The fact that the Vietnamese, who were communists themselves, decided to fight against this communist regime, shows just how psychotic Pol Pot & his actions were.
There was actually a lot of infighting against Communists during the Cold War. For example China funded the rebels in Afghanistan during the Russo-Afghan War.
I knew an elderly Cambodian man who lived through the regime and one of the things he told me was how he had to learn how to do things like work and drive half blind because the Khmer Rouge considered anyone with prescription glasses to be apart of the intellectual class and thus enemies of the state. If they found out you needed glasses or caught you wearing them you would be immediately executed.
There's an Asian grocery store in my city ( Spartanburg , South Carolina) owned and ran by a Cambodian family . I frequently shop there . I love their Banh Mi , Two days ago I bought a 25 pound bag of Jasmine rice and some snacks there . They were out of Thai bananas due to their Tet holiday .
"The people were not even allowed to forage for food in the countryside." Thank you for mentioning this. A lot of people have no idea how insane the Khmer Rouge was. Even in North Korea, people are allowed to go out and scavenge for food. Not in Cambodia. According to Khmer Rouge ideology, if one individual possessed any kind of food, even just a little bit of rice or a fruit they found in the jungle, it meant they broke the communist code of "equality" and were therefore liable to be punished. I've heard stories of weak and starving people being executed by suffocation (by plastic bags) merely for eating a little bit of food outside of designated communes. My own family survived by eating in secret (communes never had enough food). It makes me angry and sad to know what Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge put my family and millions of other Cambodians through. And for what? Did Cambodia become a stronger nation for it? More developed? More prosperous? And to add insult to injury, Pol Pot had a proper funeral and burial site when he died. By who, I have no idea. Every Cambodian I know hates him. Every single one, without exception. Even Mao, Stalin, and even Hitler have their admirers. Pol Pot is the only historical figure I know that's universally despised.
Nationalism, combined with the most idealistic, populistic facet of Marxism, all mixed together on steroid, created the monstrousity known as Khmer Rouge.
Pol Pot lived with the remnants of the Khmer Rouge after ousting, and was buried by them. He was something of an isolated warlord surrounded by the most extreme and those desperate enough to stay in his service. If i remember right it was a somewhat less than glorious procession and was buried under a bed of rocks or something like it. It is now a psuedo shire to him and them. I think his followers are still there as a paramilitary last i heard a peace deal was in effect tho that might be out of date info.
Pol Pot could have basically stayed in power if he hadn't ordered his troops to attack the Vietnamese border and storm into Vietnamese villages, killing and raping the innocents for no reason than to serve Pol Pot's delusion of a great Khmer empire. Vietnam tried to resolve the conflict using diplomatic channels, specifically through the UN, but to no avail as most of the security council members were supporting Pol Pot's regime at the time. The breaking point for the Vietnamese was the Ba Chuc Village Massacre, where 3000 civilians were brutally gunned and hunted down like animals by the Khmer Rouge, Hanoi knew peace had never been a choice to deal with the barbaric government in Cambodia, so they quickly mobilized the army, caling back battle hardened veterans of the Vietnam war, using both firepower and tactical superiority to sweep through Cambodia and reached Phnom Penh in just half a month. In short, Pol Pot dug a grave for himself and his regime when he decided to attack Vietnam.
@@haushkiy You don't understand politics and the regime at all. From a madman who fantasized about his strength was beaten to hide and hide in Thailand. From being the most powerful of the demons to obediently dying in bed, it's an indelible disgrace
What the Khmer Rouge did is unfortunately not taught or even wide known today. Even at the time, many prominent Western socialists denied the genocide, saying the atrocities were either greatly exaggerated or American propaganda. Noam Chomsky was one of them. I think the important takeaway for us here in the West is that we are not immune to such barbarity. Any ideology, especially those promising utopianism or espouse violent solutions, should be looked at with a heavy dose of critical thinking.
critical thinking is a rare skill and is not being taught in schools in the west for a reason. People who ask questions or are skeptical get in the way of evil.
@@s0nnyburnett critical thinking is thought everywhere, but only to turn you into either a pothead, a communist, an anarchist, a feminist, a neo-n*zi, a neo-fascist, or any other idea where you get enclosed to, different to the previous you had.
If your solution to unprovoked and ongoing violence against you is either diplomatic or democratic in nature, then it would be more expedient to dig your own grave and simply wait for your enemy to come and give you a high-speed lobotomy.
I've been to the S21 Tuol Sleng museum myself and seen the checker floored rooms, the rusty bed frames and the torture devices that were used displayed in clear cases. Even after all these years, the blood stains are still there. They also had boards upon boards of pictures showing each victim that was held there... To think that people were tortured and even died in there many years ago is a truly terrifying thought to say the least....
I went there around 6 years old for a trip, more than 15 years ago. Just the look of the prison from the outside was so terrifying. I guess children are more spiritual, bc I genuinely felt like the suffering there was still alive. It was hard to even stand up from the bus seat. Until today, I still remember the feeling from that trip.
why terrifying? people die anyways, idk whats this big fuss about people killing people, killing has been since first humans so i dont see problem at all
Khi bộ đội Việt Nam tiến vào S21, chỉ còn 22 người sống sót trong tổng hơn 25.000 người, polpot giết 25.000 người, và giwof trẻ campuchia bảo Việt Nam giết hahaha
A large amount of the high ranking Khmer Rouge are now rather wealthy of of gemstones that their former soldiers dig through minefields to find. Almost nobody was sent to trial for what they did.
These guys were complete monsters. One of the reasons why Vietnam invaded them was because the khmer went into a Vietnamese village and murdered around 3000 people. May their victims never be forgotten.
@@thatperformer3879if we are talking about unrelated stuff. It's pretty ironic for US to support colonial france during the Vietcong war for independent against colonial France considering their history.
Vietnam actually ended all that by conquering Cambodia. After all those years fighting imperial Japan and western powers, they even managed to take over Cambodia and fight chinese troops back in the north of Vietnam. They're amazing.
Quân đội Trung Quốc đánh Việt Nam để cứu Khmer đỏ . chế độ mà Trung Quốc nuôi dưỡng để sát hại người Campuchia. Nhưng Trung Quốc đã thất bại khi tấn công Việt Nam và phải rút quân
My mother had to endure this horrid regime. She told me stories on how she feared for her life every day. It truly horrible what she had to go through, and thankful for everything I have thanks to her
@@DegnaDings I still don't understand how people can literally watch their friends, family, and neighbors getting killed and not rise up with anger, or refuse to work.
After America failed in Vietnam. China conflicts with the Soviet Union. American capitalists and Chinese communists joined hands to deal with the Soviet Union and Vietnam. China promised the US to teach Vietnam a lesson and isolate the Soviet Union. China fascinated Pol Pot, provided weapons, and trained the Khmer Rouge army to fight Vietnam. At the same time, China invaded Vietnam from Vietnam's northern border. China's plans were very sinister, forcing Vietnam to fight two battlefields at the same time: Viet - Campot war and Viet - China war 1979. The US tried to send aid to Pol Pot across the Thai border. The US and China both attacked Vietnam on the political and diplomatic front, both calling on the world to boycott Vietnam for its acts of aggression. At that time, Vietnam was isolated in the UN international arena. The Khmer Rouge genocide regime supported by the US and China has a seat on the United Nations Security Council. Don't talk about communism or capitalism. The evil nature lies in bloodthirsty politicians
My parents and their families had to live through this. My dad remembers more than my mom did, and suffers terrible PTSD from living through this. Both of my parents lost a lot of family members...
I'm sorry to hear that, but I have to wonder why they and the other 99% of people in their country put up with it. I understand being afraid but if you are starving to death anyways, why not take a chance to fight for something greater?
I remember that Haing Ngor who was a medical professional later turned actor survived this horrible incident. But during that time he lost his wife & unborn child. He along with his niece moved to the US after that incident. Haing also later stared in the movie TKF, which he got an Academy Award for.
I’ve heard of his untimely passing to. It’s sad how lost is life in that incident. He deserved a more prosperous & peaceful life after going through that tragic event.
what funny is, he move to USA without knowing USA support and funding this Khmer Rouge regime The United States (U.S.) voted for the Khmer Rouge and the Khmer Rouge-dominated Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) to retain Cambodia's United Nations (UN) seat until as late as 1993, long after the Khmer Rouge had been mostly deposed by Vietnam during the 1979 U.S. support for the Khmer Rouge guerrillas in the 1980s was "pivotal" to keeping the organization alive, and was in part motivated by revenge over the U.S. defeat during the Vietnam War.
@@tylerbozinovski427 Many former Khmer Rouge are still alive today. There's an infamous district in Cambodia called Anlong Veng that's full of former Khmer Rouge soldiers, officers, etc. They still live there isolated and ostracized from the rest of Cambodia, but they no longer hold any power. But that's just the overt stuff. The truth is that MOST former Khmer Rouge live everywhere in Cambodia among ordinary Cambodians, but they will never tell anyone. They are your neighbors, your shopkeeper, your rice farmer and local fisherman. They will never be identified because they will take their secrets to the grave, but every Cambodian knows there's always a possibility that someone they know was a former Khmer Rouge.
As a Vietnamese, I am very proud of the Vietnamese People's Army. My country has a saying about my people's army: Go when the people remember, stay the people love. Take the meaning of the fierce victory, the intellect triumphs over the fierce. Do not take the needle or thread of the people. If you want to take something from the people, you have to pay. That is why our People's Army won the four or five permanent members of the United Nations and has the support of the people everywhere.
I've watched a documentary about Pol Pot about a year ago and i nearly shed tears. Dude was cruel to not only men adults but also women and children. He targeted intellectuals and anybody who he saw that they were a threat to his rule.
A few years back I visited the killing fields on a trip through Vietnam and Cambodia. One of the most sobering experiences of my life. Almost no one there that day so it was eerily silent and, in a strange way, also very peaceful. The killing tree is mind numbing. It’s decorated so beautifully now but listening to the headset I was given explaining what it had been used for made my knees go rubbery. I’ll never forget that place.
The "Killing Tree" was named Khmer soldier use infants and children's as axe on the tree. When the child died, they will throw it into the pit that they dug. That's enough to make my mind go very mad to the point that nearly destroyed my apartment. It was a dreaded sight and thing to hear. I pray to the children's that fall victim apon those barbaric bastards
Simple History, I am glad you added this video. I am Cambodian and people don’t talk about this usually. My great grandma died to this, because she was rich and the Khmer Rouge found out. Thank you. My grandpa on my dad’s side fought against Pol Pot’s army in the civil war, but they lost so he had to change his name. Sadly he died in 2021.
The history will always be an insult to the Cambodian. The first author I read about Cambodia history was an author confused between the Mandarin and Chinese. He simply classified them all as the Chinese. His name is Kimmo Kiljunen author of Kampuchea the Decade of Genocide. 300 to 400 pages of confusion, today I know he was as confused as most Khmer. The second author written many books about Cambodia history and one of his main subject was Cambodia education backwardness. He blamed on the French for Cambodia education backwardness and this proof he was completely ignorance about Cambodia and Southeast Asia history. He was simply a Vietnamese plagiarizer. The French didn't just ignored Cambodia education system but ignored its entire Southeast Asia colony education system. The French did open school for the brightest and smartest but none come from Laos or Khmer ethnic group. The French did attempted to educated the children of the Monarchies but evident suggest they were all been intellectual subverted. Another author painting a child psychology about Pol Pot got separated from his parents at a very young age and everyone was riding on his bandwagon. The most significant evidences given to us reader was a reporter name Philip Short. His book "Pol Pot The History of Nightmare", revealed some truth by his brother Suong about how his grandfather was killed by the French. Suong can claimed whatever he like but only those know Cambodia history can revealed the real truth. He claimed his grandfather was killed by the French, only 23 years after Khmer had to run to mountain and forest to survived on roots and leaves, which he claimed his grandfather experienced. Is his grandfather stupid enough to desired a returning to an era, when Khmer had to hide, eat leaves and roots to survive to make him rebelled against French or his grandfather was actually working for the Mandarin from Hue, Vietnam? Who was the Mandarin? They were the Chu-Han, the governing language of Hue, Vietnam. They took controlled of Cambodia and made Ang Chan II and his daughter as a puppet. Most of the Chu-Han descendant still blaming on Sihanouk but in reality. Sihanouk was never ready to take Cambodia independent from the French because the Mandarin still controlled most of Cambodia administration even 90 years under the French colony. He was forced to stole the independent from the Chu-Han. 90 percent of Cambodia history were still tell by the Chu-Han and their descendant. The best example of them all was Khieu Samphan. He was the son of the Chu-Han. Without mastering the Chu-Han, his father Khieu Long will never able to get a job as a judge. Those falsely classified as his moderate faction such as Hou Yuon, Hu Nim and Ti Ol were actually the people without any link to the Chu-Han and they were all killed.
Everything in the film didn't tell too much about who was the killer. My reference point to some of historic event happened in Cambodia pretty similar to the Khmer Rouge given by Philips Short. Chapter 1 in his book "Pol Pot The History of Nightmare" tell some of Cambodia Calamities and I give the French the credit for rescuing Cambodia. My trivia questions for those interest in Cambodia history base on source from Philips Short's book. If the Khmer had to run into the mountain and forest to live on roots and leaves then would these people produced offspring with the education to run the Country? If the Khmer wasn't the people running Cambodia then who were the people running Cambodia? Was the people running Cambodia taking order from Beijing, China or Hue, Vietnam. Above are some of the most important question for those interest in Cambodia history. Remember, from 1802 to 1954, almost zero Khmer running Cambodia governing body. Most officials running Cambodia were either promoted from Hue, Vietnam or Bangkok, Thailand. There children continued to run Cambodia and blending themselves as Khmer. I cannot make too much sense with a few sentences but point to the direction of true paradigm. Do you know Hua Goufeng? If you don't know Hua Goufeng, then you don't know anything about China and Cambodia relationship. The Khmer Rouge was a perfect genocide. Most books and sources continued to insulting us just because we were psychologically subverted and didn't have the time to research about our history.
*Nhưng khi Việt Nam giúp đỡ Campuchia chấm dứt chế độ diệt chủng PonPol, Campuchia giờ hòa bình và dần phát triển thì nhiều thanh niên Campuchia quay ra nói xấu Việt Nam, đúng là vô ơn.*
@@thepjpodcast *Lịch sử không nói dối, thời điểm Polpot lộng hành, giết, tàn sát hàng nghìn người dân vô tội Campuchia lúc đó US làm gì? liên hợp quốc làm gì? Tất cả đều quay lưng mặc dân Campuchia đói khát và chết, chỉ có Việt Nam là nhảy vào đám Polpot để đánh chúng, ông bạn hay nhìn thẳng vào lịch sử và thừa nhận, đừng suy diễn.*
my uncle (He is actually my grandmothers younger brother, but my family sees him as an uncle) escaped the Khmer Rouge. He was taken to an indoctrination camp as a child, but after trying to steal food was sentenced to be executed. One of the daughters of the camp generals took pity on him and untied him from the tree and gave him directions on how to escape, and he was reunited with his family (My grandparents) in the USA after my grandmother discovered he was still alive. The rest of my grandmother's family was not as fortunate. They were promised for their possessions to returned to them if they came back to their home (They were boarding a ship for the US). They returned, and were shot down by the Khmer Rouge on a field. My grandpa, who was an army general, got as many people as he could on his ship and headed to America, just hours before the Khmer Rouge would arrive and burn the town.
My grandpa was a Vietnam Vet and I remember as a kid we watched an older movie, I don't remember the name of it right now. But it was about a guy that escaped the killing fields, and listening to my grandpa talk about Pol Pot and how evil he was. One part of the movie I remember was with a group of young kids and there was a chalk board with a stick figure family drawn on it, and one of the kids erased the part of the figures holding hangs, showing the family needed to be dissolved and the other kids and leaders in the room cheered.
That's the plan of the US Democrat party . They wish to destroy family , destroy culture , destroy religion , destroy gender lines , disarm the people , and rewrite history .
The movie you described is probably 1984’s “The Killing Fields,” with Haing Ngor, a real life survivor of Pol Pot’s regime, playing the main character.
You’re welcome! One scene from that movie I’ll always remember is Ngor’s character stumbling upon a literal field of decomposing corpses in a marsh as far as the eye can see…
As a Burmese whose family and relatives suffered under the Junta, and as I have a Cambodian best friend, I can emphasize with the Cambodians, the hardships and cruelty they faced are similar to the 8888 uprising. Almost every thing is the same between Ne Win and Pol Pot, both were ruthless, cold, heartless and greedy dictators. I myself wouldn't want to be one when I dream and do become the future president of Myanmar, hats off to you Cambodian people, I respect you 100% Love, S.
@@hillerm yeah. I learned during my visit in Cambodia before the pandemic that intellectuals during that era needs to burn their diplomas or any proof that they are educated just to ensure their safety. 😢
This is the reason why Cambodian American men like me are 2nd amendment absolutists, you can’t enslave us if we have guns to fight back. My grandpa was executed after the war because he had fought on the side of the Khmer Republic. My mom survived all 4 years of slavery by not standing out.
This is facts, my father, grandfather, and everyone else in my family strongly urged to me to train firearms and to serve in the military for a few years to ensure I can fight back if it came to it once more, in his words, “rather die fighting than die running or tortured”
My descendents were brought to their knees and killed. I live my life in America, ever grateful to my mother and her relatives that survived the journey over. Equality in guns = Equality in humanity. I rather die fighting than sacrificing any freedom. Without them, It will always lead back to the nightmare our people went through.
I had a university professor who lived in the immediate aftermath of the Khemer Rouge , he at times shared stories that his family and others had shared with him about living under the regime it was eye opening. Professor Un you were my favorite teacher .
@@lordmarco not sure how israel is relevant to the US being the devil of the world for 70+ years. sure israel is an ally to the clowns but the head of the snake is the US.
My grandparents fled to America and had a big family They still went to visit for my great grandmas funeral in 2014 My family also went to visit They say the country is still beautiful but you can tell war had an effect on this country
@@SaretGnasoh That's what sucks even more. The USA supported the Khmer Rouge into overthrowing the pro-North Vietnamese government in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. So technically the US is indirectly responsible for the atrocities. And this is a common pattern observed whenever the US meddles in affairs of third-world countries, they get even more brutal.
@@SaretGnasoh evidence? Why don't Vietnam hate the US now? Because Vietnam is a settler state just the US killed all indigenous Champas and Montagnards
@@SaretGnasohh you mean the Wikipedia allegations? The murderers were ultimately communists and its evilness is solely on pol pot and Khmer rogue To blame america is so dumb 😂 More anti American pig slop
I first heard about this from my dad when I was a kid. I told him why there is so many skulls in a Cambodian museum. He also used to work for a Cambodian chef who owns a restaurant in France. That time, his boss managed to escape but his family were unable to run and were gunned down while trying to cross the border to Thailand. He eventually settled in France. His boss is comfortable to share his backstory but always shed tears when do so.
My dad’s old coworker had escaped Cambodia with her family when she was a kid, by boat if I remember correctly. There wasn’t enough room for everyone so her father stayed behind. She never saw him again. My dad asked about him once when he saw the man’s picture on her desk and she immediately started sobbing. 😢
Red Khmer: *attacks Vietnam* Vietnam: *fights back* China: "Omg Vietnam is invading Cambodia, we must teach them a lesson by attacking their border and invading their islands." 🙃
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." The problem is bureaucrats 100 miles away don't have the slightest idea what your abilities are, so they either end up enabling laziness or (as is the case here) slaving people to death.
Imagine if they had excel spreadsheets? No, really. I'm not making fun of the matter. Bureaucrats see you as a number already. Imagine if all they saw were just numbers on a screen? The main problem with far left ideologues is that they never ever think the problem is the ideology, the leaders, the the regime or a combination thereof. It's always foreign sabotage or worst of all, people not commited to the ideology enough. That's where khmer rouges, holodomors, and great leap forwards come from.
@@theyeening Yes, but this problem does not just apply to any one particular brand of socialism. This is a problem with command style economies in general.
@@cptndunsel3364 Most problems planned economies used to have in the past would be alleviated today with inclusion of computers into them. Read about Project Cybersyn and its modern legacy.
When my professor (who lived in China under Mao) first told me about this group, I got one of my first looks at how destructive Communism is, no matter who applies it.
By nature communism seems to fall because the wolf's teeth are shed. The only possible good communism always inevitably falls to tyranny and ego or capitalism as people get the freedom for choice
Vietnam: Hey world, I defeated this horrible regime which has killed a third of its own population! World: How terrible! No one will play with you anymore!
Fun fact: in the 70's Henry Kissinger gave the Thai foreign minister a message from the US government for the Khmer Rouge: "Tell the Cambodians we will be friends with them. They are murderous thugs but we will not let that stand in our way" After the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia and overthrew the Khmer Rouge the US channeled funds and arms to the Khmer Rouge rebels that held on to pockets of the country, and made overtures to the Chinese asking them to support the Khmer Rouge. Until 1993 the US voted every year at the UN for the Khmer Rouge to retain Cambodia's UN seat.
They love communism, yet they use capitalist products, food and services. The Philippines has an infamous amount of faux socialists, especially in the state run universities and colleges.
Khmer Rouge had the backing of both China and the USA, both countries have a lot to answer for when it comes to the crimes that occurred in Cambodia. Well done for Vietnam for realising what was happening and bringing an end to it.
I am not Cambodian, but I’d like to send my condolences to all people who lost their dear-loved ones during this awful period… It just saddens me as I keep seeing comments of people telling they lost someone during the Khmer Rouge regime 🖤🕊 May them Rest In Peace I’d like to show my respect to those who survived this regime in Cambodia too, and I wish them the best ❤️💪
The whole world owes Vietnam an apology for overthrowing the Khmer Rouge, literally most of the world including the US was on their side long before the truth came out, even if the Vietnamese were no better
Yeah, attempts at getting the rest of the world to send humanitarian aid was pretty much entirely blocked by the USA, which were still pretty salty about Vietnam
yea we shouldn't criticize Vietnam for invading in 1979, but cut me a break Vietnam isn't innocent they're the ones who trained the Khmer Rouge in the first place, not only that but the Vietcong using Cambodian land was the whole reason that the civil war started. They shouldn't be praised for cleaning up a mess they made.
Vietnam was also the reason Pol Pot got his power. They dragged the Cambodian to their Vietnam war by Ho Chi Minh trail, which lead to the American bombing the Cambodian countryside, destabilized the country.
My family and I fled Cambodia in 1979 to come to the US. I had a chance to go back in 1997 and visit S21, now known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. It's by far one of the scariest, depressing and saddest place i've ever visited. Many of the rooms still contain blood soaked mattresses where the victims were tortured on and torture contraptions and how they were used.. There are also pictures of the victims on many of the walls.
About time this video was made. I've been waiting for this for so long! I actually know some people who escaped from there, with one story being that one of them lost their father. Another case is when one almost got proscecuted and 'processed' because he could speak French.
I visited the killing fields. They didnt execute the people with bullets as shown in the video. To save cost, they actually just use the the farming tools on the head, as evident on the skulls found. Can also watch award winning film The Killing Fields to have a feel of what happened in that era.
As a Vietnamese this is truth during Ba Chúc Massacre the Khmer Rouge used machete, bayonet or Vietnamese farming tool to execute 3000 innocent villagers to save bullets.
He actually removed any progress that there was and set them back who knows how many years. Such utter brutality and stupidity should never have happened. I don't know how soldiers could just follow these orders and not fight back.
They were likely manipulated or brainwashed to the point of being heavily indoctrinated, or their families were threatened with death Edit: That’s likely why so many soldiers followed the orders
My grandma in Law she used to live in Cambodia during pol pot. She was also the daughter of a high-ranking Government official whom was poisoned, she had to pretend and act like the men that poisoned him, didn’t and she would tell me and my mom about the story of living in Cambodia during pol pot in summary, it was absolutely horrible.
Cambodia feels dark. Its a strange sensation. Outside Siam Riep the place just has a malaise about it. S21 and the killing fields are on another level. Its the kind of evil you can feel oozing from the place. I hated traveling any distance in Cambodia its still a wreck.
I have been to the memorial site of the massacre committed by the Khmer in Ba Chuc district, There are hundreds of skulls of victims on display, even babies, my parents were almost killed 😢
Thank for making this video. I’m a Cambodian myself. I can tell all of you that this was the historic traumatizing for all Cambodians. Decades later, we are healing, and we have been healing until today. I recommend all of you to visit Cambodia at least once in a lifetime. The country is dramatically developed. People are friendly and helpful. I bet you can see people smiling and chitchatting even during the traffic congestion. I’m opening for all the tourists to visit my country.
@@mirceazaharia2094we’re doing much better but most of the time, they won’t really talk about that part of the history at least on a daily basis. You can definitely tell that it traumatized them and they only mentioned what you’ve known and not much of their own personal experiences. My grandparents are a survivor of this mass genocide and I don’t think I’ve heard them go into much details about they’ve endured in it. There’s still a long way to go but we’re getting there
Im glad that Im one of those tourist choose to visit Phom Pehn before the pandemic and learned your history. I'm glad that I visited the Killing Fields and S21 because I believed, its a way to pay respect for those who died during that era. With love, from your ASEAN Brother, PH 🇵🇭
I’m Vietnamese and some of my family didn’t make it back during the Vietnam War. My dad fought in the Cambodian war, he was deployed in Laos to fight against the Khmer Regime. But reading some of these comments is really heart breaking. I have a friend who is Cambodian too and we became best friend right off the bat. The only word he knew in Vietnamese were “Du Ma” and it means the F-bomb in English. He told me his Grandpa got taken by the Khmer regime, he said he can’t own any dogs cuz his mom lost her dog during the Cambodian genocide and was heartbroken and she didn’t want to go through that whole stage again.
I went to S-21 and the killing fields last year, it’s surreal seeing all the photos and the cells etc. I got to meet one of the 7 survivors who was like 90+ and it’s just unbelievable what these people went through
After Pol Pot's bout of ultranationalism spilled into Vietnam, with the occupation of Phu Quoc island in 1975 and most infamously the Ba Chuc massacre 1978 that saw almost all victims shot or beheaded, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and ended his genocidal regime. My uncle was there, 2nd Division of the 4th Army that entered Phnom Penh. When he arrived in Phnom Penh and when he eventually left, people were cheering for him. And what we got at the end was invasion by the PRC followed by a border skirmish lasting until 1991, and tightened embargo by the United States. All the while the Thai provided safe haven for the Khmer Rouge as they reorganised across the border (with British training for a time, no less) to wage a guerrilla war back into Cambodia with little repercussion. Meanwhile Noam Chomsky sat in cafes in Boston writing articles stating his support for Pol Pot's genocide. While Cambodia is on fire, Pol Pot naturally went on a secret tour from 1985 to 1988 to Beijing to receive cancer treatment. And once international pressure forced Vietnam occupation force to retreat from Cambodia, a UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia was established and operated in such a comedically incompetent fashion that almost broke the new post-war Cambodia as Khmer Rouge intensified its attack right up until well after the first election. Reality really is more absurd than fiction.
Bruh, it looks like the UN wanted the Khmer Rouge back, those people are really delusional. If they wanted to be gamers they should game with themselves first. Now that i read that Thailand gave refuge to Pol Pot, i'm starting to vomit.
As a Vietnamese-American, I can see that the Vietnamese liberating Cambodia is one of the good things that the Vietnamese communists did EDIT: But I wish that Vietnam wasn’t communist, instead it should be a democracy way different than South Vietnam EDIT 2: WTF HAPPENED TO MY REPLIES-
Man, the Vietnamese communists defeated the fascists Japanese and Americans, they brought peace, independence, democracy and socialism to Vietnam and now, because of socialism, Vietnam has a powerful economy
@@ChicChicMusic6673 They brought democracy to Vietnam? It's a one party system, like Iran and China, which means any candidate who runs has to be approved by those already in power. That's not a democracy.
Us Army vet married to a Lao. My wife’s aunts son married a Viet lady last year. I got to meet her dad. He was in the first invasion of Cambodia. He was shot 2 times in his arm. I have met lot of people from a lot of conflicts. The only one I have not yet is the Falklands war.
I live in another city nearby Ba Chuc village in Vietnam, there was a massacre done by the Khmer Rouge. Seeing how brutal they executed people just freak me out. My history teacher even told us a rumour about there was a "super soldier" project which makes humans have no mercy, they are just killing others even their comrades. I dont believe the rumour but, it shows how people hard to believe how brutal the Khmer Rouge was.
The Khmer Rogue had children take part in executions and encouraged them to torture animals for fun. The idea was to create a merciless and sadistic soldier for the revolution.
My friends parents escaped cambodia. We all knew this growing up but later when we were teens his dad pulled up his shirt and showed us scars from bullets in his back. Him and his wife were escaping on a small boat when someone started shooting at them with an ak. He was hit twice and his wife once. They floated around for hours bleeding. His dad was barely hanging on and would have bled out but his wife held her shirt to his wound. They were rescued by a fishing boat and eventually made it to the US. They had 5 kids who are all doing fantastic. Ive met few people who know more about US history and truly appreciate everything they have worked so hard for.
A man who was Vietnamese veteran told me the most haunting thing until now seeing a soldier kill a wound soldier in that time . Many Khmer's bomb and mine only wound people, it explodes half the body or foot, just let them bleeding and another one have to take care for him and weakening, slow down the team. So wound one choose to sacrifice by telling his teammate shot him. Most the case the Vietnamese soldier choose rather die than affect other..The most painful thing they never forgot
Those comrades' sacrifices were the absolute examples of heroism - to willingly lay down their life for the others, should the situation require. Men like them keep our nation safe and free, thus, let us pay respect to all of our fallen soldiers.
I’m a Cambodian. I’ve visited S-21( AKA SOR-21 in Cambodia). It’s a former high school. I’ve saw the killing field. There is plenty of cloths which belong to the victims and bullet shells remains there.
"Well, you'll work harder with a gun in your back For a bowl of rice a day Slave for soldiers 'til you starve Then your head is skewered on a stake" Dead Kennedys, Holiday in Cambodia
I am a Simple History channel’s fan from Cambodia, I really appreciate for today’s video and as my generation we only heard and learned about this regime from book or our parents and grandparents memories. May the soul of civilians, prisoners, soldiers who died during the regime rest in peace.
I am a Cambodian. My grandpa have events from this, he survived and he was a teenager in that time. It’s actually true he told me that, he actually have a drawing of him and his brother have their hands up and the soldiers have their guns pointing at them so this is actually a true story not kidding.
Fact: Kampuchea has a very scary anthem. It is called Hail to the Glorious April 17th, and it even mentions blood flooding Cambodia in the lyrics! Worst of all, it was played to drown out screams of people being beaten and shot to death in the killing fields. Listen to it at your own risk if you dare!
You should have mentioned Malcolm Caldwell as well. The idiot constantly defended Pol Pot and his massacres until he was killed by them hours after meeting Pol Pot in his visit to Cambodia.
Another heartbreaking story There's a particular tree in the "Killing Field". This tree holds a special place in every mothers' hearts because: their newborn babies' heads or infants would be bashed into that said tree, killing them.
What I find painfully ironic about Pol Pot is that he was everything he was against. He was a Vietnamese minority, he was a Buddhist, he wore glasses from time to time, he spoke French. Everything he was against he was.
I think you mistaken his ethnicity mate, Pol pot were of half Khmer and Chinese descent and his father were a rich farmer and his mother were a pious Buddhist and tried to taught her children included Pol Pot Buddhism ironically.
This is what I’ve been waiting for. My mother and father had been through all of the mess. And after watching the movie about Cambodia at my school, it was....... beautiful but turned into the horrible during the middle of it. Rest In Peace to all those people who had been slaughtered there, including my grandparents. At least Cambodia was liberated by the Vietnamese forces, and I thank them for that, and it’s slowly healing itself. Well as of now, Cambodia is not in a good now because of the crooked prime minister, accidents of people getting killed in car crashes, and everything else. Though Cambodia was healed, the wound still remains. I just there’s changes to Cambodia again so it could go back to the way it used to be.
The history will always be an insult to the Cambodian. The first author I read about Cambodia history was an author confused between the Mandarin and Chinese. He simply classified them all as the Chinese. His name is Kimmo Kiljunen author of Kampuchea the Decade of Genocide. 300 to 400 pages of confusion, today I know he was as confused as most Khmer. The second author written many books about Cambodia history and one of his main subject was Cambodia education backwardness. He blamed on the French for Cambodia education backwardness and this proof he was completely ignorance about Cambodia and Southeast Asia history. He was simply a Vietnamese plagiarizer. The French didn't just ignored Cambodia education system but ignored its entire Southeast Asia colony education system. The French did open school for the brightest and smartest but none come from Laos or Khmer ethnic group. The French did attempted to educated the children of the Monarchies but evident suggest they were all been intellectual subverted. Another author painting a child psychology about Pol Pot got separated from his parents at a very young age and everyone was riding on his bandwagon. The most significant evidences given to us reader was a reporter name Philip Short. His book "Pol Pot The History of Nightmare", revealed some truth by his brother Suong about how his grandfather was killed by the French. Suong can claimed whatever he like but only those know Cambodia history can revealed the real truth. He claimed his grandfather was killed by the French, only 23 years after Khmer had to run to mountain and forest to survived on roots and leaves, which he claimed his grandfather experienced. Is his grandfather stupid enough to desired a returning to an era, when Khmer had to hide, eat leaves and roots to survive to make him rebelled against French or his grandfather was actually working for the Mandarin from Hue, Vietnam? Who was the Mandarin? They were the Chu-Han, the governing language of Hue, Vietnam. They took controlled of Cambodia and made Ang Chan II and his daughter as a puppet. Most of the Chu-Han descendant still blaming on Sihanouk but in reality. Sihanouk was never ready to take Cambodia independent from the French because the Mandarin still controlled most of Cambodia administration even 90 years under the French colony. He was forced to stole the independent from the Chu-Han. 90 percent of Cambodia history were still tell by the Chu-Han and their descendant. The best example of them all was Khieu Samphan. He was the son of the Chu-Han. Without mastering the Chu-Han, his father Khieu Long will never able to get a job as a judge. Those falsely classified as his moderate faction such as Hou Yuon, Hu Nim and Ti Ol were actually the people without any link to the Chu-Han and they were all killed.
*Tôi đã đọc nhiều bình luận của người Campuchia trong video này và nhiều video khác nữa nói về chế độ diệt chủng Polpot, chỉ duy nhất bạn là người cảm ơn Việt Nam, thật buồn vì thanh niên Campuchia ngày nay luôn đổ lỗi cho Việt Nam về mọi chuyện và không quan tâm đến những gì xảy ra trong quá khứ, tôi cũng cảm ơn bạn đã khách quan khi nhìn nhận vấn đề. Còn về chế độ chính trị ở Campuchia bây giờ tuy còn nhiều hạn chế nhưng Campuchia đang ổn định và phát triển, nếu thay thế người lãnh đạo mới thì chắc gì xã hội ổn định, ngay cả Mỹ hàng ngày vẫn có xả súng, giết người, cướp bóc đấy thôi, chẳng có chế độ nào là hoàn hảo cả.*
In the end, Pol Pot's thugs died of old age, not execution. The trial of leaders of Khmer Rough was very difficult because at that time, Khmer Rough was supported by great powers such as China, the United States, the West,... Justice for those who were wrongly killed in the regime Khmer Rough degrees were not enforced. It was also because of sending troops to overthrow the Khmer Rouge, Vietnam was entangled in the War with China. The accusations about Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia caused Vietnam to be isolated, surrounded, embargoed, and exhausted the Vietnamese economy. Currently, a large percentage of Cambodians are still slandering Vietnam even though Vietnam has sacrificed a lot to rescue them from the Polpot regime. Hopefully the Khmer people will always be wise and self-reliant, China's investment in Cambodia is good, but be careful and wise, because China has also helped Khmer Rough kill millions of Cambodians. Vietnam has also learned a lot from this war, if there is a similar incident in Cambodia in the future, I believe that Vietnam will no longer act to rescue like the 20th century.
The Vietcong 🇻🇳 (Vietnam communists) was a close friend of Polpot, the same communist, equally evil. Viet Cong used to exterminate hundreds of thousands of people in land reform and the Mau Than 1968, just like Polpot. Vietcong is extremely evil Hitler, Ho Chi Minh 🇻🇳 (Vietnam communist), Polpot are 3 in 13 cruel ditators of the world
I buy some Asian groceries from a Cambodian owned store here in Spartanburg , South Carolina . There's a lot of Cambodian , Laotian , and HMong people in Upstate South Carolina . I support you and them with my hard earned dollars .
it's sad listening to the "golden era" of cambodian music (sinn sisamouth, ros sereysothea, yol aularong, ect) and seeing how much cambodia was growing before the khmer rouge
@@raptorfromthe6ix833 actually, and speaking as a Singaporean, we owe our inspirarion more to the legendary cities of Singapura and Temasek. But tye Khmer kingdom definitely had a presence in Southeast Asian history
The depths of depravity that humans can reach will never fail to disgust me. This was such an abhorrent time period. Such cruel methods of torture performed on innocent men, women, and children..
Here's an outrageous fact: There is one man today, who approved of the bombing raids on Cambodia during the Vietnam War. And its because of his approval and encouragement of the secret bombings in Cambodia, it led to the Khmer Rouge rising to power. And that man's name was Henry Kissinger. Kissinger is also still alive and just celebrated his 100th birthday recently
@@someaussieguy140But he did share the blame, because it was the bombing raids on Cambodia, that the Khmer Rouge managed to galvanize enough support in order to come to power
My grandmother told me how she survived 4 days and 4 nights under the regime. She left Thailand because of corruption, and then almost died in the khmer rouge. She said people would be kidnapped in the middle of the night and tortured within earshot. On her last night she was running from cpk forces while getting shot at thai military in the confusion. With my aunt being a newborn. Shoutout to yeay
To be honest, it was the US government that brought Pol Pot to power to tackle the Communists. The US has always supported dictators to facilitate their geopolitical and corporate interests. This is in the guise of spreading freedom and democracy.
1. That does NOT excuse the evil that the communists did. 2. If true, then why on earth aren’t we stripping vast power from the government? The government is evil. Defund the three letter agencies. Strip power from the federal government.
I'm Vietnamese.My country had to fight these crazy bloody evil guys.The relationship between countries is so complicate,even we are alliance,stand in the same line or have the same ideality. Therefore,the relationship between Vietnam with Chinese and Soviet is not simple as you though about.They both didn't want Vietnam to unite and independence as we was before Indochina war.They want Vietnam became another Korean,must be seperated to North and South as part of proxy war between Communism and Capitalism(especially China don't want to have a threat from their South).But we don't and never follow their order then we want to united ours country,whatever it takes.And China doesn't like what we did and they sat a plan to destroy Vietnam.Then Pol Pot and Khmer Rough was their Puppet. About Pol Pot,he went to Paris for study abroad with other future comanders like Ieng sari,Khieu Samphan.These guy followes Maolism and adored Hitler.And they had intention of reviving acient Khmer Empire which include land in VN,Laos and Thailand.They wanted to build the fundalmental communism social.They will eliminate schools,factories,hospitals and ignorance people by massrace intellectuals,everybody just do farm. That's a base for their genocide plan and attacking neighbor countries when they reached supreme power in Cambodia.They've already corrupted in their ideal while they're still in French. When they're back to Cam and join in war against US.They become Paris group in Cambodian resistance goverment then gradually promote and purged other groups to had abosolute power.Vietnamese already know how danger these guy was in 1970s cuz they provocated and attack VC army in Cambodia,however,we busy with US and Saigon at the moment. In 1975,Vietnam completed unite country,US army and Saigon escaped.And our reputation is very high in Communist countries and Indochina.This is situation that Chinese doesn't wanna happend.So they play with US,UK and Thai(about 20k communist guerrilla in Thai and they confused us will support them,however we tired after 30 years war with French and US,we need rebuid and heal consequences after war). As I said above,Pol Pot and their group is a puppet. China US,UK,Thai supported them for purpose make Vietnam continue to deep in war, make us exhausted and set plan to destroy VN after war as they did in Soviet Union and East Europe in 1991(color revolution).China wanted to constrained us,they don't want us to be strong even nowaday.They're the most enthusiasm supporter for Pol Pot.Then these guy provocated and attack west south border Vietnam and Phu Quoc island,they catch and kill many people.Thousands people was died cuz of these attacking.To be honest we don't scare those bloody guys,we tried to talk till we realized that they don't speak human language.We reported them to UN but they didn't do anything.Then we fough them and take Phnom Penh in just few months,push them to Thailand.But we have to stay in Cam in 10 years(1979-1989).Cuz SOMEONE keep their breath,and Resistance Cam Goverment was not enough power to defeat them.And Khmer rough hide in forest to continues guerrilla war.Then China-their sugar daddy attacked us in North border to TEACH US THE.LESSON and save their tiny partner.However,now our country still in one piece. After all,this is war between VN vs China and US mainly,other is just pawn.And Chinese really taugh us a lesson,but that's not the lesson they wanna taugh.That's a lesson about self to be strong,self reliance,neutral and do not trust in any Big countries.Otherwise,our blood have been shed on border in 10 year will be meaningless.
No, no they didn't. First off, Pol Pot WAS a communist. Duh. Second, the US definitely supported a lot of dictators, but Pol Pot was NOT one of them. The US supported the coalition government led by Sihanouk which was formed AFTER the Khmer Rouge was overthrown. Yes, there were Red Khmers in there, but they were not the ones taking the lead and the US's primary interest was the right-wing factions, again led by Sihanouk. Any nonsense you hear about the US supporting Pol Pot is commie revisionist nonsense. Pol Pot was so horrible that even the communists can't defend him and have to toss the blame to the west.
Sad thing is, I heard about the Khmer the first time on Top Gear, an automotive TV show whilst it was ignored in 13 years of school while ww1 and ww2 was shoved down our throats…
At that time, Vietnam, our country, had to brace itself against China attacking from the north, against the Khmer Rouge in the south, the regular army that we maintained amounted to 2 million soldiers. It was really difficult at that time. America and the whole world surrounded and embargoed us. We are very grateful to our comrades in Russia, Cuba, India and some other countries who have helped us. Now there are some young people in Cambodia who are trampling on the flag that helped their country escape the cruel regime. We are really very disappointed
Vietnam is just one of those countries that’s impossible for anyone but the natives to hold. It’s like Afghanistan, the defending force can’t fight back, so they just hide in the jungle and wait for the enemy to come for them.
My wife's family are refugees from Cambodia. She was born in the states but her two eldest brothers lived through it and you can tell they still have PTSD from it. My mother in law ended up losing 3 of her children while trying to escape
There was a Chinese restaurant that I used to go to many years ago. The manager there was from Cambodia and had managed to leave the country with his family only 4 days before the Khmer Rouge took control of the country.
I really never understood those who loves communism, and when you mention any of the communist regimes and their crimes they simply say "That wasn't real communism"
by the way, Monsoon from Metal Gear Rising was also a Khmer child escaped from Khmer Rouge Kampuchea having spent his childhood there probably explained his philosophical outlook & later life
I'd like to say that these regimes have done a massive amount of damage and our boondoggle with Vietnam if replaced with an intervention in cambodia would have cemented positive relations and I'm sad we didn't intervene
My mom is Cambodian. There’s a big community down here in Philadelphia and there’s always big food festivals. I remember I just got into the band Dead Kennedys and was singing “holiday in Cambodia” out loud at the festival but I noticed a lot of people giving me dirty looks I then realized that the chorus was just singing Pol Pot’s name over and over again
My family was able to escape Cambodia during the Vietnamese invasion. It devastated my family and I lost two aunts during what occurred there. My dad has never returned to Cambodia because of what occurred there, and he has family back in Cambodia that he doesn’t know if they survived the genocide. It’s some really heart-wrenching stuff. Thank you for covering this.
Just curious, Where did your family ended up settling? Is your family originally from Phnom Penh? Sorry for asking because I have interest in Cambodian history during the cold war. It seems that every Cambodians I interact with have lost loved ones during that period
@@wongjimmy3189 my moms side of the family was originally from Phnom Penh, I believe. They immigrated to the Philippines and then the United States. I believe that my moms grandfather was a government official from Thailand in the 50’s, but I have not been able to find solid concrete evidence or information. It’s something they don’t really talk about.
Vietnamese empire repeatedly invaded Cambodia 22 times from 1658 to 1847 killing tens of thousands forcing upon Cambodians assimilation literal depopulation the whole country but White liberals who simping Vietnam be like: who cares?
@@VienDuHoang Invasion just means going into another land that's controlled by someone else. For example, when Americans talk about the Allied invasion of Normandy, they mean it as a good thing.
