I Saw Babies Murdered In Front Of Me | Minutes With 

Thank you to Var Ashe Houston for taking part in this episode and sharing her story. Additional thanks to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, the charity that promotes and supports Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK. For more details, please follow this link www.hmd.org.uk/

"We gain nothing from keeping you and we lose nothing from killing you." I just can't imagine...

Every time I listen to a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime. I hear my family’s voices. I hear my ancestors reaching out to me. I am grateful to my family for having been able to survive through that atrocity. They survived so that I could be born somewhere else, and live my dreams. A privilege that I will never take for granted.

A former workmate of mine fled from Cambodia. Since I know about S21 and the Killing Fields I never asked him about the genocide. He knew that I knew and we never talked about it. One day he came to me and said that the Khmer Rouge took everything from him. Sadly he died in the Summer of 2022. I miss that guy.

Poor woman shes so strong. To see them killing loads of babies is beyond sick

I visit the Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Visiting the Killing Fields of Phnom Penh is a profoundly heart-wrenching experience. As I walked through Choeung Ek, the air was heavy with the silence of the past and the weight of unspeakable atrocities. Each step brought me closer to the remnants of a harrowing history, where countless innocent lives were brutally taken. Seeing the mass graves, the bones, and the fragments of clothing left behind, I felt an overwhelming sadness and a deep sense of loss for the people who suffered here. It was a stark reminder of the depths of human cruelty, yet also a call to remember and honor those who perished. The visit left an indelible mark on my heart, a somber testament to the resilience of the human spirit amidst unimaginable suffering. May the Buddha bless all who suffered, and may we strive to create a world filled with compassion, understanding, and love, so that such atrocities may never occur again.

Her final message about three younger generation questioning the authenticity of her evidence and her plea for future generations to avoid such atrocities sounds so much like the sentiments of Shoah survivors. How many times do we need to be told?

I went to Cambodia in January 2020, just before COVID. Our tour guide told us so many grin stories he witnessed, like his brother being killed for drinking water out of a palm tree leaf or his best memory, catching and eating a small snake raw and not being caught. He met his mother on the road when the Vietnamese attacked, just by coincidence and thought they might both be dead. They were evacuated into a German school where he learned the language and became a tour guide. He bowed to us and thanked us for the developmental help, I felt so ashamed since I didn't even know Germany gave money to Cambodia until then. It was heart breaking. He said that he personally thinks that Pol Pot is worse than Hitler, since Hitler at least meant well for how own people.

More than half of my mother’s family was executed as they were chased out of their home without any questions. Thank you for sharing your story, there are so many more thousands of families that are unable to express their grief. No matter how much time has passed, my parents can clearly remember each knife wounds and having to hold a dying child from starvation. I live everyday praying that we can all find solace in each others experiences!!!

I live in Phnom Penh, just behind the killing fields, it's a truly eerie place. The stories i have heard about that time are haunting.

My two sons and I visited Cambodia in 2006 and went to the killing fields. It was one of the saddest moments in our lives. Seeing pieces of fabric and also teeth in the dried mud pathways. Visitors were asked to place in containers along the pathway of course out of respect. A local man guided us through and told us that babies were beheaded using palm leaves as a saw! I can’t look at palm trees without being reminded of this atrocity. We also visited the “school “ which was used as a place of torture. Pictures line the walls of the main room of the victims. I had to run out as it was so upsetting. I couldn’t begin to imagine the horror and pain these poor souls went through. People of Cambodia are still asking why it all happened. Personally, I can’t understand why we didn’t help these poor people at the time. Cambodian people are so gentle with beautiful souls. 😢

Cambodians are some of the most easy going, hospitable people I’ve met. It’s truly amazing how they still manage to be such a wonderful community despite the pain and horror that marked their history.

Seeing your daughter go through that is something absolutely nobody deserves, and you can tell it truly hurt her because she held herself together until she had to talk about her baby.

I grew partially in Cambodia in the early 2000s. Even decades later you could still see how scarred the country was. It’s crazy to think a society could go through so much horror and keep going after.

My neighbors managed to escape. No person should go through what they went through.

People often forget the US government’s *cough* Kissinger *cough* role in the ascendency of the Khmer Rouge.

Anyone who can kill a baby or do these things to others is pure evil.

The minutes with series has quickly become my favorite. No matter the story, it is always fascinating and I learn something new. Thank you for sharing these stories

This is a hard video to watch and equally as Important. Huge respect to this incredibly brave and strong lady. It is very important to remember these horrible atrocities so we may prevent them in the future but also honor the victims and survivors!

So many lessons to be taken from her story. We need to be so mindful of the governments and policies that we support. This is what happens when we are deceived by ideals.

my friend's grandmother had 7 siblings and all but her and i believe a brother survived. How someone lives through these things is beyond me.

I was in the Killing Fields in December 23'. You can still see teeth and bones scattered across the fields that have been left untouched. I got a much worse bad gut feeling there than any nazi concentration camp I've been to. The baby killing tree made shed a tear, and I never cry.

It just incredible the despicable acts that humans are capable of inflicting on each other.

She's an absolute rock, i have spent quite a bit of time in Cambodia and the people are different level with their kindness and hospitality, they will never ever forget but they just want a chance to move on and prosper.

What a strong woman, I hope her life is full of blessings and happiness

Never again for anyone. Genocide is despicable.

Thank you, Var, for having the courage to tell this story. Cambonians like you will prevent these horrors from happening again.

These are fantastic videos! Thank you to every single one of you who helped make these! We all need to know about these heinous acts

It always amazes me how Hitler gets so much credit for his evil ways, yet no one ever talks about Pol Pot

Wow! It's shocking to learn about the depths of human depravity. There are so many holocausts that are not taught.

I visited cambodia. It is an overwhelmingly lovely and friendly place that is fiercely peaceful. The real touristy areas are a bit scammy as are all of them but the vast vast VAST majority of the country as I traveled through it were warm friendly and kind. We met with a lot of monks and went to a peace museum that looked at how the peace was brought about. Peace is such a core important thing to Cambodians because it's still relatively new and very hard fought after. They all live in the shadow of that tragedy and they just want to celebrate their culture and share it with others and to see this never happen again The sick thing is Pol Pot still has a grave there that people visit. Literally, Asia's Hitler and people still pay him respects. It's disgusting I don't believe in heaven or hell but I would love to image a world where when bad people die, they are forced into the bodies and situations of everyone they ever wronged, forced to fully experience all of the pain and suffering first hand in excruciating detail with persistent memory of when they chose to commit it, then they are pulled into the next horrific situation they caused and created and have to endure the pain they put into the world and for this to continue until they endured the final evil act, then they get looped back to the beginning and have to live out the torture over and over again until the sheer weight of the pain they put out into the universe erodes and wears away their existence until they eventually fade away into complete madness

I can see the pain in her eyes

Just went to Cambodia this year. Just about everyone over the age of 40 has a story to tell. Thank you for sharing

there's a lot of people who need to hear these stories in this world. thank you for being brave enough to talk about it. My heart broke to listen to the horror that you lived through. This is exactly why we need lived stories like this. Only these stories can really do justice and hopefully others will listen to history so it isn't repeated.

My best friend in high school, his parents were from Cambodia and they never talked about anything from there. Even my best friend. Their son, knew nothing. Probably because they were so traumatized.

So heartbreaking. Sending so much love and peaceful energy to this brave and strong woman.

I visited Cambodia years ago when I was backpacking thru SE Asia. I have never been to a place that I connected to so emotionally before. I cried every day and I didn’t know why. Their faces, the kids, knowing a little about the atrocities the people had suffered thru, all of it just hit me right in the heart. This woman is remarkable and her resilience and bravery is humbling.

Thank you for having the courage to speak out against the horrific genocide of the people of Cambodia and giving the next generation the very REAL HISTORY of their culture and their people.

Brave woman.Deepest sympathies for the life she endured and atrocities she witnessed and people she lost…

Thank you for sharing this courages lady’s story! May she and her family be blessed! I’d like to echo her words towards the end… it is very important that younger generations are aware of attrocities of past genocides all over the world and to try to prevent it from happening again. We must accept the fact that There is currently a genocide going on in Gaza that has been for 76 painful years - probably the longest modern day genocide to ever be prolonged for many decades! Please spread the word - never again means never again for anyone!

Thank you for sharing your story Var. I consider Cambodia my second home. It always strikes me that every single person you see in the streets have been affected by Pol Pot in some way or another… but how many smiles there are. I love Cambodia and it’s people, and I will always feel blessed to have met Chum Mey, one of the few survivors of Tuol Sleng x

Thank you for sharing a little glimpse of your story. Many blessings to you and your family, and all the survivors.

Very brave lady. Thank you for sharing your story.

Thank you for sharing your story Var. We will not forget.

Unbelievable what these people had to go through. Thank you for sharing.

The passion and dedication are palpable, fueling meaningful exchanges and breakthroughs

Amazing documentary. Thank you.

She doesn’t cry, but you can see the overwhelming pain she’s carrying in her eyes.

Some of the rich families, where I'm from in Australia, were able to sponsor high school students to go to Cambodia so they can help teach English, build water wells and schools/hut houses. I knew a couple of people who went... I never knew about the Khmer Rouge until few months ago- a decade after those kids took that trip. Watching walk throughs of S21 and the Killing Fields truly shocked me. Four years, 2 million people and it was only in the 70's... So close to home...

Bless you for sharing your story. ❤

Thank you for sharing your story with us! We love you❤

12:15 that’s a whole different level of sorrow I feel for her. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to watch that happen to my baby and couldn’t do a damn thing. And for me there’s another level of worseness cause it’s not even like her baby did anything bad per we, she was literally just starving.

Such an Amazing video. Ashe is so strong and I can only imagine the pain she and her people suffered

One of my former coworkers had family that survived the Cambodian Genocide. I never asked her about it cause i couldn’t even fathom the horrors her family had endured.

I visited Cambodia and there were mass graves & memorials everywhere. I went to Choeng Ek & Tuol Sleng in Cambodia, but I think the worst thing I saw was the Samrong Knong Killing Field memorial which details (in words & pictures) all the torture methods around it. It's close to Battambang (the 2nd place Var went), so seeing someone who would have witnessed that torture first hand makes it all the more real. The few things she mentions are nothing compared to the full atrocities of the Khmer Rouge. I'm not surprised she doesn't talk about that aspect much. So glad she escaped.

Miss Var paints a vivid, harrowing picture of a Hell on Earth. Nightmarish stuff. Best wishes and happiness to the great lady and her family. Respect from Ireland. Her story perfectly illustrates why countries should give sanctuary to war refugees. It is unfortunate that Pol Pot escaped justice, croaking of a heart attack (heart?) in 1998 aged 72. Ditto many of his brutal hench thugs, as like many Nazis after World War 2. The 1985 movie 'The Killing Fields' is a study in the horror of the monstrous, demonic-like Khmer Rouge.

Well...that was the worst 20 seconds I´ve ever heard. The poor babies. 😭😭😣😖😭

What an amazing women. To go through those horrendous things and be able to speak about it today. I'm so glad you managed to get out and hope you have been able to live a happier life ❤

🩵🩷 We hear your voice. Thank you for sharing with us.

And nobody was held accountable.

I live in Cambodia great to have her on!!! 🙏❤️ 🇰🇭 🙏

Wow amazing interview

thank you var im so shocked to have never know of any of your countries history , i only recently saw it Cambodia referred to as the killing field from a tiktok video and am so thankful for you insight and account of the events that took place , thankyou for teacher me

Absolutely heat wrenching. I cannot imagine living through that. I’m just glad she got away and managed to live a better life ❤ prayers for you lovely lady ❤

Very insightful and passionate about excellence and detail. Great interview.

My parents & brother escaped Cambodia and were in a refugee camp in Vietnam before they came to New Zealand. The stories my dad would tell me saddened me. I’m so glad they were able to escape.

Such a strong woman , as well as all the other strong survivors, they are truly amazing .

What an amazing story and insight into the atrocious regime of the Khmer Rouge 🙏🏼🙏🏼

What a brave and remarkable lady. God bless you.

Heart wrenching

That is so incredibly sad and to know its happening again makes everything so raw and painful 💔💔

Having been born and raised in Cambodia, I've always deeply empathized with every story I've heard. This is yet another succinct and heart-wrenching perspective that helps me better understand the trauma experienced by the older generation.

I saw an exhibit of portraits of prisoners. The expression in their eyes was something I will never forget. I felt the fear. These were human beings who had such a horrible fate.

I visited Cambodia 11 years ago, around 2013, and went to S21, still can't forget the things I saw and felt during that time. Too heavy and too sad.

My father was recruited to go there as an American. He didn’t want to go. He came home a different man and said he was ashamed to be alive. He committed suicide because he couldn’t live with what he was forced to do to you families. On behalf of my family, I am sorry. Truly sorry. Although sorry will never be enough. May God bless you always.

These survivors are so precious to hear and to learn from what happened to them. My heart goes out to her and those who suffered and died. I hope she lives a long peaceful life with many grandchildren.

Wow the timing of this video is crazy, i actually am travelling cambodia at the moment from the UK and visited the killing fields in Phnom penh and the S-21 Prison yesterday. Absolutely chilling place, you can still see thousands of bone fragments in the soil especially when it rains and the mud washes away, the tree they used to smashed hundreds of children’s skulls on is absolutely terrifying. The scale of the killing was unbelievable with most people being executed with hand tools basically bludgeoned to death. Absolutely cruel, if you get the chance to come to Cambodia to learn the history and pay your respects i recommend you do.

Thank You 🙏🏻❤

This lady , among millions of others , really suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge . I couldn’t imagine living through the horrors she lived through , she is one tough cookie . There was a excellent movie made about this time in Cambodia called The Killing Fields , it’s well worth a watch

Cambodian teacher's story is valuable.

A massive thankyou to this brave women for opening old wounds to educate people especially the younger generation . Its surprising how many people don't know about this grim time in history.

What a wonderful, brave lady.

My old neighbors escaped the Khmer Rouge as well. I didn’t fully appreciate how much they went through until I got older and really learned about it. Even though they experienced the most painful things, they remained the kindest people. Thank you so much for sharing your story. Everyone should know what happened. Be well ❤️

What a brave woman. This can't have been easy for her but she explained the horror she went through so eloquently. Even though it was so hard to stomach I'm glad I got to hear her story

I wonder how many of these animals are still alive and have nightmares of what they did..or any guilt

Thank you.

Thank you, Var. Your telling of what your witnessed and experienced will not be in vain. People will always be there to hear you. Am I hearing though that it's the youth in Cambodia who are not believing it? Or worldwide? I know that worldwide people need to wake up but it's always alarming when it happened to people you know and you don't believe it.

Thank you for sharing your story. I appreciate the gift of knowledge you've given us. Edit: for people from places that use miles, 250 kilometers would take 5 hours at a regular city limits speed of 50km/h or less than 2.5 hours at the maximum legal speed (now 110km/h) on the open roads. So between 2 and 5 hours took 3 days.

I visited cambodia a few years back now, wbat they all went through was horrific beyound words, but the people are amazing and kind such a beautiful country.

My maternal grandmother died in the ‘killing fields’ , my mother a baby at the time was able to flee with her aunt. There were other aunts and uncles who were also lost, never to full know what happened to them. I have heard stories of the tree that is mentioned in the video. I am thankful my mother didn’t end up one of it’s many infant victims

5:21 omg that sent shivers down my spine, poor woman.

People walk around with such pain in their hearts.

Thanks for sharing. I have been to Cambodia three times (I work in Thailand) The Khmer Rouge was a dark part of Cambodia's history. After 1976, the country hardly had anything left...no professional people, no schools, no infrastructure. It had to start all over again.

@11:32 No, I can't imagine, not in a million years what that feeling would be like...its unimaginable and heartbreaking to hear 😢

I had the pleasure of living there for 5 years with my teenage son. I can't express enough how kind, welcoming, curious, and engaging the Khmer people are. The beauty of that country and its captivating people. It still amazes how little knowledge is held in the UK about this gem of SE Asia. Temples, history, jungles and waterfalls, the most resourceful, kind hearted people ive ever met and after all they have suffered. Life is far from fair for Cambodians. Poverty is staggering. Corruption is prevalent. I do think great strides are being made in the right direction. I met so many naturally gifted people. In tune with nature. Traditions and customs and loads of holidays! The weddings are not just one day of celebrations, but three❤. I could go on forever about Cambodia. Oh and the food. It is insanely tasty. On our second time to the capital, PP, our friend and guide Bong T, accompanied my son and I to, Choeung Ek, killing field. Ive never been somewhere that moved me so much. What they went through is exactly what the word genocide means. I hope this brings clarity to those clouded with the delusion that leftist marxism leads anywhere but to misery death. Despite all the madness and cruelty the Cambodians have endured, genocide, famine, zero rights, being carpet bombed in someone elses war, having its archaeological gems plundered and looted, decades of dictatorship, generations of families inflicted with trauma, they make the absolute best of life! There is hardly any pitty me attitude. No victim mentality. The youth of western democratic countries could do with a sit down and a history and life lessons from Cambodia. It would benefit them greatly in many ways. 🇬🇧 ❤ 🇰🇭

The cruelty and evil with which mankind is capable of treating fellow human beings is astounding

I worked with a lady who was about 5-10 years old (she would never reveal her true age hehe) when the Khmer Rouge was active in Cambodia and her stories were just horrendous, much like those of the lady presented here. As a NZ'er it was truly eye opening and horrific to hear how people can be so awful to each other

I have no words my heart goes out to this lady and every person that lost their lives and that suffered… the human race you have alot and I mean lot to answer for… what have you done???😭💔

Terrible terrible suffering.

I saw the victim photo at Tuol Sleng and my heart wreck when i saw a few babies photo and one of them had a similar look like my nephew. I was crying on my room and hugged him tightly and praying to God nothing bad will happened to him just like those poor baby. 😢