Thank you to Var Ashe Houston for taking part in this episode and sharing her story. Additional thanks to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, the charity that promotes and supports Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK. For more details, please follow this link www.hmd.org.uk/
Do you think it's mildly disrespectful to publish this interview under LADbibleTV and have it populated by such inanities as "First comment!" I think that's a little bit troubling.
It's about the same message our kids are getting through evolution and other anti-God education in our schools. Many of them don't believe they have a purpose.
This is the atypical chant of Abject Despotism, incapable of understanding that actually without you, there is No one to do their unconscionable bidding. Rsanow ban your nouv ponlu da te v pheap now khangoknong 🌻🙏🏽🥲
@@marisamartin3664 I assume you consider yourself to be amongst God's 'elect' then? Understanding that God doesn't give a f*ck about your worldly actions for salvation doesn't exactly inspire much purpose either, tbh
Every time I listen to a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime. I hear my family’s voices. I hear my ancestors reaching out to me. I am grateful to my family for having been able to survive through that atrocity. They survived so that I could be born somewhere else, and live my dreams. A privilege that I will never take for granted.
I feel similarly, though about the Holodomor. We’re here because our ancestors are the ones who survived unimaginable horrors. Our ancestors’ strength and resilience lives on in us. It’s a small comfort when you look at all of the terrible things going on in the world.
When I think of how I was born in America and how some folks are born in certain countries that are basically a living hell all day/everyday, a lot of them not even surviving birth or only hours/days after, I usually chalk it up to strictly luck. I forget how it took the will of generations to survive wars, (grandfather was in WW1) disease along with the elements as they were pioneers which was hard/rough living. (my 1st ancestor to touch North American soil landed in Virginia 100+ years before the U.S. gained independence/became a county) Which makes me feel a bit less $hitty about it being so fortunate. But to know your grandparents (I’m assuming) /family members/generations that you’ve actually spoken to were put through hell on earth, luckily survived then fled so that the next generations could have opportunities, a free life worth living must give you an extremely proud feeling. Perhaps bittersweet knowing that they may of had it particularly difficult for X amount of years, but for sure proud. Good on you for making the best out of the opportunities you were gifted via their blood, sweat and tears, brethren. We need more folks like yourself to tell their story and perhaps wake up what so many take for granted, not realizing there are liberties we just can’t do without.
Wherever Marxism or one of its variations is implemented in a country, there’re always the same results: theft of private property, violence, ignorance, killings, and ultimately impoverishment. Marxism and its variations should be banned from politics.
@@louieo.blevinsmusic4197 I really liked your comment, im glad you can see most of the American population was a migrant at one point. I am a 1st generation american born in my family. For some reason other Americans make me feel less American than they are, just because they got here on a boat 200 years ago and forgot. It is very true what you said, all our ancestors came here for a better life for their kids and have gone through some sh*t to get here.
A former workmate of mine fled from Cambodia. Since I know about S21 and the Killing Fields I never asked him about the genocide. He knew that I knew and we never talked about it. One day he came to me and said that the Khmer Rouge took everything from him. Sadly he died in the Summer of 2022. I miss that guy.
Only people who are still alive on the inside can cry tears, those who don’t or can’t anymore are pretty much dead and empty on the inside. No disrespect to this woman by saying that, or any others in a similar mental/emotional state. She’s an extremely strong person to have continued pressing along through life all the way to this point. Hope she and others like her are able to find some form of peace for themselves someday.
My mom was 9 years old and was split up from her mother and 11yr old brother. My mom at that time was incharge of working in the kitchen (she would be one of the kids to cook for the soliders). She someone got a tip from someone where the eldering ladies were, and one night my mom stole a bowl of rice and swam across the lake to get to my grandma, only to be met with a solider pointing a gun to her head. Because he liked my mom (she was the one running to give rice bowls to the soldiers each morning) he only gave her a warning, when in reality they were to shot and kill on the spot of smth like this happened. Long story short, her brother died from starvation (he and other boys were in charge of building bridges/road paths and the labour with lack of food was too much go bare for a 11 yr old. My grandmother had a lot of guilt and adopted my aunty who was an orphan once the war was over and they all went to Thailand as refugees. Thanks for reading.
Heart goes out too you and your family ❤ My grandmother was still pregnant with my mother at the time and my Mums sister (my aunty) was nearly 2. My grandmother was amongst many who had left Cambodia and walked to Thailand 1979. My family came to Australia in 1983. I'm 26 and it still has an impact on many family's until this day. Can't imagine what my Grandparents went through. My heart goes out to all families 💙 I would try to speak to my Grandpa (Dah) before he passed but he had so much trauma from it all and could never speak about it. So I never got to truly know what they went through. They lost contact with alot of there siblings, Grandpa didn't reunite with his Sister until 2020 which she still had a photo and managed to find him through facebook. His brothers he never got to see again. Very sad time for cambodia 🇰🇭 🇰🇭🇰🇭
Cambodians are some of the most easy going, hospitable people I’ve met. It’s truly amazing how they still manage to be such a wonderful community despite the pain and horror that marked their history.
Same goes to Japanese Nice people and highly intellect But during WW2 they become animal A country leader is very important It can change the way their people think
@@Givea_shitI'm sorry but. That wasn't the first time they were animalistic. (Every other culture has been too, mind you) The *ape of Nanjing for instance? Was before then. Humanity is a plague
@@JPPILL Satan has nothing to do with the evilness of humans. It can merely whisper into their minds a sick idea. Humans willingly choose to do what they do and choose to be what they are.
I visit the Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Visiting the Killing Fields of Phnom Penh is a profoundly heart-wrenching experience. As I walked through Choeung Ek, the air was heavy with the silence of the past and the weight of unspeakable atrocities. Each step brought me closer to the remnants of a harrowing history, where countless innocent lives were brutally taken. Seeing the mass graves, the bones, and the fragments of clothing left behind, I felt an overwhelming sadness and a deep sense of loss for the people who suffered here. It was a stark reminder of the depths of human cruelty, yet also a call to remember and honor those who perished. The visit left an indelible mark on my heart, a somber testament to the resilience of the human spirit amidst unimaginable suffering. May the Buddha bless all who suffered, and may we strive to create a world filled with compassion, understanding, and love, so that such atrocities may never occur again.
Yes, I went there as well and also been to Siem Reap (took family as well once), and it is the single most troubling and painful travel experience I've had (I never went to the camps in Europe, though, so I don't have any reference). The thing that inspires me is how much it's changed even just in the 20 years since I first went. While it still has massive challenges (massive), at least on the experiential level, there seems to be a lot of positive developments for the people there (possibly seemed drastic to me because I had 15 years between trips).
@@Tinjinladakh Yeah, when I went back a few years ago with my wife, she was expecting me to know everything, haha ('cause I've traveled a lot in Asia and all over the world, really, so I'm used to it), and we got off the bus, grabbed a tuk-tuk, and I didn't recognize anything. All the roads were paved (when I was originally there in Siem Reap, it was mostly dirt roads except for the walking street, which was also just a short road with a few restaurants and pubs). It was basically like I had never been there at all! But yeah, I know all that development is a rocky road, but I have my fingers crossed and am rooting for Cambodia and its people!
I went to Cambodia in January 2020, just before COVID. Our tour guide told us so many grin stories he witnessed, like his brother being killed for drinking water out of a palm tree leaf or his best memory, catching and eating a small snake raw and not being caught. He met his mother on the road when the Vietnamese attacked, just by coincidence and thought they might both be dead. They were evacuated into a German school where he learned the language and became a tour guide. He bowed to us and thanked us for the developmental help, I felt so ashamed since I didn't even know Germany gave money to Cambodia until then. It was heart breaking. He said that he personally thinks that Pol Pot is worse than Hitler, since Hitler at least meant well for how own people.
That’s actually very true, in Asia we saw Hitler differently. And in the case of Cambodia, if you were to compare Pol Pot to Hitler, we would regard Hitler as a true nationalist.
Pol Pot was not worse than Hitler. I watched a documentary which Duch the S-21 warden said that Pol Pot was too busy with miliary plannings. Pol Pot didn't orders many of the killings. It was his generals. I'm not a supporter of Pol Pot nor did I ever like him as the leader of Cambodia during the second half of 1970s. A lot of people don't know this, but the Khmer Rouge had many different factions. Some factions were brutal whereas some others were less. This was also depicted in the movie, "The Killing Fields". The Khmer Rouge even had wars among themselves. Comparing to other mad men in history, I think historians got him wrong. Ho Chi Min who started all of the BS caused millions more deaths that directly and indirectly led to the Khmer Rouge.
Couldn't agree more about the comment about Hitler - there were and are far worse monsters than Hitler but for some reason he's always synonymous with evil. Genocides like this one and the Soviet Union (Holodomor etc) rarely get exposed - all we hear is about is the friggin Holocaust!
Yeah ... nice thought! The reality is we kept repeating horrors, and in some parts of the world, they are still doing it right now! And we will be doing it in the future ... because this is what humans do! We excell at hating each other. And we will always be justified in our hate and our doings. Because the other ones will always be the bad ones. It's a never ending circle of hate!
More than half of my mother’s family was executed as they were chased out of their home without any questions. Thank you for sharing your story, there are so many more thousands of families that are unable to express their grief. No matter how much time has passed, my parents can clearly remember each knife wounds and having to hold a dying child from starvation. I live everyday praying that we can all find solace in each others experiences!!!
I am so sorry for the atrocities of the past... I wish that education will rebuild our world for the better and that time can heal your family's memories and wounded spirits...
I hope if your family came to so California that you felt welcomed. I grew up with many of the boat kids who became great friends. We have a special section of town called little Saigon here near me, and a large community of Cambodians, Laotians, and Vietnamese and I give much respect to them…they work so hard to assimilate that they refuse translators and insist on speaking English. Your family was very brave! Be proud of that. And welcome 🤗
@@angela_somanythings5670good thoughts and word, Angela, maybe your name signifies your words. But sadly, words do not stop people from doing bad things. It takes someone to confront atrocities, most time with force.
Her final message about three younger generation questioning the authenticity of her evidence and her plea for future generations to avoid such atrocities sounds so much like the sentiments of Shoah survivors. How many times do we need to be told?
But but but..... it's American.propaganda.. and besides.. it wasn't proper communism... it will be much better when American middle class students lead the revolution.. won't it? [Just to make sure everyone knows.. I am being sarcastic]
I grew partially in Cambodia in the early 2000s. Even decades later you could still see how scarred the country was. It’s crazy to think a society could go through so much horror and keep going after.
If you haven’t noticed - a massive chunk of humanity is seriously traumatised Especially around world war 1 / world war 2 Poland, Ukraine and other countries suffered such horrors under similar regimes Even Russia … people forget 20 million Russian people die slowly bloody deaths (and survived cannibal islands) I even know someone in her 20s who was born in a concentration camp in Bosnia - that have to go on cause they have no choice But that generation is heavily heavily traumatised (our parents and grandparents generation) - and hence they perpetuate the trauma and violence - high amount of DV , high amount of serial killers, high amount of child predators, high amount of beating / hitting children Well really the fact that North Korea still exists in these fascist model is disgusting But that’s just humans - we are resilient Holocausts, prison work camps , North Korea , big countries bullying little country’s , apartheid , genocides in Africa, child soilder survivors of Africa Humans are complex that’s for sure
I couldn't sleep there unless I'm in the big cities. Doors creeking... and you know how they don't pray or sent the spirits over, they just tossed so many dead bodies anywhere and everywhere without grave without a proper burial... you hear distant screams. And one night my dad and I went to the top of his balcony and a dog was going batsh!t crazy barking into the night... nothing but trees I asked my dad to shine the light to see the commotion... there was nothing down there, dog was hysterical
I can hear my parents' story through this lady. My father escaped to Thailand and was jailed because he didn't have legal papers. My mother escaped through Vietnam with the help of Vietnamese soldiers. This made my extremely sad and teary, I unfortunately lost some family members in the genocide. Last year, I visited Cambodia with my mom for the first time, she had not visited her birth country for 37 years. We still wonder if her siblings are still alive.
Poor Vietnam had to defend itself against US, China, South Korea, France, Japan, Laos, and saved Cambodia from itself. I can never see myself helping another country or another person after I get ravaged like that
@@mattparke4370 Many Cambodians forgot that Communist China supported Polpot and invaded Vietnam in 1979 because Vietnam overthrew its protege, Polpot. Today Cambodians, influenced by China's richness and the "investments" in their country, are strongly pro-China and resent Vietnam. That's just the nature of geopolitik.
My two sons and I visited Cambodia in 2006 and went to the killing fields. It was one of the saddest moments in our lives. Seeing pieces of fabric and also teeth in the dried mud pathways. Visitors were asked to place in containers along the pathway of course out of respect. A local man guided us through and told us that babies were beheaded using palm leaves as a saw! I can’t look at palm trees without being reminded of this atrocity. We also visited the “school “ which was used as a place of torture. Pictures line the walls of the main room of the victims. I had to run out as it was so upsetting. I couldn’t begin to imagine the horror and pain these poor souls went through. People of Cambodia are still asking why it all happened. Personally, I can’t understand why we didn’t help these poor people at the time. Cambodian people are so gentle with beautiful souls. 😢
Thank you for your kind heart and empathy for all humanity!! What you saw and what are descripted here are just part of the story, or just the symptoms. You see, White Anglo Saxon (European and later on America) they were the imperialist. It is said that the sun doesn't set on the English empire. The French came to southeast Asia and after them the American. The only country within the region that escaped the imperialist power was Thailand. Thailand was able to cozy up to the English and until today has advanced tremendously. Cambodia suffered. The people has suffered since the down turn of their monarchs reigns. Again, what are said here are only the symptoms, parts of a whole picture.
The US didn't help them because they just pulled out of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War wasn't just the US vs Vietnam. Both Laos and Cambodia were involved, that's why she mentions the US dropping bombs in Cambodia at the start of the video. There was no way the US citizens or government would waltz back into a country hostile towards the US so soon after losing to that country's neighbor.
The minutes with series has quickly become my favorite. No matter the story, it is always fascinating and I learn something new. Thank you for sharing these stories
So many lessons to be taken from her story. We need to be so mindful of the governments and policies that we support. This is what happens when we are deceived by ideals.
This is a hard video to watch and equally as Important. Huge respect to this incredibly brave and strong lady. It is very important to remember these horrible atrocities so we may prevent them in the future but also honor the victims and survivors!
My parents & brother escaped Cambodia and were in a refugee camp in Vietnam before they came to New Zealand. The stories my dad would tell me saddened me. I’m so glad they were able to escape.
It appears that you are ethnically Vietnamese. If so, not just the fact that you are in a democracy like New Zealand, but that your family was no longer in Cambodia was a wonder, because ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia are largely miserable because of the treatment by the Cambodians who are under China's influence.
Both my mother and grandmother lived through the Khmer Rouge and my grandmother only talked to me about it once when I was 27, I am now 32. My parents have bought me back a few times to visit as I was born in America, but I can say I have lived a humble and unregretful life from hearing what my family has gone through and now seeing how my family in Cambodia live their lives now. You really don't appreciate the grand things in life to the smallest things in life until you experience the gentle aspect of life and Cambodia has taught me that. Be kind to one another we all have one life so let's make it a great one. I love you, Cambodia.
I visited Cambodia years ago when I was backpacking thru SE Asia. I have never been to a place that I connected to so emotionally before. I cried every day and I didn’t know why. Their faces, the kids, knowing a little about the atrocities the people had suffered thru, all of it just hit me right in the heart. This woman is remarkable and her resilience and bravery is humbling.
I was in the Killing Fields in December 23'. You can still see teeth and bones scattered across the fields that have been left untouched. I got a much worse bad gut feeling there than any nazi concentration camp I've been to. The baby killing tree made shed a tear, and I never cry.
it is much crucial than the Nazi campus, but Holocaust has been talked all the times, but these communism killings were faded away purposely in history.
She's an absolute rock, i have spent quite a bit of time in Cambodia and the people are different level with their kindness and hospitality, they will never ever forget but they just want a chance to move on and prosper.
there's a lot of people who need to hear these stories in this world. thank you for being brave enough to talk about it. My heart broke to listen to the horror that you lived through. This is exactly why we need lived stories like this. Only these stories can really do justice and hopefully others will listen to history so it isn't repeated.
My grandmother told me horrendous stories about the Lao regime murdering Hmong babies, violating Hmong women, and killing Hmong men. This is exactly what kind of history needs to be told so that governments can stop going into stupid wars that kill native people-and humans above all!
My best friend in high school, his parents were from Cambodia and they never talked about anything from there. Even my best friend. Their son, knew nothing. Probably because they were so traumatized.
I'm always scared to ask my mom and dad what happened... I'm worried they will get depressed even though they might already secretly be.... my dad lost 3 of his older brothers, they were brutally murdered because they were educated and had good jobs
It’s a lack of education and people pushing it. The ADL came together and made Holocaust education a thing and wouldn’t have happened if people who were affected didn’t push it so much. While it sucks, people who have suffered from such a regime need to band together and demand the education to be taught. Communism and Marxism never ends well and it needs to be taught over and over against so kids get it through their thick skulls
@@CharlieJ69If you think these monsters are somehow hidden or not talked about then you should go to a library. There are lots of books about these people and their crimes.
I visited cambodia. It is an overwhelmingly lovely and friendly place that is fiercely peaceful. The real touristy areas are a bit scammy as are all of them but the vast vast VAST majority of the country as I traveled through it were warm friendly and kind. We met with a lot of monks and went to a peace museum that looked at how the peace was brought about. Peace is such a core important thing to Cambodians because it's still relatively new and very hard fought after. They all live in the shadow of that tragedy and they just want to celebrate their culture and share it with others and to see this never happen again The sick thing is Pol Pot still has a grave there that people visit. Literally, Asia's Hitler and people still pay him respects. It's disgusting I don't believe in heaven or hell but I would love to image a world where when bad people die, they are forced into the bodies and situations of everyone they ever wronged, forced to fully experience all of the pain and suffering first hand in excruciating detail with persistent memory of when they chose to commit it, then they are pulled into the next horrific situation they caused and created and have to endure the pain they put into the world and for this to continue until they endured the final evil act, then they get looped back to the beginning and have to live out the torture over and over again until the sheer weight of the pain they put out into the universe erodes and wears away their existence until they eventually fade away into complete madness
Thats why it was so easy for th3 Khmer Rouge to take power and hurt so many. The people there had no comprehension that such violence was even possible
My mother told us that the Khmer Rouge after having the monks disrobed, hysterically mocked them of being well endowed due to being well fed in the temples .
@@mikewhocheeseharry5292 annoyingly when I went to Cambodia I was with students as I went on a college trip. Pol Pots Grave is a pretty public easily accessible site that isn’t hidden. I would had LOVED to go urinate on it while I was over there. Even if it meant filling up a bottle and throwing it on the there. The guy was pure scum and the fact that he’s at rest and not being endlessly tortured and tormented is a loss for mankind. One of the greatest evils since adolph hitler
My old neighbors escaped the Khmer Rouge as well. I didn’t fully appreciate how much they went through until I got older and really learned about it. Even though they experienced the most painful things, they remained the kindest people. Thank you so much for sharing your story. Everyone should know what happened. Be well ❤️
My mom has a coworker who is also a survivor. She told my mom of all the murders of babies and how some were stabbed brutally in front of their families.
Thank you for sharing this courages lady’s story! May she and her family be blessed! I’d like to echo her words towards the end… it is very important that younger generations are aware of attrocities of past genocides all over the world and to try to prevent it from happening again. We must accept the fact that There is currently a genocide going on in Gaza that has been for 76 painful years - probably the longest modern day genocide to ever be prolonged for many decades! Please spread the word - never again means never again for anyone!
@@greendragonspirit1646First time I heard of that “method” was from a survivor of the Armenian genocide, then from a book written by a Treblinka survivor, and then a book called “survivors of the killing fields”. Of all the books I’ve read on these horrific subjects, full of cruelty and suffering as they are, this particular act never ever ceases to shock me.
My father was recruited to go there as an American. He didn’t want to go. He came home a different man and said he was ashamed to be alive. He committed suicide because he couldn’t live with what he was forced to do to you families. On behalf of my family, I am sorry. Truly sorry. Although sorry will never be enough. May God bless you always.
Your father was false in believing that he was responsible for the atrocities against khmer people. The real story is murkier than what appeared. American did bombed Cambodia but that was because the king of Cambodia, at the time, allowed the Viet Cong to use part of Cambodia as a Refuge. Cambodia king did reached out to American but no one noticed him. This lady just thank the arsonist for putting out the fire! Murky story, Cambodia.
Thank you for having the courage to speak out against the horrific genocide of the people of Cambodia and giving the next generation the very REAL HISTORY of their culture and their people.
Thank you for sharing your story Var. I consider Cambodia my second home. It always strikes me that every single person you see in the streets have been affected by Pol Pot in some way or another… but how many smiles there are. I love Cambodia and it’s people, and I will always feel blessed to have met Chum Mey, one of the few survivors of Tuol Sleng x
She mentioned at one point her 1 and a half year old daughter being ill, and mentions later her five year old being brutally beaten.. she says twice later she only had one child with her when she arrived in England.. so heartbreaking realizing that one of them (I'm not sure which one) must have died. My heart breaks for this woman's experience, how strong she is to survive that. For all of Cambodia in that time.
I looked into it to confirm if her other daughter passed away and in another interview she gave, speaking about her experience in London she says this “me, my two daughters and my sister - were in one room, because they don’t have enough space for another. We were safe, we felt safe physically, but we received mixed reception from people. Some people understand it, maybe because I have two kids, two little kids, but some don’t.” So both of her daughters survived, thankfully.
@@izabellestevens4584 wow thank you for figuring that out! After how horrible those experiences were for her, I am SO grateful her babies made it out with her
12:00 When people speak about their pain and it noticeably begins to overwhelm them with emotion, and they apologize for it, it almost always makes me tear up. It’s like seeing the most raw and authentic emotion flow from someone when they struggle so deeply to talk about and relive their trauma. Please don’t apologize. I understand the thinking behind apologizing and feeling like you must apologize, but please don’t. It’s okay, and it’s so good for your healing to talk about these things if it’s still causing you so much pain.
@@noefossati9868oh of course here we go with you people you can't compare killing an unborn baby with no consciousness and feeling to a living crying baby, abortion is not murder abortion a form of freedom of women who either did not want a child or was rape into having a child! But killing a living breathing crying infant is a completely different story!
Having been born and raised in Cambodia, I've always deeply empathized with every story I've heard. This is yet another succinct and heart-wrenching perspective that helps me better understand the trauma experienced by the older generation.
Thank you for this interview, history needs to be remembered I grew up in a very large Khmer community in Sydney, Australia. This story is very similar to many I have listened to from Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunties, Uncles, Bong Bros/Srey. I cry every time someone relates their story. My mother and father however stopped crying a long time ago. Through all these atrocities, the Khmer community are some of the most compassionate people you will meet.
My maternal grandmother died in the ‘killing fields’ , my mother a baby at the time was able to flee with her aunt. There were other aunts and uncles who were also lost, never to full know what happened to them. I have heard stories of the tree that is mentioned in the video. I am thankful my mother didn’t end up one of it’s many infant victims
My friend , Samnang, from college was forced to club his father to death with a bamboo spear for stealing food by the Khmer Rouge soldiers. He was just 8 years old and the only survivor in his immediate family of two parents and three children. I still get choked up to this day thinking about his story.
I had the pleasure of living there for 5 years with my teenage son. I can't express enough how kind, welcoming, curious, and engaging the Khmer people are. The beauty of that country and its captivating people. It still amazes how little knowledge is held in the UK about this gem of SE Asia. Temples, history, jungles and waterfalls, the most resourceful, kind hearted people ive ever met and after all they have suffered. Life is far from fair for Cambodians. Poverty is staggering. Corruption is prevalent. I do think great strides are being made in the right direction. I met so many naturally gifted people. In tune with nature. Traditions and customs and loads of holidays! The weddings are not just one day of celebrations, but three❤. I could go on forever about Cambodia. Oh and the food. It is insanely tasty. On our second time to the capital, PP, our friend and guide Bong T, accompanied my son and I to, Choeung Ek, killing field. Ive never been somewhere that moved me so much. What they went through is exactly what the word genocide means. I hope this brings clarity to those clouded with the delusion that leftist marxism leads anywhere but to misery death. Despite all the madness and cruelty the Cambodians have endured, genocide, famine, zero rights, being carpet bombed in someone elses war, having its archaeological gems plundered and looted, decades of dictatorship, generations of families inflicted with trauma, they make the absolute best of life! There is hardly any pitty me attitude. No victim mentality. The youth of western democratic countries could do with a sit down and a history and life lessons from Cambodia. It would benefit them greatly in many ways. 🇬🇧 ❤ 🇰🇭
I am Vietnamese, born in 2000s. And I have heard about this genocide from mother and my great grandmother's tellings. There are still evidence and people telling of Vietnamese people being brutally killed when Red Khmer came in Vietnam too. And I think that most of Vietnamese people know about this genocide too.
Some of the rich families, where I'm from in Australia, were able to sponsor high school students to go to Cambodia so they can help teach English, build water wells and schools/hut houses. I knew a couple of people who went... I never knew about the Khmer Rouge until few months ago- a decade after those kids took that trip. Watching walk throughs of S21 and the Killing Fields truly shocked me. Four years, 2 million people and it was only in the 70's... So close to home...
Wow the timing of this video is crazy, i actually am travelling cambodia at the moment from the UK and visited the killing fields in Phnom penh and the S-21 Prison yesterday. Absolutely chilling place, you can still see thousands of bone fragments in the soil especially when it rains and the mud washes away, the tree they used to smashed hundreds of children’s skulls on is absolutely terrifying. The scale of the killing was unbelievable with most people being executed with hand tools basically bludgeoned to death. Absolutely cruel, if you get the chance to come to Cambodia to learn the history and pay your respects i recommend you do.
I remember watching the movie, The Killing Fields, when it first came out in the mid 1980s. I was in my 20s and wept for a long time after learning what was done by humans to other humans. Forty years later, I have just listened to the amazing woman’s personal account of the atrocities again. My heart hurts so much when I reflect on the great suffering of so many in this world, people who have no choice but to endure torture as best they can. Freedom and love are two very precious gifts in life.
I visited Cambodia and there were mass graves & memorials everywhere. I went to Choeng Ek & Tuol Sleng in Cambodia, but I think the worst thing I saw was the Samrong Knong Killing Field memorial which details (in words & pictures) all the torture methods around it. It's close to Battambang (the 2nd place Var went), so seeing someone who would have witnessed that torture first hand makes it all the more real. The few things she mentions are nothing compared to the full atrocities of the Khmer Rouge. I'm not surprised she doesn't talk about that aspect much. So glad she escaped.
@@GhostCell47 because America " Henry Kissinger" played a major role which brought Pol Pot into power, due to the tons of illegal bombing in Cambodia that was a neutral country.
I saw an exhibit of portraits of prisoners. The expression in their eyes was something I will never forget. I felt the fear. These were human beings who had such a horrible fate.
One of my former coworkers had family that survived the Cambodian Genocide. I never asked her about it cause i couldn’t even fathom the horrors her family had endured.
What a sad part of Cambodia's history which many people forget especially being recent (1970s) that is very overlooked and most people just think of the holocaust during the war but other atrocities such as in Bosnia and former Yugoslavia in the 1990s with many genocides against one another. Truly chilling reminders of how government and also people can create such pain, suffering and evil towards other people let alone its own...
We, the Cambodian , Khmer Young Generation, we feel you, we feel the pain, the struggling time during Khmer Rouge. Praying for our ancestors who have died and be happy for those who have survived.
Miss Var paints a vivid, harrowing picture of a Hell on Earth. Nightmarish stuff. Best wishes and happiness to the great lady and her family. Respect from Ireland. Her story perfectly illustrates why countries should give sanctuary to war refugees. It is unfortunate that Pol Pot escaped justice, croaking of a heart attack (heart?) in 1998 aged 72. Ditto many of his brutal hench thugs, as like many Nazis after World War 2. The 1985 movie 'The Killing Fields' is a study in the horror of the monstrous, demonic-like Khmer Rouge.
My uncle was a Vietnamese soldier stationed in Cambodia in the 80s. Although a very talkative man, he would never talk about his time or what he'd seen there, period.
I saw the victim photo at Tuol Sleng and my heart wreck when i saw a few babies photo and one of them had a similar look like my nephew. I was crying on my room and hugged him tightly and praying to God nothing bad will happened to him just like those poor baby. 😢
Thanks for sharing. I have been to Cambodia three times (I work in Thailand) The Khmer Rouge was a dark part of Cambodia's history. After 1976, the country hardly had anything left...no professional people, no schools, no infrastructure. It had to start all over again.
thank you var im so shocked to have never know of any of your countries history , i only recently saw it Cambodia referred to as the killing field from a tiktok video and am so thankful for you insight and account of the events that took place , thankyou for teacher me
I have lived in Cambodia for 13 years she is very brave to tell her story and it is very important these survivors stories are told and remembered. A very brave lady.
This lady , among millions of others , really suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge . I couldn’t imagine living through the horrors she lived through , she is one tough cookie . There was a excellent movie made about this time in Cambodia called The Killing Fields , it’s well worth a watch
What an amazing women. To go through those horrendous things and be able to speak about it today. I'm so glad you managed to get out and hope you have been able to live a happier life ❤
I have visited the s21 prison and the killing fields twice and it was such a traumastizing experience, Hearing stories from survivors while travelling in Cambodia really does show evil exists. Seeing peoples eyes and having a glimpse into their misery is truly haunting. Socialism`s true face leaves scars pretty much for everyone to see and yet unfortunately we do not learn. I have nothing but respect for the people of Cambodia and how they have tried to deal with the aftermath
Absolutely heat wrenching. I cannot imagine living through that. I’m just glad she got away and managed to live a better life ❤ prayers for you lovely lady ❤
Thank you, LADbible for educating your audience. Education is the only way to prevent these horrors from happening and good education is getting sparse, so these stories are direly needed.
12:15 that’s a whole different level of sorrow I feel for her. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to watch that happen to my baby and couldn’t do a damn thing. And for me there’s another level of worseness cause it’s not even like her baby did anything bad per we, she was literally just starving.
A massive thankyou to this brave women for opening old wounds to educate people especially the younger generation . Its surprising how many people don't know about this grim time in history.
To this day, my parents still wake up before 5am to make rice porridge with salt & dried fish. And we would eat it quietly as a family getting yelled at by our parents if we messed around. Idk if that means anything but it’s almost as if they are so used to the same morning regimen during the Khmer Rouge regime , if that makes sense idk
@@cwr8618 yes whenever they argue, socialize, lecture us, etc it’s always about the struggling parts , journey, & losing family but also the happy memories when they make friends & reunite (i eavesdrop 🤣) . But the really traumatizing parts they keep inside becos no words can describe it and might even traumatize us even more by hearing it 🤷🏽♀️
@@phillyguy6official yea at the end of the day it’s a traditional Khmer meal but with an added dark history behind it, just like the Krama, & some of Khmer proverbs but it’s reclaimed kinda hard to explain
Thank you, Var. Your telling of what your witnessed and experienced will not be in vain. People will always be there to hear you. Am I hearing though that it's the youth in Cambodia who are not believing it? Or worldwide? I know that worldwide people need to wake up but it's always alarming when it happened to people you know and you don't believe it.
Thank you so much for this account. Thank you for educating people about this. I definitely believe it's not easy. I'm so very grateful that you are alive with your family to present this account. And I'm deeply saddened for all of the Cambodian people that lost their lives due to these horrible people.
Thank you to Var Ashe Houston for taking part in this episode and sharing her story. Additional thanks to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, the charity that promotes and supports Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK. For more details, please follow this link www.hmd.org.uk/
First comment!
I hate to admit I learned about Pol Pot from the Dead Kennedys lol
Do you think it's mildly disrespectful to publish this interview under LADbibleTV and have it populated by such inanities as "First comment!"
I think that's a little bit troubling.
@@TheWhitefisher That’s not ladbibles fault is it
It's a real unfortunate. Comparatively a lot lesser than what Japan did during WW2.
"We gain nothing from keeping you and we lose nothing from killing you."
I just can't imagine...
It's about the same message our kids are getting through evolution and other anti-God education in our schools. Many of them don't believe they have a purpose.
@@marisamartin3664what
This is the atypical chant of Abject Despotism, incapable of understanding that actually without you, there is No one to do their unconscionable bidding.
Rsanow ban your nouv ponlu da te v pheap now khangoknong 🌻🙏🏽🥲
@@marisamartin3664Mate, religion has been the cause of suffering deaths and atrocities through the ages.
@@marisamartin3664 I assume you consider yourself to be amongst God's 'elect' then? Understanding that God doesn't give a f*ck about your worldly actions for salvation doesn't exactly inspire much purpose either, tbh
Every time I listen to a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime. I hear my family’s voices. I hear my ancestors reaching out to me. I am grateful to my family for having been able to survive through that atrocity. They survived so that I could be born somewhere else, and live my dreams. A privilege that I will never take for granted.
I feel similarly, though about the Holodomor. We’re here because our ancestors are the ones who survived unimaginable horrors. Our ancestors’ strength and resilience lives on in us. It’s a small comfort when you look at all of the terrible things going on in the world.
When I think of how I was born in America and how some folks are born in certain countries that are basically a living hell all day/everyday, a lot of them not even surviving birth or only hours/days after, I usually chalk it up to strictly luck. I forget how it took the will of generations to survive wars, (grandfather was in WW1) disease along with the elements as they were pioneers which was hard/rough living. (my 1st ancestor to touch North American soil landed in Virginia 100+ years before the U.S. gained independence/became a county) Which makes me feel a bit less $hitty about it being so fortunate. But to know your grandparents (I’m assuming) /family members/generations that you’ve actually spoken to were put through hell on earth, luckily survived then fled so that the next generations could have opportunities, a free life worth living must give you an extremely proud feeling. Perhaps bittersweet knowing that they may of had it particularly difficult for X amount of years, but for sure proud. Good on you for making the best out of the opportunities you were gifted via their blood, sweat and tears, brethren. We need more folks like yourself to tell their story and perhaps wake up what so many take for granted, not realizing there are liberties we just can’t do without.
Amen bro
Wherever Marxism or one of its variations is implemented in a country, there’re always the same results: theft of private property, violence, ignorance, killings, and ultimately impoverishment.
Marxism and its variations should be banned from politics.
@@louieo.blevinsmusic4197 I really liked your comment, im glad you can see most of the American population was a migrant at one point. I am a 1st generation american born in my family. For some reason other Americans make me feel less American than they are, just because they got here on a boat 200 years ago and forgot. It is very true what you said, all our ancestors came here for a better life for their kids and have gone through some sh*t to get here.
A former workmate of mine fled from Cambodia. Since I know about S21 and the Killing Fields I never asked him about the genocide. He knew that I knew and we never talked about it. One day he came to me and said that the Khmer Rouge took everything from him. Sadly he died in the Summer of 2022. I miss that guy.
Chapter 1 in the big book of things that never happened
@@Yourdoomawaitsyou I mean this isn't that unbelievable or out of the ordinary
"he knew that i knew"
yes because it was a global atrocity, your knowledge isnt special.
You usually find that the kindest people have seen some very fked up things or been through a very tough life. RIP to your friend.
@@Yourdoomawaitsyoukindly gfys
She doesn’t cry, but you can see the overwhelming pain she’s carrying in her eyes.
She has cried all the tears. There is nothing left...
and also carries in every beat of her heart. May Jesus sustain her always in His Love and care.
Sometimes there’s no tears left to cry
Only people who are still alive on the inside can cry tears, those who don’t or can’t anymore are pretty much dead and empty on the inside. No disrespect to this woman by saying that, or any others in a similar mental/emotional state. She’s an extremely strong person to have continued pressing along through life all the way to this point. Hope she and others like her are able to find some form of peace for themselves someday.
Too much still in shock in a way
My mom was 9 years old and was split up from her mother and 11yr old brother. My mom at that time was incharge of working in the kitchen (she would be one of the kids to cook for the soliders). She someone got a tip from someone where the eldering ladies were, and one night my mom stole a bowl of rice and swam across the lake to get to my grandma, only to be met with a solider pointing a gun to her head. Because he liked my mom (she was the one running to give rice bowls to the soldiers each morning) he only gave her a warning, when in reality they were to shot and kill on the spot of smth like this happened. Long story short, her brother died from starvation (he and other boys were in charge of building bridges/road paths and the labour with lack of food was too much go bare for a 11 yr old. My grandmother had a lot of guilt and adopted my aunty who was an orphan once the war was over and they all went to Thailand as refugees. Thanks for reading.
Such tragic happenings. Thank you for sharing. 😢
Your mum sounds like an absolutely amazing person.
Heart goes out too you and your family ❤
My grandmother was still pregnant with my mother at the time and my Mums sister (my aunty) was nearly 2.
My grandmother was amongst many who had left Cambodia and walked to Thailand 1979.
My family came to Australia in 1983. I'm 26 and it still has an impact on many family's until this day. Can't imagine what my Grandparents went through. My heart goes out to all families 💙
I would try to speak to my Grandpa (Dah) before he passed but he had so much trauma from it all and could never speak about it. So I never got to truly know what they went through. They lost contact with alot of there siblings, Grandpa didn't reunite with his Sister until 2020 which she still had a photo and managed to find him through facebook. His brothers he never got to see again.
Very sad time for cambodia 🇰🇭 🇰🇭🇰🇭
Your mom sounds beautiful and amazing. I'm sure you're grandmother was too.
Cambodians are some of the most easy going, hospitable people I’ve met. It’s truly amazing how they still manage to be such a wonderful community despite the pain and horror that marked their history.
Growing up we were raised to be kind and respectful of others, we’re happy folks 😊
they were raised to have manners!!! i like that about them and most southeast asian countries (im s.e.a too!!)
Same goes to Japanese
Nice people and highly intellect
But during WW2 they become animal
A country leader is very important
It can change the way their people think
@@Givea_shitI'm sorry but. That wasn't the first time they were animalistic. (Every other culture has been too, mind you)
The *ape of Nanjing for instance? Was before then. Humanity is a plague
The Atrocities are still going even today by Them Same people China and Vietnam government
Poor woman shes so strong. To see them killing loads of babies is beyond sick
It shows how truly evil us human beings can be. Maybe that’s why the aliens refuse to see us
@@Frogemo_legend27nah if they saw us they would glass our cities
It is satanic
@@JPPILL Satan has nothing to do with the evilness of humans. It can merely whisper into their minds a sick idea. Humans willingly choose to do what they do and choose to be what they are.
@@Frogemo_legend27 how evil men* can be.
The fact she doesn’t show as much emotion as you’d think shows how long these memories have haunted her. She’s cried her tears
or is it lies to shift the blame away for the jewsa who secretly dropped more bombs on neutral country cambodia than germany in ww2 lol
If you experience enough pain, you won't be able to cry for yourself anymore, but you can still cry for others.
shows she was lying
"she doesn't show much emotions" is false, you can see it if you have empathy.
@@si4632lying about what? How can you say she's lying about the Khmer Rouge and what they did?
I visit the Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Visiting the Killing Fields of Phnom Penh is a profoundly heart-wrenching experience. As I walked through Choeung Ek, the air was heavy with the silence of the past and the weight of unspeakable atrocities. Each step brought me closer to the remnants of a harrowing history, where countless innocent lives were brutally taken. Seeing the mass graves, the bones, and the fragments of clothing left behind, I felt an overwhelming sadness and a deep sense of loss for the people who suffered here. It was a stark reminder of the depths of human cruelty, yet also a call to remember and honor those who perished. The visit left an indelible mark on my heart, a somber testament to the resilience of the human spirit amidst unimaginable suffering.
May the Buddha bless all who suffered, and may we strive to create a world filled with compassion, understanding, and love, so that such atrocities may never occur again.
Yes, I went there as well and also been to Siem Reap (took family as well once), and it is the single most troubling and painful travel experience I've had (I never went to the camps in Europe, though, so I don't have any reference). The thing that inspires me is how much it's changed even just in the 20 years since I first went. While it still has massive challenges (massive), at least on the experiential level, there seems to be a lot of positive developments for the people there (possibly seemed drastic to me because I had 15 years between trips).
@@brek5 yes it develop very much since then. Hope younger generation learn about this make not mistake like this in future.
@@Tinjinladakh Yeah, when I went back a few years ago with my wife, she was expecting me to know everything, haha ('cause I've traveled a lot in Asia and all over the world, really, so I'm used to it), and we got off the bus, grabbed a tuk-tuk, and I didn't recognize anything. All the roads were paved (when I was originally there in Siem Reap, it was mostly dirt roads except for the walking street, which was also just a short road with a few restaurants and pubs). It was basically like I had never been there at all!
But yeah, I know all that development is a rocky road, but I have my fingers crossed and am rooting for Cambodia and its people!
Damn liar 🤣
oh brother, shut the fuck up. so bored of all these facebook post-card posts.
I live in Phnom Penh, just behind the killing fields, it's a truly eerie place. The stories i have heard about that time are haunting.
i visited the killing fields last year and wow you just feel the weight of the lost souls. absolutely heartbreaking
Yet, I bet those people telling you the stories also hate Vietnam for ending the Khmer Rouge. Khmers have zero appreciation.
I went to Cambodia in January 2020, just before COVID. Our tour guide told us so many grin stories he witnessed, like his brother being killed for drinking water out of a palm tree leaf or his best memory, catching and eating a small snake raw and not being caught.
He met his mother on the road when the Vietnamese attacked, just by coincidence and thought they might both be dead. They were evacuated into a German school where he learned the language and became a tour guide. He bowed to us and thanked us for the developmental help, I felt so ashamed since I didn't even know Germany gave money to Cambodia until then.
It was heart breaking.
He said that he personally thinks that Pol Pot is worse than Hitler, since Hitler at least meant well for how own people.
That’s actually very true, in Asia we saw Hitler differently. And in the case of Cambodia, if you were to compare Pol Pot to Hitler, we would regard Hitler as a true nationalist.
Pol Pot was not worse than Hitler. I watched a documentary which Duch the S-21 warden said that Pol Pot was too busy with miliary plannings. Pol Pot didn't orders many of the killings. It was his generals. I'm not a supporter of Pol Pot nor did I ever like him as the leader of Cambodia during the second half of 1970s. A lot of people don't know this, but the Khmer Rouge had many different factions. Some factions were brutal whereas some others were less. This was also depicted in the movie, "The Killing Fields". The Khmer Rouge even had wars among themselves. Comparing to other mad men in history, I think historians got him wrong. Ho Chi Min who started all of the BS caused millions more deaths that directly and indirectly led to the Khmer Rouge.
Hitler did not mean well and hated the German People for being what he considered weak and unworthy for WW1.
Couldn't agree more about the comment about Hitler - there were and are far worse monsters than Hitler but for some reason he's always synonymous with evil. Genocides like this one and the Soviet Union (Holodomor etc) rarely get exposed - all we hear is about is the friggin Holocaust!
Hitler was a power hungry killer ,so similar to Pol pot.
If we don’t remember the past, we are doomed to repeat it.
Well said 👏
So true❤
We are repeating it
Yeah ... nice thought! The reality is we kept repeating horrors, and in some parts of the world, they are still doing it right now!
And we will be doing it in the future ... because this is what humans do! We excell at hating each other. And we will always be justified in our hate and our doings. Because the other ones will always be the bad ones. It's a never ending circle of hate!
History repeats it's self
More than half of my mother’s family was executed as they were chased out of their home without any questions. Thank you for sharing your story, there are so many more thousands of families that are unable to express their grief. No matter how much time has passed, my parents can clearly remember each knife wounds and having to hold a dying child from starvation. I live everyday praying that we can all find solace in each others experiences!!!
I am so sorry for the atrocities of the past... I wish that education will rebuild our world for the better and that time can heal your family's memories and wounded spirits...
I hope if your family came to so California that you felt welcomed. I grew up with many of the boat kids who became great friends. We have a special section of town called little Saigon here near me, and a large community of Cambodians, Laotians, and Vietnamese and I give much respect to them…they work so hard to assimilate that they refuse translators and insist on speaking English. Your family was very brave! Be proud of that. And welcome 🤗
@@angela_somanythings5670good thoughts and word, Angela, maybe your name signifies your words. But sadly, words do not stop people from doing bad things. It takes someone to confront atrocities, most time with force.
My heart goes out too you and your family 🙏🏽💙❤️💙🙏🏽
But I bet you and your whole remaining family hate Vietnam, don’t you ?!
Her final message about three younger generation questioning the authenticity of her evidence and her plea for future generations to avoid such atrocities sounds so much like the sentiments of Shoah survivors. How many times do we need to be told?
But but but..... it's American.propaganda.. and besides.. it wasn't proper communism... it will be much better when American middle class students lead the revolution.. won't it? [Just to make sure everyone knows.. I am being sarcastic]
How to hold those responsible accountable? There are evil people on this Earth, anyone confronting evil are condemned. Just look at the posts.
That’s why I believe in an almighty, truly righteous God who WILL hold every single person accountable for their actions - including me.
Cambodian youth have forgotten that, they have a mentality of hating the Vietnamese, accusing the Vietnamese of coming to steal their land.
I grew partially in Cambodia in the early 2000s. Even decades later you could still see how scarred the country was. It’s crazy to think a society could go through so much horror and keep going after.
If you haven’t noticed - a massive chunk of humanity is seriously traumatised
Especially around world war 1 / world war 2
Poland, Ukraine and other countries suffered such horrors under similar regimes
Even Russia … people forget 20 million Russian people die slowly bloody deaths (and survived cannibal islands)
I even know someone in her 20s who was born in a concentration camp in Bosnia
- that have to go on cause they have no choice
But that generation is heavily heavily traumatised (our parents and grandparents generation) - and hence they perpetuate the trauma and violence
- high amount of DV , high amount of serial killers, high amount of child predators, high amount of beating / hitting children
Well really the fact that North Korea still exists in these fascist model is disgusting
But that’s just humans - we are resilient
Holocausts, prison work camps , North Korea , big countries bullying little country’s , apartheid , genocides in Africa, child soilder survivors of Africa
Humans are complex that’s for sure
I couldn't sleep there unless I'm in the big cities. Doors creeking... and you know how they don't pray or sent the spirits over, they just tossed so many dead bodies anywhere and everywhere without grave without a proper burial... you hear distant screams. And one night my dad and I went to the top of his balcony and a dog was going batsh!t crazy barking into the night... nothing but trees I asked my dad to shine the light to see the commotion... there was nothing down there, dog was hysterical
Sure, they keep hating Vietnam after.
I can hear my parents' story through this lady. My father escaped to Thailand and was jailed because he didn't have legal papers. My mother escaped through Vietnam with the help of Vietnamese soldiers. This made my extremely sad and teary, I unfortunately lost some family members in the genocide.
Last year, I visited Cambodia with my mom for the first time, she had not visited her birth country for 37 years. We still wonder if her siblings are still alive.
Poor Vietnam had to defend itself against US, China, South Korea, France, Japan, Laos, and saved Cambodia from itself. I can never see myself helping another country or another person after I get ravaged like that
I hope Cambodia and Vietnam wjll be friends forever and become rich together
@@mattparke4370 Many Cambodians forgot that Communist China supported Polpot and invaded Vietnam in 1979 because Vietnam overthrew its protege, Polpot. Today Cambodians, influenced by China's richness and the "investments" in their country, are strongly pro-China and resent Vietnam. That's just the nature of geopolitik.
@@mattparke4370 yeah it's also the reason why Vietnam refused to help Myanmar civilians😔
The question is do you and your mom hate Vietnam though ?!
My two sons and I visited Cambodia in 2006 and went to the killing fields. It was one of the saddest moments in our lives. Seeing pieces of fabric and also teeth in the dried mud pathways. Visitors were asked to place in containers along the pathway of course out of respect. A local man guided us through and told us that babies were beheaded using palm leaves as a saw! I can’t look at palm trees without being reminded of this atrocity. We also visited the “school “ which was used as a place of torture. Pictures line the walls of the main room of the victims. I had to run out as it was so upsetting. I couldn’t begin to imagine the horror and pain these poor souls went through. People of Cambodia are still asking why it all happened. Personally, I can’t understand why we didn’t help these poor people at the time. Cambodian people are so gentle with beautiful souls. 😢
Thank you for sharing..
Thank you for your kind heart and empathy for all humanity!!
What you saw and what are descripted here are just part of the story, or just the symptoms. You see, White Anglo Saxon (European and later on America) they were the imperialist. It is said that the sun doesn't set on the English empire. The French came to southeast Asia and after them the American. The only country within the region that escaped the imperialist power was Thailand. Thailand was able to cozy up to the English and until today has advanced tremendously. Cambodia suffered. The people has suffered since the down turn of their monarchs reigns.
Again, what are said here are only the symptoms, parts of a whole picture.
Thats the reason why i dont understand humans who fear "ghosts" only humans are the true monsters Here.
The US didn't help them because they just pulled out of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War wasn't just the US vs Vietnam. Both Laos and Cambodia were involved, that's why she mentions the US dropping bombs in Cambodia at the start of the video. There was no way the US citizens or government would waltz back into a country hostile towards the US so soon after losing to that country's neighbor.
Tragic. 😔
The minutes with series has quickly become my favorite. No matter the story, it is always fascinating and I learn something new. Thank you for sharing these stories
What did you learn from this story?
What fascinates you about this story?
So many lessons to be taken from her story. We need to be so mindful of the governments and policies that we support. This is what happens when we are deceived by ideals.
This is a hard video to watch and equally as Important. Huge respect to this incredibly brave and strong lady. It is very important to remember these horrible atrocities so we may prevent them in the future but also honor the victims and survivors!
My parents & brother escaped Cambodia and were in a refugee camp in Vietnam before they came to New Zealand. The stories my dad would tell me saddened me. I’m so glad they were able to escape.
It appears that you are ethnically Vietnamese. If so, not just the fact that you are in a democracy like New Zealand, but that your family was no longer in Cambodia was a wonder, because ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia are largely miserable because of the treatment by the Cambodians who are under China's influence.
@@georgep7082 No, I am not ethnically Vietnamese despite my last name. It was given to my father when they were doing paperwork for him to come to NZ.
@@mayhuynh8524 Glad that you live in a free country anyway.
Ok, but do you and your family hate Vietnam?!
@@lenalenalena7276 no? Wth 🤦🏻♀️ I’m glad that they managed to escape the war.
my friend's grandmother had 7 siblings and all but her and i believe a brother survived. How someone lives through these things is beyond me.
Both my mother and grandmother lived through the Khmer Rouge and my grandmother only talked to me about it once when I was 27, I am now 32. My parents have bought me back a few times to visit as I was born in America, but I can say I have lived a humble and unregretful life from hearing what my family has gone through and now seeing how my family in Cambodia live their lives now. You really don't appreciate the grand things in life to the smallest things in life until you experience the gentle aspect of life and Cambodia has taught me that. Be kind to one another we all have one life so let's make it a great one. I love you, Cambodia.
💙💚💜
But I bet you and your family hate Vietnam.
My neighbors managed to escape. No person should go through what they went through.
True, no person should go through atrocities, but how to stop the activities. How?
What a strong woman, I hope her life is full of blessings and happiness
I visited Cambodia years ago when I was backpacking thru SE Asia. I have never been to a place that I connected to so emotionally before. I cried every day and I didn’t know why. Their faces, the kids, knowing a little about the atrocities the people had suffered thru, all of it just hit me right in the heart. This woman is remarkable and her resilience and bravery is humbling.
I was looking for prisoner's photos in S21. And fixtated to a mom with her baby, and just breathless thinking of what was their fate about.😢
I was in the Killing Fields in December 23'. You can still see teeth and bones scattered across the fields that have been left untouched. I got a much worse bad gut feeling there than any nazi concentration camp I've been to. The baby killing tree made shed a tear, and I never cry.
it is much crucial than the Nazi campus, but Holocaust has been talked all the times, but these communism killings were faded away purposely in history.
She's an absolute rock, i have spent quite a bit of time in Cambodia and the people are different level with their kindness and hospitality, they will never ever forget but they just want a chance to move on and prosper.
Just went to Cambodia this year. Just about everyone over the age of 40 has a story to tell. Thank you for sharing
A story to tell how much they hate Vietnam ?!
there's a lot of people who need to hear these stories in this world.
thank you for being brave enough to talk about it. My heart broke to listen to the horror that you lived through. This is exactly why we need lived stories like this. Only these stories can really do justice and hopefully others will listen to history so it isn't repeated.
It’s sad because a lot of my people need therapy, I can’t even ask my mom about it she breaks down
These are fantastic videos! Thank you to every single one of you who helped make these! We all need to know about these heinous acts
Thank you, Var, for having the courage to tell this story. Cambonians like you will prevent these horrors from happening again.
My grandmother told me horrendous stories about the Lao regime murdering Hmong babies, violating Hmong women, and killing Hmong men. This is exactly what kind of history needs to be told so that governments can stop going into stupid wars that kill native people-and humans above all!
My best friend in high school, his parents were from Cambodia and they never talked about anything from there. Even my best friend. Their son, knew nothing. Probably because they were so traumatized.
I'm always scared to ask my mom and dad what happened... I'm worried they will get depressed even though they might already secretly be.... my dad lost 3 of his older brothers, they were brutally murdered because they were educated and had good jobs
I can see the pain in her eyes
Honestly painful and I saw it to.
It always amazes me how Hitler gets so much credit for his evil ways, yet no one ever talks about Pol Pot
It’s a lack of education and people pushing it. The ADL came together and made Holocaust education a thing and wouldn’t have happened if people who were affected didn’t push it so much. While it sucks, people who have suffered from such a regime need to band together and demand the education to be taught. Communism and Marxism never ends well and it needs to be taught over and over against so kids get it through their thick skulls
A lot of people do just not western people
@@CharlieJ69 Lenin, Idi Amin.
Are you serious? The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot are infamous and well known.
@@CharlieJ69If you think these monsters are somehow hidden or not talked about then you should go to a library. There are lots of books about these people and their crimes.
I visited cambodia. It is an overwhelmingly lovely and friendly place that is fiercely peaceful. The real touristy areas are a bit scammy as are all of them but the vast vast VAST majority of the country as I traveled through it were warm friendly and kind. We met with a lot of monks and went to a peace museum that looked at how the peace was brought about. Peace is such a core important thing to Cambodians because it's still relatively new and very hard fought after. They all live in the shadow of that tragedy and they just want to celebrate their culture and share it with others and to see this never happen again
The sick thing is Pol Pot still has a grave there that people visit. Literally, Asia's Hitler and people still pay him respects. It's disgusting
I don't believe in heaven or hell but I would love to image a world where when bad people die, they are forced into the bodies and situations of everyone they ever wronged, forced to fully experience all of the pain and suffering first hand in excruciating detail with persistent memory of when they chose to commit it, then they are pulled into the next horrific situation they caused and created and have to endure the pain they put into the world and for this to continue until they endured the final evil act, then they get looped back to the beginning and have to live out the torture over and over again until the sheer weight of the pain they put out into the universe erodes and wears away their existence until they eventually fade away into complete madness
Thats why it was so easy for th3 Khmer Rouge to take power and hurt so many. The people there had no comprehension that such violence was even possible
My mother told us that the Khmer Rouge after having the monks disrobed, hysterically mocked them of being well endowed due to being well fed in the temples .
@@mikewhocheeseharry5292 annoyingly when I went to Cambodia I was with students as I went on a college trip. Pol Pots Grave is a pretty public easily accessible site that isn’t hidden. I would had LOVED to go urinate on it while I was over there. Even if it meant filling up a bottle and throwing it on the there. The guy was pure scum and the fact that he’s at rest and not being endlessly tortured and tormented is a loss for mankind. One of the greatest evils since adolph hitler
My old neighbors escaped the Khmer Rouge as well. I didn’t fully appreciate how much they went through until I got older and really learned about it. Even though they experienced the most painful things, they remained the kindest people. Thank you so much for sharing your story. Everyone should know what happened. Be well ❤️
My mom has a coworker who is also a survivor. She told my mom of all the murders of babies and how some were stabbed brutally in front of their families.
Thank you for sharing this courages lady’s story! May she and her family be blessed!
I’d like to echo her words towards the end… it is very important that younger generations are aware of attrocities of past genocides all over the world and to try to prevent it from happening again. We must accept the fact that There is currently a genocide going on in Gaza that has been for 76 painful years - probably the longest modern day genocide to ever be prolonged for many decades! Please spread the word - never again means never again for anyone!
It just incredible the despicable acts that humans are capable of inflicting on each other.
The babies being knocked against a tree was so painful to hear .
Human MALES.* Don’t blame all of humanity for the acts of MEN.
@@greendragonspirit1646First time I heard of that “method” was from a survivor of the Armenian genocide, then from a book written by a Treblinka survivor, and then a book called “survivors of the killing fields”. Of all the books I’ve read on these horrific subjects, full of cruelty and suffering as they are, this particular act never ever ceases to shock me.
The US. Be specific with this one.
My father was recruited to go there as an American. He didn’t want to go. He came home a different man and said he was ashamed to be alive. He committed suicide because he couldn’t live with what he was forced to do to you families. On behalf of my family, I am sorry. Truly sorry. Although sorry will never be enough. May God bless you always.
Your father was false in believing that he was responsible for the atrocities against khmer people. The real story is murkier than what appeared. American did bombed Cambodia but that was because the king of Cambodia, at the time, allowed the Viet Cong to use part of Cambodia as a Refuge. Cambodia king did reached out to American but no one noticed him.
This lady just thank the arsonist for putting out the fire! Murky story, Cambodia.
Thank you for having the courage to speak out against the horrific genocide of the people of Cambodia and giving the next generation the very REAL HISTORY of their culture and their people.
Thank you for sharing your story Var. I consider Cambodia my second home. It always strikes me that every single person you see in the streets have been affected by Pol Pot in some way or another… but how many smiles there are. I love Cambodia and it’s people, and I will always feel blessed to have met Chum Mey, one of the few survivors of Tuol Sleng x
So heartbreaking. Sending so much love and peaceful energy to this brave and strong woman.
She mentioned at one point her 1 and a half year old daughter being ill, and mentions later her five year old being brutally beaten.. she says twice later she only had one child with her when she arrived in England.. so heartbreaking realizing that one of them (I'm not sure which one) must have died. My heart breaks for this woman's experience, how strong she is to survive that. For all of Cambodia in that time.
I looked into it to confirm if her other daughter passed away and in another interview she gave, speaking about her experience in London she says this “me, my two daughters and my sister - were in one room, because they don’t have enough space for another. We were safe, we felt safe physically, but we received mixed reception from people. Some people understand it, maybe because I have two kids, two little kids, but some don’t.” So both of her daughters survived, thankfully.
@@izabellestevens4584 wow thank you for figuring that out! After how horrible those experiences were for her, I am SO grateful her babies made it out with her
12:00 When people speak about their pain and it noticeably begins to overwhelm them with emotion, and they apologize for it, it almost always makes me tear up. It’s like seeing the most raw and authentic emotion flow from someone when they struggle so deeply to talk about and relive their trauma. Please don’t apologize. I understand the thinking behind apologizing and feeling like you must apologize, but please don’t. It’s okay, and it’s so good for your healing to talk about these things if it’s still causing you so much pain.
នៅស្រុកភូមិរបស់ខ្ញុំវិញ អោយតែនឹកដល់កាលហ្នឹង ពួកគាត់អួលដើមក ហើយនិយាយមិនចេញទេ វាជាការឈឺចាប់បំផុត 😢
Anyone who can kill a baby or do these things to others is pure evil.
And yet we have half the US screaming for the right to do even worse…🤦♀️
@@audreym3777 ?
abortion ?
@@noefossati9868oh of course here we go with you people you can't compare killing an unborn baby with no consciousness and feeling to a living crying baby, abortion is not murder abortion a form of freedom of women who either did not want a child or was rape into having a child! But killing a living breathing crying infant is a completely different story!
@@Eric123_lol no, I was trying to guess what Audrey was talking about
hooray for abortion
Having been born and raised in Cambodia, I've always deeply empathized with every story I've heard. This is yet another succinct and heart-wrenching perspective that helps me better understand the trauma experienced by the older generation.
Brave woman.Deepest sympathies for the life she endured and atrocities she witnessed and people she lost…
Thank you for this interview, history needs to be remembered
I grew up in a very large Khmer community in Sydney, Australia. This story is very similar to many I have listened to from Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunties, Uncles, Bong Bros/Srey.
I cry every time someone relates their story. My mother and father however stopped crying a long time ago.
Through all these atrocities, the Khmer community are some of the most compassionate people you will meet.
My maternal grandmother died in the ‘killing fields’ , my mother a baby at the time was able to flee with her aunt. There were other aunts and uncles who were also lost, never to full know what happened to them. I have heard stories of the tree that is mentioned in the video. I am thankful my mother didn’t end up one of it’s many infant victims
💚
My friend , Samnang, from college was forced to club his father to death with a bamboo spear for stealing food by the Khmer Rouge soldiers. He was just 8 years old and the only survivor in his immediate family of two parents and three children. I still get choked up to this day thinking about his story.
I had the pleasure of living there for 5 years with my teenage son. I can't express enough how kind, welcoming, curious, and engaging the Khmer people are. The beauty of that country and its captivating people. It still amazes how little knowledge is held in the UK about this gem of SE Asia. Temples, history, jungles and waterfalls, the most resourceful, kind hearted people ive ever met and after all they have suffered. Life is far from fair for Cambodians. Poverty is staggering. Corruption is prevalent. I do think great strides are being made in the right direction. I met so many naturally gifted people. In tune with nature. Traditions and customs and loads of holidays! The weddings are not just one day of celebrations, but three❤. I could go on forever about Cambodia. Oh and the food. It is insanely tasty.
On our second time to the capital, PP, our friend and guide Bong T, accompanied my son and I to, Choeung Ek, killing field. Ive never been somewhere that moved me so much. What they went through is exactly what the word genocide means. I hope this brings clarity to those clouded with the delusion that leftist marxism leads anywhere but to misery death.
Despite all the madness and cruelty the Cambodians have endured, genocide, famine, zero rights, being carpet bombed in someone elses war, having its archaeological gems plundered and looted, decades of dictatorship, generations of families inflicted with trauma, they make the absolute best of life! There is hardly any pitty me attitude. No victim mentality. The youth of western democratic countries could do with a sit down and a history and life lessons from Cambodia. It would benefit them greatly in many ways. 🇬🇧 ❤ 🇰🇭
These stories are a testament to never underestimate how quickly and how bad things can get.
I am Vietnamese, born in 2000s. And I have heard about this genocide from mother and my great grandmother's tellings. There are still evidence and people telling of Vietnamese people being brutally killed when Red Khmer came in Vietnam too. And I think that most of Vietnamese people know about this genocide too.
Your evil communist government is also the reason why it happened in the first place
And nobody was held accountable.
How to hold anyone accountable? Someone would need to confront evil.
Only a handful of pol pots high officers were trailed
Some of the rich families, where I'm from in Australia, were able to sponsor high school students to go to Cambodia so they can help teach English, build water wells and schools/hut houses. I knew a couple of people who went... I never knew about the Khmer Rouge until few months ago- a decade after those kids took that trip. Watching walk throughs of S21 and the Killing Fields truly shocked me. Four years, 2 million people and it was only in the 70's... So close to home...
Wow the timing of this video is crazy, i actually am travelling cambodia at the moment from the UK and visited the killing fields in Phnom penh and the S-21 Prison yesterday. Absolutely chilling place, you can still see thousands of bone fragments in the soil especially when it rains and the mud washes away, the tree they used to smashed hundreds of children’s skulls on is absolutely terrifying. The scale of the killing was unbelievable with most people being executed with hand tools basically bludgeoned to death. Absolutely cruel, if you get the chance to come to Cambodia to learn the history and pay your respects i recommend you do.
I remember watching the movie, The Killing Fields, when it first came out in the mid 1980s. I was in my 20s and wept for a long time after learning what was done by humans to other humans. Forty years later, I have just listened to the amazing woman’s personal account of the atrocities again. My heart hurts so much when I reflect on the great suffering of so many in this world, people who have no choice but to endure torture as best they can. Freedom and love are two very precious gifts in life.
I live in Cambodia great to have her on!!! 🙏❤️ 🇰🇭 🙏
Never again for anyone. Genocide is despicable.
Yet it's happening in PALESTINE RIGHT NOW .AND I DARESAY WE DON'T KNOW THE HALF OF WHAT IS HAPPENING
@@vickythefist7062 EXACTLY
@@vickythefist7062 That's not genocide.
It certainly is Genocide. Pull your head out of the sand@@thejammod
@@VampireSock Let's try again. It's not a genocide.
I visited Cambodia and there were mass graves & memorials everywhere. I went to Choeng Ek & Tuol Sleng in Cambodia, but I think the worst thing I saw was the Samrong Knong Killing Field memorial which details (in words & pictures) all the torture methods around it. It's close to Battambang (the 2nd place Var went), so seeing someone who would have witnessed that torture first hand makes it all the more real. The few things she mentions are nothing compared to the full atrocities of the Khmer Rouge. I'm not surprised she doesn't talk about that aspect much. So glad she escaped.
People often forget the US government’s *cough* Kissinger *cough* role in the ascendency of the Khmer Rouge.
I did not know that.
@@GhostCell47 because America " Henry Kissinger" played a major role which brought Pol Pot into power, due to the tons of illegal bombing in Cambodia that was a neutral country.
Which is what? Sihanouk was friendly to the communists so they would’ve taken over anyway
True
And Viets as the Americans were bombing the illegal Viets who were moving closer to the villages. Remember Cambodia was not at war with the US.
I saw an exhibit of portraits of prisoners. The expression in their eyes was something I will never forget. I felt the fear. These were human beings who had such a horrible fate.
Such a strong woman , as well as all the other strong survivors, they are truly amazing .
One of my former coworkers had family that survived the Cambodian Genocide. I never asked her about it cause i couldn’t even fathom the horrors her family had endured.
What a sad part of Cambodia's history which many people forget especially being recent (1970s) that is very overlooked and most people just think of the holocaust during the war but other atrocities such as in Bosnia and former Yugoslavia in the 1990s with many genocides against one another. Truly chilling reminders of how government and also people can create such pain, suffering and evil towards other people let alone its own...
We, the Cambodian , Khmer Young Generation, we feel you, we feel the pain, the struggling time during Khmer Rouge.
Praying for our ancestors who have died and be happy for those who have survived.
I visited Cambodia 11 years ago, around 2013, and went to S21, still can't forget the things I saw and felt during that time.
Too heavy and too sad.
Miss Var paints a vivid, harrowing picture of a Hell on Earth. Nightmarish stuff. Best wishes and happiness to the great lady and her family. Respect from Ireland. Her story perfectly illustrates why countries should give sanctuary to war refugees. It is unfortunate that Pol Pot escaped justice, croaking of a heart attack (heart?) in 1998 aged 72. Ditto many of his brutal hench thugs, as like many Nazis after World War 2. The 1985 movie 'The Killing Fields' is a study in the horror of the monstrous, demonic-like Khmer Rouge.
My uncle was a Vietnamese soldier stationed in Cambodia in the 80s. Although a very talkative man, he would never talk about his time or what he'd seen there, period.
God bless all Vietnamese soldiers and people. The kindest and most logical of the Asians!
Well...that was the worst 20 seconds I´ve ever heard. The poor babies. 😭😭😣😖😭
I saw the victim photo at Tuol Sleng and my heart wreck when i saw a few babies photo and one of them had a similar look like my nephew. I was crying on my room and hugged him tightly and praying to God nothing bad will happened to him just like those poor baby. 😢
Thanks for sharing. I have been to Cambodia three times (I work in Thailand) The Khmer Rouge was a dark part of Cambodia's history. After 1976, the country hardly had anything left...no professional people, no schools, no infrastructure. It had to start all over again.
This is what certain countries want. They don’t want Cambodia to rise.
The cruelty and evil with which mankind is capable of treating fellow human beings is astounding
How people can endure so much pain and be so sweet and soft spoken still....I pray you will have peace and happiness always.
Thank you for sharing your story Var. We will not forget.
Wow! It's shocking to learn about the depths of human depravity. There are so many holocausts that are not taught.
One happening right now that the USA is doing its absolute utmost to spin and censor
💯
And ongoing today. Every day. Children being killed. Starved.
thank you var im so shocked to have never know of any of your countries history , i only recently saw it Cambodia referred to as the killing field from a tiktok video and am so thankful for you insight and account of the events that took place , thankyou for teacher me
I have lived in Cambodia for 13 years she is very brave to tell her story and it is very important these survivors stories are told and remembered. A very brave lady.
This lady , among millions of others , really suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge . I couldn’t imagine living through the horrors she lived through , she is one tough cookie .
There was a excellent movie made about this time in Cambodia called The Killing Fields , it’s well worth a watch
Thank you for sharing a little glimpse of your story. Many blessings to you and your family, and all the survivors.
The passion and dedication are palpable, fueling meaningful exchanges and breakthroughs
What an amazing women. To go through those horrendous things and be able to speak about it today. I'm so glad you managed to get out and hope you have been able to live a happier life ❤
I have visited the s21 prison and the killing fields twice and it was such a traumastizing experience, Hearing stories from survivors while travelling in Cambodia really does show evil exists. Seeing peoples eyes and having a glimpse into their misery is truly haunting. Socialism`s true face leaves scars pretty much for everyone to see and yet unfortunately we do not learn. I have nothing but respect for the people of Cambodia and how they have tried to deal with the aftermath
Very brave lady. Thank you for sharing your story.
Absolutely heat wrenching. I cannot imagine living through that. I’m just glad she got away and managed to live a better life ❤ prayers for you lovely lady ❤
Such an Amazing video. Ashe is so strong and I can only imagine the pain she and her people suffered
Unbelievable what these people had to go through. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, LADbible for educating your audience. Education is the only way to prevent these horrors from happening and good education is getting sparse, so these stories are direly needed.
12:15 that’s a whole different level of sorrow I feel for her. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to watch that happen to my baby and couldn’t do a damn thing. And for me there’s another level of worseness cause it’s not even like her baby did anything bad per we, she was literally just starving.
Her daughters both survived with her, I confirmed this by watching other interviews she has given, but nonetheless it’s absolutely horrific
A massive thankyou to this brave women for opening old wounds to educate people especially the younger generation . Its surprising how many people don't know about this grim time in history.
What a brave and remarkable lady. God bless you.
What an amazing story and insight into the atrocious regime of the Khmer Rouge 🙏🏼🙏🏼
To this day, my parents still wake up before 5am to make rice porridge with salt & dried fish. And we would eat it quietly as a family getting yelled at by our parents if we messed around. Idk if that means anything but it’s almost as if they are so used to the same morning regimen during the Khmer Rouge regime , if that makes sense idk
Do they talk about their past? I’m sorry
Omg my dad eats that I just realized now
@@cwr8618 yes whenever they argue, socialize, lecture us, etc it’s always about the struggling parts , journey, & losing family but also the happy memories when they make friends & reunite (i eavesdrop 🤣) . But the really traumatizing parts they keep inside becos no words can describe it and might even traumatize us even more by hearing it 🤷🏽♀️
@@phillyguy6official yea at the end of the day it’s a traditional Khmer meal but with an added dark history behind it, just like the Krama, & some of Khmer proverbs but it’s reclaimed kinda hard to explain
This woman is so brave, thank you so much for sharing your history...
Thank you, Var. Your telling of what your witnessed and experienced will not be in vain. People will always be there to hear you. Am I hearing though that it's the youth in Cambodia who are not believing it? Or worldwide? I know that worldwide people need to wake up but it's always alarming when it happened to people you know and you don't believe it.
Thank you so much for this account. Thank you for educating people about this. I definitely believe it's not easy. I'm so very grateful that you are alive with your family to present this account. And I'm deeply saddened for all of the Cambodian people that lost their lives due to these horrible people.