Marxism
1953 returned to Cambodia and led a communist movement
1954- Cambodia gained independence from France
1962- Became leader of Cambodian Communist Party
But had to flee to the jungle because Prince Sihanouk did not agree with him
Formed the Khmer Rouge and waged a war against Sihanouk

7. Pol Pot
He and his army, called the Khmer Rouge, came to power in Cambodia in 1975.
He was named prime minister of the new communist government in 1976 and began a program of violent reform.
In hope of creating a society free of western influence, he abolished religion, institute, private property and evacuated cities.
Under his regime, forced labor, execution and famine killed ~2 million Cambodians.

9. US bombed North Vietnam which killed 150,000 Cambodians
1970- Prince Sihanouk was ousted by US military and joined Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge
US bombed North Vietnam which killed 150,000 Cambodians
These events led to economic and military destabilization in Cambodia
Support for Pol Pot grew
April 17, Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge army marched into Phnom Penh and seized control of Cambodia
Wanted to create an agrarian utopia inspired by Mao Zedong
Declared “This is year zero” and society would be “purified”
Capitalism, western culture, city life, religion and all foreign influences were to be gone

10. New Society Wanted an extreme form of peasant communism
Foreigners expelled
Embassies closed
Foreign economic or medical assistance refused
Foreign language banned
Newspapers and TV stations were shut down
Mail and telephone use banned
Religion, education, health care all gone

11. April 1, 2013
Objectives: Students will be able to identify the events of the Cambodian Genocide.
Question: Who did Pol Pot target in the Cambodian Genocide?
Agenda: Notes- Article with questions- due at the end of class.

12. How was the genocide carried out?
2 million people were evacuated from Phnom Pen by foot at gunpoint
20,000 died along the way
Forced into slave labor
Worked from 4 a.m. until 10 p.m. with 2 rest periods
Every 10th day was a day of rest
3 days off during Khmer New Year festival
Many died due to overwork, malnutrition, and disease
Diet consisted of 1 tin of rice every 2 days or 2 bowls a day

13. History of Cambodian Genocide
The Toll of Cambodia’s 5 year civil war had been immense
1 million Cambodians had been killed
Many were displaced, causing the capital to swell from 600,000 to 2 million by 1975
Many believed the KR atrocities were just a part of war, not their ideology
Lon Nol only promised more of the same and a U.S. backing.
If anybody had the grounds to anticipate systematic brutality, it seems logical that it would be those most immediately endangered. Yet those with the most at stake are in fact often the least prone to recognize their peril. The Cambodian people were frightened by the reports of atrocities in KR- occupied countryside, but they retained resilient hope.
In every Cambodian’s mind, it was the concrete features of horrifying immediate war that won out over the more abstract fear of the unknown.
The toll of the civil war on Cambodia’s civilians was immense. Some 1 million Cambodians had been killed. Cannibalism was widespread, as soldiers were told that eating the livers of captured enemies would confer the power of the vanquished upon the victor.
Many Cambodians had been displaced causing the capital to swell from 600,000 to 2 million by 1975.
Many assumed the KR excesses were the product of the heat of battle, and not the result of ideology or innate callousness.
As the KR closed in on the capital, many visualized the end of bombs, deprivation, and bullets , and a return to their buddhist peaceful heritage.
Having known only conflict for 5 years, the Cambodians considered the communists KR promise of peace an appealing alternative. The Lon Nol government promised only for the dim present. Having watched their leaders cozy up to the U.S. and the U.S. repay them by bombing and invading their country.

14. History of Cambodian Genocide
1975 was deemed year zero
attempted to turn Cambodia into a classless society by depopulating cities and forcing the urban population into agricultural communes
Enemies were: ethnic Vietnamese, ethnic Chinese, Muslim chams, Buddhist monks, intellectuals (anyone completing 7th grade), anyone suspected of even momentary disloyalty
Money, private property, education and even religion were outlawed as all Cambodians were rehoused in concentration camps as farmers. Phones, televisions, books, were gathered in central squares and burned.
History now calls this era the Killing Fields, as more than a million people died. Many were overworked and had to work for almost 15 hours a day non-stop with only one meal. Work lasted from 6am to 9pm, after which they had to listen to classes on the greatness of the Khmer Rouge. Men, women and families were separated and contact with each other was prohibited. One could even be killed for trying to find one's wife or child. Often, Khmer officials would hire nannies to take care of their children on the pretext that the children were orphans who needed a home. Life truly was brutal even for officials and the civilians
Trenches were dug and prisoners killed. This was the kind of killing that journalists and U.S. embassy officials in Phnom Penh had expected.
Enemies were:
Those the Khmer Rouge called traitors
Ethinic Vietnamese
Ethnic Chinese
Muslim Chams
Buddhist monks
“Class enemies: all intellectuals or those who had completed the 7th grade

15. History of Cambodian Genocide
Once reporters departed, the last independent sources of information dried up
For the next three and a half years, the American public would piece together a picture of life behind the Khmer curtain
Information came from KR public statements, which were few; from Cambodian radio, which was propaganda; from refugee accounts, which were doubted, and from Western intelligence sources, which were scarce and suspect

16. History of the Cambodian Genocide
May 1975, President Ford announced that Cambodian officials and their spouses have been executed.
American administration had little credibility
It would be 2 years before most would acknowledge that this time the bloodbath reports were true.
Kissenger had bloodied Cambodia with his policy during the Vietnam war
Many thought these horror stories were designed to justify the U.S. invasion of Cambodia and Vietnam
The U.S. had similarily warned that the fall of Saigon would result in slaughter, but when the city fell April 20, 1975, the handover was far milder than expected.
The American public had learned to dismiss what it deemed as official rumor-mongering and anti-Communist propaganda.
It would be two years before most would acknowledge that this time the bloodbath reports were true.

17. History of Cambodian Genocide
With embassy closed and journalists cut off, information was hard to obtain.
The “Southwest Asia fatigue” from Vietnam compounded the problem
Received very little newspaper or television coverage
Reporters trained to authenticate their stories by visiting or confirming them with multiple sources had a hard time. Most ran reports with disclaimers that said inconclusive accounts or unconfirmed reports
The caution was warranted, but it gave those inclined to look away further excuse for doing so. By waiting for the full story to emerge, politicians, journalists, and citizens were guaranteeing they would not get emotionally or politically involved until it was too late.
The KR sealed the country completely. Cambodia was perhaps the most extreme case and the KR may have run the most secretive government of the 20th century.
The dropoff for U.S. press coverage of Cambodia was dramatic. Between 1970 and 1975, when U.S. was still actively engaged in SE Asia, the Washington Post and New York Times published more than 700 stories on Cambodia each year. In the single month of April 1975, when the KR took the capital, they ran 272 stories on Cambodia. But in Dec. 1975, they ran only 8 stories and in the entire year of 1976, they ran 126, in 1977, 118.
Cambodia received even less play on television. Between April and June of 1975, when the capital was falling and U.S. pulling out, the three major networks combined gave Cambodia less than 2.5 minutes of airtime. During the entire 3 ½ years of the regime, the networks devoted less than 60 mintues to the subject.

18. History of Cambodian Genocide
Americans clung to the few public statements of senior KR officials who consistently refuted the claims
Even Amnesty International, the largest human rights organization in the world, was not yet ready to respond forcifully.
Said you should not believe the refugees from Thailand because these people have committed crimes and should be returned to Thailand.
In Sept , Pol Pot said that only the smallest possible number out of the 1 or 2 percent of Cambodians who opposed the revolution had been eradicated. Conceding some of the killings gave them credibility.
Another factor that blunted understanding of the evil of the regime was that many Cambodians died of starvation and malnutrition, which outsiders associated with “natural” economic or climatic forces.
Amnesty International was founded in 1961 with a budget of 19,000. It was more of a letter writing organization best suited for getting political prisoners freed from jail.
Even when they had reliable information in hand, Amnesty officials operated much like the committees the United Nations had established to monitor human rights, the avoided public shaming when possible and approached governments directly.

19. History of Cambodian Genocide
Many came around once they had personal contact with traumatized refugees.
The first photographs were not smuggled out until April of 1977.
Refugees were telling tales that could hardly be believed. Charles Twining, a 33 year old foreign service official kept telling himself, This is not possible in this day and age. This is not 1942, This is 1975.
Even when you no longer assume they are exaggerating, it was another step to move along the continuum to understanding. “I do not believe you are lying, I simply said I can’t believe you.”
Ellie Wiesel has spoken of the difference between information and knowledge.
The first photos were not smuggled out until April 1977 and they depicted harsh, forced labor conditions, but not the systematic elimination of whole ethnic groups and classes.

20. History of Cambodian Genocide
Those who tried to generate press coverage did so assuming that establishing the facts would empower the United States and other Western governments to act.
U.S. officials could have publicly branded Pol Pot’s killings as genocide, but they did not do so. Because the treaty excluded political groups and so many of the KR murders were committed against perceived politcal enemies, it was actually a harder fit than one would expect.
Israel became the first nation to raise the issue of Cambodia at the United Nations. (march 1978?) The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Syria teamed up to delay consideration another year.
Some feared it would anger the KR to intensify their violence
U.S. might have pressured China, the KR’s main backer, to use its leverage to deter the KR from murder.
State Department and White house officials assumed nothing could be done

21. History of Cambodian Genocide
Vietnam invades Cambodia on Dec. 25, 1978 and seizes Phnom Penh on Jan. 7, 1979.
Vietnam establishes the People's Republic of Kampuchea
Ironically, it was the Vietnamese who helped rid Cambodia of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Aided by defectors from the Khmer Rouge's main government, Vietnam fought to gain control of Phnom Phenh and finally succeeded on January 7, 1979.
Considering that the Cambodians had spent all their lives fighting Vietnamese attack, it was strange that this invasion was more of a blessing than a curse. Pol Pot and his followers were forced to retreat westwards and were granted asylum in Thailand, where they settled on the border of Burma and Thailand-an already politically tumultuous region.
The Khmer Rouge was fortunate to have the unofficial protection of the Thai army but this fact was not made public until slightly more than a decade ago when the UN came under pressure to bring the perpetrators of the Cambodian genocide to justice. Pol Pot and his men had been keeping alive through the illegal diamond timber and poppy plant trade, which they used to train young children as future soldiers of the Khmer Rouge.

22. History of Cambodian Genocide
The Khmer Rouge were overthrown and sent into a retreat
They receive aid from the United States as well as hang on to the official Cambodian seat in the United Nations
Struggles continue as China supports and provides arms to the Khmer Rouge and Russia supports a fully Communist Vietnam
UN and the USA rallied for recognition of a "Democratic Kampuchea" headed by Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the son of Prince Sihanouk.
It was 1979 and the world was in the depths of the Cold War which only exacerbated things. Cambodia was no longer simply a country that had just experienced a genocide but a pawn in the fight between democracy and communism.
The rift between China and Russia also saw Cambodia caught in this struggle. China supported and provided arms to the Khmer Rouge all the way to the late 1980s while Russia supported Vietnam in its attempt to make Cambodia fully communist.
Eastern and central Vietnam may have been in Vietnamese hands but the west remained in political anarchy as landmines littered the fields and the democrats, Vietnamese communists and the Khmer Rouge fought for supremacy.

23. History of Cambodian Genocide
Upon seizing the country, Vietnamese find evidence of mass murder everywhere.
The Tuol Sleng Examination Center in Phnom Penh, code named Office S-21, became an emblem of terror
Found instructions for inmates
Found an interrogators manual
Was turned into Tuol Sleng Musueum
They were sure this proof would strengthen the legitimacy of their intervention and puppet rule.
Every neighborhood seemed to unfurl a mass grave of its own. Bones could still be seen protruding from the earth.
Some 2 million Cambodians out of a populace of 7 million were either executed or starved to death. (About 20% of the population) The Vietnamese minorities were completely wiped out.
The Tuol Sleng Examination Center in Phnom Penh, code named Office S-21, became an emblem of terror
Like the Nazi’s, those who ran the extermination center were bureaucratically precise. Prisoners were photographed either upon their arrival or upon their death. They were tortured, often electrocuted as they hung by their feet with their heads submerged in jars of water. They were forced to sign confessions affirming their status as CIA or Vietnamese agents and to prepare their list of networks of traitors. Then they were murdered.
They found a set of instructions for inmates posted at the interogation center You must answer in conformity with the questions I ask you. Don’t try to turn away my questions Don’t try to escape by making pretexts according to your hypocritical ideas 3. Don’t be a fool you are a chap who dares thwart the revolution During the bastinado or the electrification you must not cry loudly
Only ten people survived Tuol Sleng

24. History of Cambodian Genocide
Torture center testified to the cruelty of the KR regime
1979 -The Vietnamese then installed a puppet government consisting of Khmer Rouge defectors with Heng Samrin as leader
People’s Republic of Kampuchea
The Khmer Rouge fought against the newly appointed government with the help of US training, funds, weapons
The US policy became the choosing the lesser evil
Did not want to side with Communist Vietnam so the lesser evil was the Khmer Rouge. Also did not want to ruin our new relations with China.
George McGovern learned of the Vietnam victory and thought it offered real irony. After all those years, it was Vietnam that went in and stopped Pol Pot’s slaughter. Whatever their motivation, the Vietnamese were the ones who supplied the military force to stop they genocide. They should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize.
China had a route to get weapons to the Khmer Rouge

25. History of Cambodian Genocide
1989 Vietnamese troops withdraw from Cambodia
Country is renamed the State of Cambodia
Fighting continues for over a decade, before all political factions in Cambodia sign a treaty in 1991 calling for elections and disarmament.
Fighting broke out again in 1992
By the end of 1989, the cold war had ended and the Vietnamese exited Cambodia. Without the financial backing of the Soviet Union, the Vietnamese couldn’t keep their troops in the country.
This withdrawal made things difficult for Cambodians, especially the prime minister, Hun Sen.  The Khmer Rouge had not disappeared, but had made their presence known and were threatening military action.  Since Cambodia was without much needed foreign aid, they discarded socialism and tried to get investors interested in the country.
Another major change was in the country's name, it was changed to the State of Cambodia (SOC), while the KPRP (who currently ruled Cambodia) changed their name to the Cambodian People's Party.  An attempt to have a free-market economy just increased the gap between the rich and the poor with many government officials becoming millionaires.

26. History of Cambodian Genocide
1993- The monarchy is restored, Sihanouk becomes king again. The country is re-named the Kingdom of Cambodia. The government-in-exile loses its seat at the UN.
1998- Pol Pot dies and is never brought to trial
2004- Elderly King Sihanouk turns monarchy over to son, King Sihamoni, but real political power is held by elected President Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge officer.

27. 2. Headlines from newspaper
“Never Again the Khmer Rouge”
New York Times, Oct
“Difficult to prove genocide in Cambodia’s killing fields”
The Associated Press, September

28. Final 5
How is it possible that the people of Cambodia fell under the heinous rule of Pol Pot? (Your opinion)

30. Purges were held to get rid of “old society”
Educated, wealthy, Buddhist monks, police, doctors, lawyers, teachers, former government officials
Anyone who was disloyal to the Khmer Rouge was shot
“What’s rotten must be removed”
20,000 people were tortured into false confessions

32. Symbolic emblem
SR-21, a former school was turned into a torture factory during the Cambodia genocide. Thousands of people who were sent here would be given a number tag, as a symbol of recognition. Those people would later be tortured or executed.
A total of 14,000 Cambodians were jailed here and only 10 of them survived.
Photos of prisoners with number tags on.

33. History of Cambodian Genocide
Vietnam invades Cambodia on Dec. 25, 1978 and seizes Phnom Penh on Jan. 7, 1979.
Vietnam establishes the People's Republic of Kampuchea
Ironically, it was the Vietnamese who helped rid Cambodia of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Aided by defectors from the Khmer Rouge's main government, Vietnam fought to gain control of Phnom Phenh and finally succeeded on January 7, 1979.
Considering that the Cambodians had spent all their lives fighting Vietnamese attack, it was strange that this invasion was more of a blessing than a curse. Pol Pot and his followers were forced to retreat westwards and were granted asylum in Thailand, where they settled on the border of Burma and Thailand-an already politically tumultuous region.
The Khmer Rouge was fortunate to have the unofficial protection of the Thai army but this fact was not made public until slightly more than a decade ago when the UN came under pressure to bring the perpetrators of the Cambodian genocide to justice. Pol Pot and his men had been keeping alive through the illegal diamond timber and poppy plant trade, which they used to train young children as future soldiers of the Khmer Rouge.

34. History of Cambodian Genocide
The Khmer Rouge were overthrown and sent into a retreat
They receive aid from the United States as well as hang on to the official Cambodian seat in the United Nations
Struggles continue as China supports and provides arms to the Khmer Rouge and Russia supports a fully Communist Vietnam
UN and the USA rallied for recognition of a "Democratic Kampuchea" headed by Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the son of Prince Sihanouk.
It was 1979 and the world was in the depths of the Cold War which only exacerbated things. Cambodia was no longer simply a country that had just experienced a genocide but a pawn in the fight between democracy and communism.
The rift between China and Russia also saw Cambodia caught in this struggle. China supported and provided arms to the Khmer Rouge all the way to the late 1980s while Russia supported Vietnam in its attempt to make Cambodia fully communist.
Eastern and central Vietnam may have been in Vietnamese hands but the west remained in political anarchy as landmines littered the fields and the democrats, Vietnamese communists and the Khmer Rouge fought for supremacy.

35. History of Cambodian Genocide
1989 Vietnamese troops withdraw from Cambodia
Country is renamed the State of Cambodia
Fighting continues for over a decade, before all political factions in Cambodia sign a treaty in 1991 calling for elections and disarmament.
Fighting broke out again in 1992
By the end of 1989, the cold war had ended and the Vietnamese exited Cambodia. Without the financial backing of the Soviet Union, the Vietnamese couldn’t keep their troops in the country.
This withdrawal made things difficult for Cambodians, especially the prime minister, Hun Sen.  The Khmer Rouge had not disappeared, but had made their presence known and were threatening military action.  Since Cambodia was without much needed foreign aid, they discarded socialism and tried to get investors interested in the country.
Another major change was in the country's name, it was changed to the State of Cambodia (SOC), while the KPRP (who currently ruled Cambodia) changed their name to the Cambodian People's Party.  An attempt to have a free-market economy just increased the gap between the rich and the poor with many government officials becoming millionaires.

36. History of Cambodian Genocide
1993- The monarchy is restored, Sihanouk becomes king again. The country is re-named the Kingdom of Cambodia. The government-in-exile loses its seat at the UN.
1998- Pol Pot dies and is never brought to trial

37. 2. Headlines from newspaper
“Never Again the Khmer Rouge”
New York Times, Oct
“Difficult to prove genocide in Cambodia’s killing fields”
The Associated Press, September