⨁ the Kingdoms sad past

 when you visit a country 

it's important to know a little of it's history

good and bad

our guide Vannak was 7 years old when his family were told

to leave their home 

he told me 60% of the population now are under 26

there are few old people left

Cambodia's story takes place only 30 years ago

it wasn't a story of war

but of widespread genocide that left the country 

crippled and maimed in a very literal sense

in 1975 the communist political party, the Khmer Rouge, 

was brought to power led by Pol Pot

in the four years they were in power, an estimated 

2 million people were killed  

the population was around 7 million

the Khmer Rouge was a group of radical French educated communists 

who believed that Cambodia should return to the old way

ignoring previous history and returning to Year Zero

 Pol Pot's tyrannical power let to the destruction of the country 

that is still being rebuilt today

under the Khmer Rouge all of the people were moved from the cities 

to the countryside to work the land

  forced to work 12 hours a day with no rest and little food  

people died from starvation and fatigue

  there was no economy, no hospitals, no education, no factories  

the Khmer Rouge wiped out entire villages

 slaughtering and burying them in mass graves  

The Killing Fields 

people were forced to work the land 

the rest were transported to prisons the worst of which was Toul Sleng {S-21}

this old high school was converted into a prison where people were 

photographed, catalogued, tortured, maimed and murdered

prominent figures that could influence society into thinking against the regime were taken here, tortured and eventually murdered

paranoia took over Pol Pot and anyone who was suspected of treason 

was sent to the prison

  he arrested the suspects and their families 

torturing them into confessing whatever they were charged with  

he ruled by fear

 the prison held 100 prisoners at a time and it is estimated around 
20, 000 people were murdered there  

only 7 survived

many prisoners from S21 prison were taken to

 the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek 

as you walk across the ground

you can see pieces of bone, clothing, shoes

revealed in the ground from recent rain

the memorial Stupa 

is filled with the skulls and bones 

of those who died here

the Khmer Rouge was still recognised by Western nations 

as the official government of Cambodia for 10 year after! 

the government put into place by the Vietnamese 

was not acknowledged so Khmer Rouge delegates attended UN meetings  

they were hiding in the jungles of Cambodia 

Pol Pot lived in hiding for 20 years before being put under house arrest  

he later died of unknown causes 

and was never held to account for the atrocities