Pol Pot: The Man Behind the Khmer Rouge
Вставка
- Опубліковано 14 тра 2024
- Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com/biographics for a 10% off on your first purchase
→Subscribe for new videos every Monday and Thursday! ua-cam.com/users/biographics...
Visit our companion website for more: biographics.org
Credits:
Host - Simon Whistler
Author - Steve Theunissen
Producer - Jack Cole
Executive Producer - Shell Harris
Business inquiries to biographics.email@gmail.com
Other Biographics Videos:
Joseph James DeAngelo: The Golden State Killer
• Joseph James DeAngelo:...
Joseph Stalin: The Red Terror
• Joseph Stalin: The Red...
Source/Further reading:
Philip Short: Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare
• Tyrants and Dictators ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot
I used to sometimes go with my ex girlfriend when she’d go to get her nails done by an older Cambodian man. I think he liked that there was a guy there to talk to so one day he started talking about his younger years under Pol Pot and it was absolutely terrifying. He had a scar from being shot and was small and feeble from growing up malnourished. It sounds like most of his family didn’t make it and he eventually was able to flee to America. In spite of all of this he was the nicest and happiest guy in the world. I’ll never forget as he was gluing on my girlfriends nails, he gave a slight smile, looked up at me and said “I used to wonder if I was going to live to see the next day. Now I get paid to hold pretty girl’s hand. This is the best country in the world.” Great guy, I miss him more than my ex.
Great guy, I miss him more than my ex.
:D
sometimes the brightest of smiles hide the saddest pair of eyes
That man deserves better. I'm glad he's doing fine
So what happened between you and your ex
Did he sleep with your girl too?
"He had trouble understanding Marx, so he started studying Stalin"
This was never going to end well...
Stalin would have pissed his pants if he saw the horrors Cambodian people experienced.
The madness of Pol Pot cannot be compared to ANY dictator ever.
What's wrong with Stalin ?
**Soviet soldiers start marching while singing Partizan's Song**
_GULAG FOR YOU ! ХАХАХАХАХАХАХАХА !_
Stalin was responsible for the Holodomor. Check that one out.
Emil not commies , tankies
"He had trouble understanding Marx" Sounds like every commie I ever met... After all if you understand Marx you shun his ideas as you would a rabid dog and thus can never be a commie.
You missed a few bits.
He invaded the unified Vietnam and massacred many Vietnamese multiple times. So the Vietnamese retaliated and invaded Cambodia. Thailand and China continued to support him despite his genocides.
Thanh Tran DANNNGGGGGGG I didn’t know my country was that revengeful and savage.
“He massacred many Vietnamese multiple times”
“So the Vietnamese retaliated and invaded Cambodia”
@@baseafterbase1048 you can look it up. When I say massacre, its entire towns and villages of thousands of people were butchered at a time, maybe they might leave 1 person behind to tell the tale of what happened... you don't do that unless you have the support and guarantee of China.
slovene ball frick
@@mostlymessingabout makes sense, seeing as china invaded vietnam not long after
R O Actually you could argue that the US played a large role in the victory of the Cambodian Communist Party. If they had not dropped bombs on Cambodia the Communists would not have had as much support.
I don't think any dictator has ever put so much effort into making their country miserable as Pol Pot did. He banned basketball, technology, doctors, all forms of entertainment, even love and pretty much anything that would make people happy. Most other infamous dictators made at least some effort to better their country but Pol Pot's only concern seemed to be maximum suffering for everyone.
Say what you like about North Korea, but Kim Jong-Un never banned basketball and is actually a big fan!
Ironies of Pol Pot's life: He had everyone with glasses killed for being "too intellectual" and "not peasant enough" yet he himself spoke French and used glasses
Santiago Machado. that Hypocrisy alone describes the brainwashed American left to a tee .
that just communism
@@lalaboards Yep. "It is wrong to do ________, unless we do it, in which case it's fine and you have no right to complain because if you do you're a bigot/racist/Nazi/white supremacist/etc."
That's such a straw man and an obvious smear. Also amusing given the fact that overwhelmingly Liberals are more drawn to intellectual pursuits like science, medicine, law, philosophy, technology etc...
@@knivesmillions2913 Liberals pursuing science when they're pushing gender ideology? Medicine when they say fat acceptance is alright and that obesity is a social construct? Law when they literally made death threats on anyone supporting Judge Kavanaugh? Philosophy when their main references are Sartre, Marx, Foucault, de Beauvoir and BS feminists like Judith Butler and Kate Millet? Technology when they whine and bitch about "evil capitalism" whilst they tweet about it in iPhone Xs? Nah mate, its the people on the right that are smart. Lefties are literally the NPC meme
I visited Cambodia around 10 years ago and it's one of the most beautiful countries i've ever been to and one of the most generous people i've ever met. But there is a psychological sadness in the people, you can see it in their eyes. Like an entire country is suffering from PTSD.
Yeah bc these types of mental illness can be passed down.. and u have a nation full of ptsd giving birth to the next generation..its gonna take longer time to heal
Having lived there my entire life, I agree. As someone who is not Khmer, but (since I have been here since I was born) was essentially accepted into the culture, they are the most generous, kind people I have come across. But there is sometimes just this air of despair that I can never relate to, like a universal and powerful understanding.
Honeymooned in Cambodia and loved the country, the people and the food.
I cried when visiting the killing fields and other places that are now tourist hot spots but it’s important to know, and not repeat, man’s inhumanity to man.
I’d like to visit again now and enjoy the Cambodian hospitality again.
I just recently came back to the Philippines from Cambodia ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and stayed at the hotel hard to believe it’s only 40 years ago all this happened.
An Idiot Western commie lover: that wasn't communism derpa derpa 🤪
"Angkor Wat told me my people could do anything, so i made them all rice farmers" (???)
😅😅😅
Stupid a...
Communism is a mind virus.
Then I killed all doctors, teachers, business owners, etc. and anyone with an education 🤦♀️
@@lukeyluke9637 right and who were the ones to support him and who were the ones to overthrow him?
My parents were able to escape his awful regime.
Really, how?
how
@@georgeefilms2625 by running and hiding fast enough, I could tell you what they did to the people they caught if you want
They tortured everyone to death, including children, the elders, and women.
For kids, they were torn apart into 2 pieces vertically
I don't remember the other methods of torturing but they're equally brutal
@@nhanuwu4444 gosh tear apart into 2 pieces vertically is disturbing
I remember visiting Cambodia over a decade ago and seeing people still refusing to wear glasses and looking at me weird because I do. There were also tons of landmine warnings. The horrors this monster unleashed. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Well, the landmine warnings will be because of the US bombings but yeah Pol Pot was an evil bastard (but so was Henry Kissinger)
Socialism is the greatest evil on this planet, sadly 100 million deaths is not enough to prove to it's idiot followers why it's bad
@@ryanbarrett8906 the landmines is because the Khmer rouge littered the countryside with thousands of landmines.
He was that bad before he gained power. The sad thing is, people gave him the rights to that power.
@@AdamSmith-gs2dvI'll have to respectfully disagree. I believe the actual figures are closer to 100 Gorillian.
I appreciate the way you treat darker subjects, respectfully but unflinchingly. It's a hard line to walk, but you do it well.
Agreed.
Good journalism.
Simon Whistler is an international treasure
The horrors of communism need to be talked about more often
Was Pol Pot psychotic or brain damaged or something? Even from the perspective of a sociopathic dictator, purging the only defense force between you and your geopolitical enemy is a shockingly stupid thing to do.
While living out in the jungles he was fascinated by the native tribes and their moneyless agrarian village societies. His next move was to apply that to the whole country. It went well as you could expect.
Lol yea the Vietnamese practically walked into the capital 😂
He definitely must have had some disfunction in his brain that caused complete lack of empathy for individuals and was therefore free to experiment with the country like a kid does in a game.
He took a page out of Stalin's book, literally... Stalin purged his senior Army Officers right before Germany invaded.
@@fukkitful Stalin purgered his senior officers yes, but Pol Pot purged his army, officers and soldiers alike, leaving very few people left to defend Cambodia. The USSR suffered in early WWII due to the lack of experienced leadership and experienced troops but they didn't lack bodies to throw into the defence.
I remember studying this in year 11 in high school. I've never heard of a more senselessly useless group. Their violence and ability to think up new and sadistic methods of death is not for the faint of heart. Absolutely heartbreaking.
Same here. Learned about pot he is sickening
Pol Pot a dictator so cruel his fellow Communists had to run him off
Pol Pot China has party capitalism. Only party members can be capitalists and make money.
EFE Man China is capitalist with a commie cover on it after Mao became a senile old man lol 😂
@EFE Man : Well china suolport pol pot too so ...
@@kaybevang536 xi is a softliner, things are slowly getting more socialist
Cottonball there still capitalist they are making lots of Muneh out of us westerners
Please don't "apologize" for the ads. Your excellent mini-docs are fantastic and much appreciated. Besides, when learning about Pol Pot, one needs a break!
Well said.
These kinds of comments keep me hopeful. :)
Dependance on advertising is problematic as it can constrict the content of videos to only things that don't offend the market.
@Ben Lane A general point, not specific to this content. Although who knows? The point is that it could be affected and compromised, and you wouldn't neccesarily know it. How many unconscious assumptions are we making that just go by unaddressed, just accepted as the norm?
Thank you. I came to say this but you have done so more eloquently.
1:00 - Chapter 1 - Early years
3:35 - Chapter 2 - Budding revolutionary
4:30 - Chapter 3 - Becoming a communist
6:30 - Chapter 4 - An independent nation
8:45 - Chapter 5 - The khmer rouge
10:45 - Chapter 6 - Seizing power
12:00 - Mid roll ad
13:20 - Chapter 7 - Reign of terror
18:00 - Chapter 8 - The final years
19:20 - Chapter 9 - Death without justice
The Khmer Rouge is the only regime I know of that murdered people exclusively for wearing glasses.
Funnily after crushing the Paris Commune (the first ever socialist society) the French army started a terror campaign against the Pariseans where they singled out people with glasses to be executed (they weirdly assumed that "intellectuals" must have started the rebellion and argued that people with glasses had to be intellectual)
The USSR also executed intellectuals, so I'm sure spectacle clad Russians were pinched
A seeing eye dog would spell doom for your whole village,and the dog would be your last meal.
School classmroom turns into a torture room
@@glorytotheaprdeathtotheufl7917 Source?
"Average student, at best, held back 2 years". Average must be really low these days if he was anywhere near close.
When I moved to the states, (I was almost 11) in middle school, people asked if I knew about “pol pot” (with the pronunciation you said) and I was so confused and asked “who?” They all thought I was stupid and didn’t know my own country’s history and started to explain it to me. Long story short, I knew who he was, just not the way American pronounced his name.
How u pronounce
Dark Matter it’s hard to type up how you’d say it, which is why it’s spell that way. If you didn’t know Khmer (the Cambodian language) you wouldn’t think to pronounce it the correct way. So here goes though pol (the ol should make the “old” so p-old) And pot (“ot” sounds like oat. So p-oat) if that make sense.
Thanks Cammy, I think I do get it now.
In spanish it has the same pronunciation, americans say it weird
Same i always heard "pole poat"
The first dictator of Equatorial Guinea, Francisco Nguema was dubbed "The Pol Pot of Africa" because he was a very brutal, murderous and demented tyrant who eclipsed even Idi Amin in terms of violent insanity. He was known to wipe out whole villages on a whim, outlawed private education, and even ordered the execution of anyone who wore glasses. It was believed that a lot of Nguema's erratic behavior was due to his heavy drug use.
During Nguema's reign of terror, Equatorial Guinea was dubbed "The Dachau of Africa", but it was mercifully brought to an end when his nephew overthrew and executed him in '79.
Angelina Jolie's *"First They Killed My Father"* is a sweeping story of the Khmer Rouge and the fictionalized account of one family's hardships.
I highly recommend it.
Believe it or not, it wasn't fiction; it originally was an account of a survivor of the regime through the eyes of Loung Ung, who was five at the time of all of this happening. I highly recommend reading it if you haven't yet!
It’s sadly not fictional, it was a very deep, and dark book but overall a good read
It was made into a movie that's on Netflix!
I would suggest you watch 'The killing fields'. It's based on real life characters and events. This is a far superior movie about the terror perpetrated by the Khmer rouge.
Nothing made by jolie is worth seeing. Aa far as I know she is a raging communist supporter herself. These people are the reason that communism thrived and devastated so many poor countries.
I lost my 2 grand-aunts and grandfather to this regime.
I'm sorry 😟
Sorry to hear that, but why anyone would like that comment 🤷🏿♂ I have been to the killing fields in Cambodia. Shocking stuff. The devil is real...
@@ybbok I think it's more acknowledgment than "like." I bet if there was a sad button, it would be pressed.
I so sorry to hear that...may they rest in peace.
So sorry for your loss. I can't even begin to imagine the horrors your family and other Cambodians went through.
I asked and you delivered. Thank you so much.
But we can't forget the bone chilling words spoken to the people- "To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss." That and the fact that the people were expected to harvest all the rice you said, but if they were caught eating a single grain, they were killed on the spot. Most of the rice was exported.
I heard a story where people stomach were cutted open if they were caught or suspected eating.....
My grandmother gave birth to my mom in 1976 one year in Khmer Rouge. And my father witness his mother killed by Khmer Rouge. Mental Illness, especially, PTSD is a big crisis for not only survivors but also the children who affected the after-match likes my parents who traumatized and develop bipolar and then pass it on to me and my young brother. We both struggling with OCD, Anxiety & Bipolar Depression since childhood. It’s both genetic and social.
i hope she wasnt born 2 years
You can’t develop a disease and then pass it on to your children unless there is genetic predisposition
I travel to Cambodia frequently and it's astounding to realize that any Cambodoan that is over the age of 30 probably witnessed some extremely horrible acts violence as well as having suffered while trying to survive.. the whole country suffers from a collective PTSD
Pretty much every Cambodian family has lost at least one family member or close friend. Approximately 1/4 of the population was killed off in a span of 3 years.
Sadly public opinion can do a 180 turn very quickly in a single generation. In my country we had a brutal dictator who was reviled and hated by my generation. Today he is beloved by the Gen Z and they deny all the atrocities he's done. This is made easier with the emergence of social media. All you need to do is buy likes and upvote an opinion to the top, and it becomes the popular opinion.
I’ve been to the killing fields in Cambodia. Picked up the bones and teeth and placed them in the plates when you find them and ive seen plenty of clothing still sticking out of the pits. Been to the 1000 skull memorial and the high school turned torture and execution area. It was horror. It’s more surprising how few younger (and older) know about this genocide that happened so recently.
That said, Cambodia is a beautiful place with the nicest people I’ve met and I’ve been to 20 + countries across the world. The food is amazing. Ankor Wat and siem reap is gorgeous. The rivers are amazing. It’s a must if you are a traveler. I cannot wait to see it again and adventure around more. Though I don’t need to see the horrors again. Once is enough. The rest of the country and the people are amazing.
Wouldn't it have been somewhat not allowed to touch the stuff in the killing fields? Its kinda odd that you did that
Amrok they have collection plates for random bones that you’re supposed to put them in when you find them. So I was supposed to do that. Not weird at all. You don’t pull the clothing out but if you find a tooth etc, there are plates mounted all over for that. At least there were back in 2009
@@peter-radiantpipes2800 thanks for praising my country. Next time you come here you should try the coast line provinces such as Sihanouk Ville, Kampot, Koh Kong and Kep for the amazing scenery :)))
yang liulang I’ve been to Koh Kong and spent a lot of time on boats and along the Mekong. Some of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve seen. I still miss the curry so much! It’s different than almost anywhere. I cannot wait to visit again and see new places. I only had a few weeks notice before I went the last time. Then we got stuck in the airport not being able to go to Vietnam for visa issues. I had to pick a spot on the map Within an hour for our next destination. We ended up in Ko Samui, Thailand but it was great too. The highlight of that South East Asia trip was definitely Cambodia though. The people, your people are just so great. I’m looking forward to taking my son next as soon as he is well enough and old enough to travel. Have you heard of the American band Dengue Fever? It’s eclectic popular music with a Cambodian singer. They’ve been around a while. I’ve seen them live a few times. Always a lot of fun. I only wish we had Cambodian food here in Santa Barbara, CA, USA. :) anyway, have a great week. 👍
People don't know about any of the communist genocides because the Left in the First World has a vested interest in suppressing these facts.
I've been to Cambodia and it's so crazy that there are no old people. Wonderful place, super sad history.
Next time you come here, I can show you where they are :)))
@@yangliulang8853 What does that mean?
@@pfw4568 It’s not that deep, they’re probably just being nice.
I've been to the killing fields, it's bloody sad. The worst part in my opinion is that no one stepped in sooner, it only took the Vietnamese 2 weeks to liberate the whole country, yet he was able to go about his killing for 3 years. Blows my mind.
"Never interrupt your enemy while he's making a mistake."
China backed him making action against him really risky
The Vietnamese at first captured those Khmer refugees and bartered them to the Khmer Rouge for cows, rice, sugar. They were dragged a few hundred meters inside the burger and killed immediately. The viet maintained embassy in Cambodia to the very end.
@@bennhem109 we fcking ended the entire regime, you mean the usa and un backed that entire khmer rouge?
Why would any of the Countries around stop him? He is destroying his own country so it will be less of a threat to the others around it, hell it would make it easier to take if say China eventually needed to take over it.
Pol Pot : *Exits*
Also Pol Pot : Try to invade Vietnam.
Vietnam : *I'm gonna end this man whole career.*
@Zack Wilkerson anyone who steps foot in there has never lasted, be they the victor or not. the chinese is the only exception but certainly not in recent times.
@@grizzdesu9732 the vietnamese actually constantly kicked the chinese out but the chinese kept coming back in and the french was the one that held vietnam the longest apart from the great viet of china
@Zack Wilkerson cause they always mad. Ready to fight anyone without backing down.
Some Missing fact from Video:
Fact 1: Polpot study much of his ideology in Chinese. Proof with fact and checkable source: From the 1950s on, Pol Pot had made frequent visits to the People's Republic of China, receiving political and military training-especially on the theory of dictatorship of the proletariat-from the personnel of the CPC. From November 1965 to February 1966, Pol Pot received training from high-ranking CPC officials such as Chen Boda and Zhang Chunqiao, on topics such as the communist revolution in China, class conflicts, and Communist International. Pol Pot was particularly impressed by the lecture on political purge by Kang Sheng. ( "Chandler, David P. (2018). Brother Number One: A Political Biography Of Pol Pot").
Fact 2: Polpot is an anti VIet. In 1963, WPK are being attacked by Cambodia gorverment led to the dead and lost most of pro-Viet, Polpot take that time, kick out all the member that have pro-Viet attitude. (Proof: Kiernan, Ben (2004). How Pol Pot Came to Power).
Fact 3: Polpot form his organization without Viet know about it. Polpot him selves said: KPRP is a group that form by Viet to control Cambodia, thus Polpot have to create CPK without Viet people know about it to be independent with Viet Nam. (Conversation with Tep Khen, Moscow, March 10, 1985).
And this time Vietnam is the one invading
Man was a monster
One of the 15 dislikes is from a guy named "Paul Pott".
@Ruturaj Shiralkar pole pot
@Ruturaj Shiralkar
That's the point of the joke. There must be some guy named Paul Pott (which of course rhymes with the name of the Khmer Rouge leader) who dislikes this video.
Disco Saturn Loves To Do Subtitled Comedies and Other Things 24/7
I believe there’s a singer from the U.K., where I’m from, called Paul Potts: I think he was on one of those talent shows, like ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ or some bollocks like that haha.
Not a fan of that type of show, myself, but I remember a friend of mine mentioning his name once; I misheard, and said “Pol Pot was on a talent show!?”- much to the amusement of the person I was talking to haha.
So, yes: there is indeed someone called “Paul Potts”- and why he hasn’t changed his name, I don’t know haha.
It’s a strange old world. 😀
@@ThisCharmingMan1984
I'm from the US so I didn't think such an actual person named Paul Potts could make a live appearance on a TV show. But thanks for pointing that out.
I see what you did there
I went to S21 and one of the killing fields... very sobering. I got to meet one of the 7 survivors, Chum Mey... my hero. I gave him a big hug
"Confess your weaknesses and seek forgiveness" Eerily familiar.
It wasn't just any French University he went to. Believe it or not, it wasn't the Chinese that brought Communism to southeast Asia, but the French intellectuals.
France is the worst, thanks to their revolution they brought the evil of Socialism into this world and it's still killing people to this day
Ah yes Europe. The Ogs of fucking up the world but some how America takes a lot of the blame
Wow thats an ahistorical take
@Thegreatkingslayer Hail the Enclave. May we build the America again!
@Thegreatkingslayer God Bless the Enclave, God Bless America. May we stand together against the enemy of the people
“Holiday in Cambodia”. Great song.
AverageOtaku93 Brilliant. Listened to it today.
"Holiday in Cambodia! Where you'll do what you're told! Holiday in Cambodia! Where the slums have so much sooooooooul!...
POL POT!"
Do I get time at Tuol Sleng if I say I only heard of them after playing GH3 Legends of Rock?
Dang it. Well, in PP's Cambodia I would've gotten that anyways. I'm a glass-wearing law student that has done something like 10 days of hard labor in his life :(
You’ll work hard with a gun in your back for a bowl of rice a day
My only critique of this video would be the mention of Pol Pot’s love of Stalin’s “Cult Of Personality” as there’s little evidence of Pol Pot implementing this (apart from quite begrudgingly during the Vietnam invasion to rally support). Pol, although a dictator who controlled all of Cambodian life, kept himself out of the limelight for the most part with few people actually knowing who Pol Pot actually was (as in, few knew his face). I absolutely love your series and use them often in my lessons
Even the most creative visions of Hell can't approach what happened in Cambodia under Pol Pot.
i can't wrap my head around why anyone would do this. if you're the dictator of a country, why destroy your own economy and population?
Most likely their policies are proven to be inept, but since they are the paramount leaders, their policies can't be shown as faulty. Therefore they scapegoat some other group of people for the failures, and either double-down on the policies with a "more is better" attitude, and/or quietly change those policies. Either that or they're delusional.
Why did Mao starve so many. Why do we have policies that achieve the opposite effect of intended? Ideology over everything. Be wary of leaders that adhere so strongly to their vision of the world that it requires violence to enforce or denial of reality.
His cruelty toward his own people was on such another level that I've literally had nightmares about it. Guess another Pol Pot videos is what I need...
After so many videos, i had to drop a comment about your ability to fit the sponsors into the video. I actually listen to the creative and effective approach that you take and the ability to relate the products to not only the channel but the interests of your core demographic show a masterful understanding of your viewers as well as marketing as a whole, kudos.
Thank you. The way I see it is that people are not here for the ads, but we need to have them to make money, so I might as well try to make them as painless as possible :)
@@Biographics And after all, "if Napoleon were still alive, he'd definitely be using skillshare." brilliant, hahahah
I remembered watching this through the 80s and 90s with my dad and mum explaining what was happening. I could never understand why . . .
Thank you for another informative video.
Would you consider creating a biographic on Chiang Kai-shek?
YES!
Lol, that criminal corrupt warlord?
@@maxthesax2807 I live in Taiwan right now.
It was a police state until the late 80s/early 90s, but Taiwan apparently has the lowest whiskey tarriffs in the world because he loved whiskey so much, so at least there is that.
Mr Zogu. Are you the king of Albania?
@@maxthesax2807 Nah, you're thinking of Mao Zedong
simon, i think you are brilliant! i love all these interesting videos (including your top tenz as well etc) that you are putting out each and everyday. So to be honest, i am telling you. it is WORTH sitting through a few advertisements. Its the least I can do for watching something extremely well produced. thank you and you don't have to apologize for the advertisements half way through the clip.
Thanks very much for these podcasts very interesting. Keep it up bud
I'm enjoying these biographics. You do a good job.
After watching this I need to make soap bubbles and watch butterflies videos.
Same.
Had to make a presentation about this devil
Why not? He did it on other monsters such as Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, and other monsters.
Rick Sanchez I think the OP was saying that he, not Simon, had to do a presentation
I would never.....He’s horrible and ruined my country.
Doing that right now lol
As someone who has lived in Cambodia for most of my life, this pisses me off so much. Indochina was just starting to flourish, it could have been so beautiful, and then this...
...each episode is informative. thanks for these!
There are still blood stains on the floors and walls of S21 jail in Phnom Penh. Torture racks, boards full of photos of the condemned still stand Bones scattered throughout the grounds at the killing fields. The whole spectacle has become a macabre tourist display of cruelty. It’s still a surreal scene of total carnage and the poverty that has ensued a tragedy, beggars child prostitution Cambodia still pays the price of lose generations.
I thought I had a stomach of steel but Nearly 10 years later and memories of that place still shake me and I ain’t even Cambodian or religious.
That smell, the heat, you just know that most people on the street older than 40 are likely killers. It’s pure ☠️☠️☠️ Cambodia will take generations to recover if ever.
"that most people on the street older than 40 are likely killers." You probably mean 50. Those in their 40s were born between 70 and 79 at this point. Well, unless they had 5 year olds shooting people.
@@Machtyn All things considered, would that really surprise you?
@@oceanberserker My grandmother was once a teacher in malaysia to a khmer rouge refugee in the late 1970s. Her cambodian student once described the horrors she had to go through to escape the khmer rouge. At one point before making it to the thai border she had to breath through a bamboo stick in a river to avoid detection by khmer rouge soldiers who had a strict no escapees policy. Once she happened to witness khmer rouge soldiers killing a month old baby by smashing its head against a rock and scooping out and eating the baby's brain using a spoon. Needless to say my grandmother still has chills today when recounting this story to me.
@@danielfazlan4769 the Khmer Rouge is extremely cruel. There even told a story where a woman get raped by the soldier before getting killed, and also a child soldier (badly influenced and manipulated easily) bashing a man’s head as a torture because he stole a fruit to feed himself.
I have to admit, your videos are both very entertaining and educational. Good job, keep making these videos, they are really good, and a rarity on UA-cam
This was such a great video! My parents only recently started talking about their experiences living through all of this in Cambodia and I’m just so thankful to learn about it from not only the internet, but finally from my parents too.
"average student", "held back 2 years"; those two statements do not go together, below average students get held back
@@mikekane2492 if he became average after being held back 2 years he still wouldn't be average, he'd be 2 years behind
One of his best friend in that period and was with polpot for 4 years at the genocide time still live in france protected even by medias, jaques verges,now he is lawyer and is seen as the robin hood of the french justice...never been interogated, nothing, and also he still defend some khmer as a lawyer in cambodia, combodian people throw rocks at him calling him the devil in front of the tribunal; but as usual France just protect this war criminal since this period, wtf.
The number of war criminal that studied in france is just insane, thanks to the bourgoies communist teachers. Even kim jong-un studied in france not long ago.
Jacques Vergès died in 2013.
*WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FAAAACE???*
My wife and her family are Cambodian, too many sad stories, luckily they live to tell.
4:27
You know things aren’t good when Biographics busts out this music.
I dont know the name of this play...
Thanks for another informative video, guys!
Great and informative. Thank you.
Would love to see a Octavian Augustus Biographic since you did Caesar
That's horrible, and I'm glad you explained the history of the situation. It was always a name I'd heard growing up, but never fully understood the gravity and evil of until now. These biographics really are teaching me history through the life of one person at a time. Even if that history is unpleasant.
Visited cambodia and the killing fields as well as Ankar Wat. What an amazing experience. At the killing fields there are still today, human bones on the ground and barrel converted with dirt. The tree where soldiers smashed babies’ heads against is visible and gut wrenching to see. Very informative video. Thanks
Dear Simon, Thanks so much for the videos. Please don't apologize for the ads. The videos are well worth them. Again, thanks so much, you are awesome!!!
Thank you :)
I love hearing the stories of my parents. It makes me feel so much more appreciative of life. They endured so much pain and agony from losing loved ones and escaping their own country in which our own people were being slaughtered worse than cattle. (No exaggeration) The stories they tell me are so vivid and clear I can see it happening in real time. I wish I would be able to meet a producer or director and make a movie out of their stories for it to be as authentic as it could be. Authenticity is everything and what my parents went through I feel would showcase the many horrific stories other families went through.
Glad your parents escaped.
There are two movies. The first is titled, ‘The Killing Fields,’ and the second is titled , ‘First, They Came for my Father.’
Thank you for this video. I grew up in Asia hearing news of the despot but was too young to understood it all. Your videos not only expand my knowledge but also allow me to understand events that transpired during my younger years.
I'm not a big fan of commercials but they way you bring them up is just so nice, I don't mind.
Love the show
You sir are going to do great things keep up the hard and amazing work!!!
Thanks :)
In a way, there is a happy ending. Nowadays, you can freely and safely travel all around SE Asia - Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore. Only Burma is the odd man out. It boggles my mind that this used to be a dangerous war zone. It gives me hope for other parts of the world.
I loved the video. What an inspiring leader and a great motivation, it shows you can truly reach your dreams if you are just persistent and ruthless enough.
Im so glad i found this channel i have always loved history and i love the channel
i lived through this era. what a disgusting regime. and kudos on at least trying to get through the foreign names, etc! (my russian acquaintances sometimes laugh at my google-inspired "Russian") ya cain't win 'em all! khmer: pronounced like "try to hawk up a loogy--mer." ugly vid due to ugly subject.
I have to think about that sound before I make it! I don't understand how to do it and sound natural, like the trills in Spanish (rolling R's), if I try to use it in the middle of the sentence I sound like a lawnmower that won't start. 😩
Remember one Cambodian family near us growing up. I was very young and they later moved away. One thing imprinted on my mind was their arrival in USA. They told us how they were 3 days away from The Killing Fields and escaped on foot, walking to the mainland of China, pled for asylum and eventually coming to where they lived. I took it for granted, in part because of my age I was told the clean version, it wasn't a major topic even on the news, and they were rather restained and didn't speak of it. Later, I researched on my own and started understanding what happened. Thank you for filling in more of the story.
I have been a regular visitor to Cambodia since 2000, absolutely love the place and the people, and I still can't get my head around what happened there. Tuol Sleng is truly a haunted place.
That and the Killing Fields are the most f'ed up places I've ever been to, and on the same day. Still haunted by that 10 years later.
You do you man... Your channel is awesome as hell and you deserve to get money for them. It's like a minute ad.....I think we be ok....even though some people will complain but that's just because the like toncomplan
Yes! I requested this.
Loving all of these, recently finished binging and I wonder if you’ve ever thought of covering a warrior (possible historian) - Hypsicrae/Hypsikrates, wife of Mithradates VI?
Such a good channel. I don’t mind the ads as you have to fund this treasure trove of information
That advert mid video was done so well it didn't annoy me. Very good approach. Good for the company and your content.
I clicked like, though Pol Pot was horrific. I believe it important to learn these lessons to prevent their occurrence.
Like many of you I visited Cambodia (in 2012) and the scars are still so huge. The people are trying so hard to build their country back up but there's so much work to do. I'd highly recommend visiting the Cambodian Landmine Museum near Siem Reap if you get the chance.
I also, about 15 years ago, did volunteer work for a child welfare organisation and though I didn't visit Cambodia through that work, we did have a fairly big operation going on there. Almost every child we were helping had parents who were children during the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror. They were taken away from their parents or orphaned so they effectively grew up without any model of parenthood, so when they became parents themselves they had no idea what to do. We had adults doing things like leaving 2 year olds to wander the streets all day long while they went to work etc and thinking nothing of it because they simply didn't know it was dangerous. The way this regime disrupted something as simple as people knowing how to raise children was utterly horrendous.
(Please note, I am not saying that Cambodian people in general don't know how to be parents, just that the individuals in our program had no model of parenthood when they were younger and that it had very far reaching effects on their own kids).
clears things up a bit. thanks!
Thanks for the video!
"If they're that clever take the glasses off when he walks by"
🦇 ah ah ah
I have been to the killing fields. While walking around, you can see bones and clothes emerge from the soil underneath your feet - but the most shocking for me was learning that bullets costed too much to use on people, so a branch from a tree was used to slit people's throats instead
Good documentary, thanks a lot
I appreciate you covering this part of history that many outside of Cambodia knows about. My family and I escaped this terror and made it to the US. My grandfather, two uncles and an aunt were victims of his terror.
I really can't believe this man was allowed to live until 1998.
I am shocked that my country has managed to recover from this and all my family members made it alive. Some of my dad’s friends got killed randomly in a shoot out. They would just shoot people randomly in drive bys . Thank god I never experienced this, but that doesn’t take away the fact that my parents and grandparents have seen war.
I've watched quite a few of these, and they're very impressive! If you're using a prompter, it's best I've seen.
I dont think anyone in history could elicit as much revulsion from me as Pol Pot.
Pol Pot was supported by Thailand and PRC, yes, but somehow you forgot to mention UK and USA.
especially the US
Not surprised they at one point supported the Burmese army to kill innocent Karen people
And the Karen fled to Thailand.
By the way, Kaybe Vang, can you be more specific about when? , it happened so many times.
Blaming the U.S. how original
Amazing how some of the most brutal men in history, always get away with their crimes! Very informative. Thanks for the upload!
Partly because some of the most brutal people in history are or were in the govt.
You do a fantastic job !!!!!!
Thank you for sharing
The highlight of this video had been learning about Squarespace.
In my local city, I met a Cambodian guy who ran a diner. I asked him about his experience in the genocide, and he told me that his whole family was forced to work for them and after his brother died, he and his father escaped to the U.S.
I've never met someone who survived such a horrible atrocity.
A good summary, I learnt some things I didn't know, but you left many details out.
For example, the King of Cambodia giving his official seal of approval.
Also how and why Pol Pot got his name.
Well, I enjoyed this video anyway.
Excellent video!
*America invades*
Vietnam: “Oh no!”
*America leaves*
Vietnam: “Anyway”
In primary school my favorit subjects was history and geography. I've seen a lot of your storys of countries and you are like the teacher I wish I had. Funny and interesting, giving me lessons that I I need to understand the world. You giving history/geography lessons with a good blend of personality and commitment is not the only reason I listen and log in to your channel. I love to read historical biographics and you often sound like you have read the same books as me. Im' currently reading a half good biography about Pol Pot and his way to power. Your short video told me more than this 400 pages book ever did.
I'm just curious, where does this need to explain history com from?
You prorably already know this, but books about historical persons and events can be boringly fokused on dates and names. With a few exceptions Mao, Hitler , Napoleon, Stalin, Idi Amin, Pol Pot and other crazy leaders have they'r story told by books that fokuses more on name and dates, than the psycological and personal inpact of theyr crazy ideas.
We just want to live, and your videos shows us how people try to live around the world.
Man, that was even darker than I was expecting. I already knew some of that stuff, but holy moly.
Thank you , Simon. I learned a lot. (2/8/20)