My parents suffered and survived this horrific point in history. Thank you guys over at The Infographics team for shedding a light on a very untouched topic in modern history classes and courses. It truly means a lot to survivors of this time.
I am very saddened to hear that. In high school, I had to learn about the Khmer Rouge. I had to watch "Première, ils avant mourent mon père" and "The Killing Fields", and write an essay. I was deeply saddened, and I couldn't sleep for weeks. I am deeply sad to hear about what your family went through.
For those who don’t know, Nightmare on Elm Street was inspired by a Khmer Rouge child refugee. This is quoted from an article: “He recounted the story of a refugee child from the Cambodian genocide, who was terrified to sleep for fear that he would be attacked in his dreams and never wake up.”
The fact that the US knew about the Cambodian genocide before Vietnam exposed the regime's atrocities to the world, US still supported the Khmer Rouge because of the US loss in Vietnam war
@Hilde It was like villain (Vietnam, or at least that was how the world saw them after defeating USA in 1975) against villain (Khmer Rouge, genocide atrocities already started in the twilight years of Vietnam War) supported by another villain (USA, material and weapons support), almost nobody supported Vietnam (except Soviet Union) in their military campaigns against Khmer Rouge (KR killing their own people and ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia) and often starting border skirmishes
newsflash. Vietnam knew about Cambodian genocide way before the United states and would have not invaded Cambodia if the KR hadn't started slaughtering Vietnames civilians starting in 1977. Vietnam isn't so clean here.
@Rufus Monroe Not just a dictator, he destroyed whole generations, murdered A quarter of the population and caused a bunch of trauma to a lot of people, and caused pain and suffering!, show some respect man!
I feel similarly. We need to be taught the awful stuff. Especially with America, we should learn about the Bhopal disaster, the My Lai massacre, and other warcrimes that we have committed
Remember this fact: US and China were supporting Polpot. And when Vietnam fighting Kmer Rouge, US called international for blacklisting and sanctioning Vietnam. China also started a war with Vietnam soon after knowing that Vietnamese army were fighting many enemies at once (Vietnam still kind of won that war with China lol)
It was the Cold War and both sides took the “my enemies enemy is my friend” approach. Both sides, especially in the West hooked up with some very unpleasant people and regimes. Nobody is proud of it.
Vietnam basically stopped this man on its own just for the Americans and Chinese to make sure he kept some sort of power all because they hated Vietnam more lol
@@2hotflavored666 you know what, solely USSR had defended Vietnam from the big 4 of United Nations' (US, UK, CN and FR) accusions (invading Cambodia). It proves that they Soviet guys didn't support Polpot in the first place.
I had the privilege of visiting Cambodia a few years ago and the museums dedicated to the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge were heartbreaking. There were pictures of soldiers tossing babies and other soldiers holding a bayonet upright and I won’t explain the rest. We were told that because so many of the older generation were executed, Cambodia lost a lot of its culture - foods, education, history, etc. The Cambodian people are incredible because even after experiencing something like that, I saw people trying to reestablish their culture and reclaim what was lost. Go Cambodia!!!
Stuff like that is still happening every single day though... in nk labor camps, what they do to men, women, kids and babies.... you don't want to know. It's more horrible than anything I've heard in my life.
@@noorrougelewis6704 It's awful but I don't think they're actively executing people the way they did in Cambodia... It looks like you're trying to undermine the events even if it's not your intention but that's really something else.
@whannabi no, he isn't trying to minimize what you were talking about, he's saying stuff like that still happens, and that way you reacted I would say YOU are the one minimizing current atrocities in favor of focusing on something that already happened.
Fun facts: most of the victims weren't killed by bullets. Due to shortage of ammunitions. beheading or smashing victim's skull by shovel were common methods. Even disembowelment in some cases. grosteque stuff.
Watch the movie: "First they killed my father" and you will understand how brutal PolPot was. Skulls were everywhere. Had it not been for the Vietnamese, Cambodia would have gone back go stone age. Too bad this video mentioned this very briefly.
My dad wasn't in Cambodia at the time and my mom was born after this horrible point but my grandma had to suffer badly but she survived and I'm thankful she is still here
There was a movie about a girl during this time called "first they killed my father" its pretty depressing and i probably wouldn't survive givin the same situation the fact that vietnam was the one trying to stop them from committing atrocities while america and china were funding them makes me question what other unethical things the government does
My mom had 5 siblings and only her and her single sister survived. My grandmother was dead before my mom even turned 10. The sister that survived/my aunt had a daughter but died because of sickness with water and food. A lot of deaths happens. The law is really horrible about the road work.
The Vietnamese really are the heroes of this situation. Although my country fought against Vietnam, I have to admire their struggle to unify their country and then end the genocide in Cambodia.
They more or less just wanted control over the region, caring about mass killings was second. They themselves also had killing quotas, difference being amount killed were couple instead of 25 percent of the popluation
Fact 1: Phnom Penh almost fell in 1973 when the Khmer Rouge assaulted the city. US air support and bombing pushed them off and delayed the fell of Phnom Penh by 2 years. Fact 2: There are more than 190 killing fields (reeducation camp) around Cambodia; some disappeared, but most of them are still visible. Fact 3: Pol Pot's regime killed so much doctors from the previous government that when the Pol Pot's regime fell, less than 50 professional doctors survived the regime.
Fact 1.5: according to my teacher, the people at Phnom Penh were peaceful and friendly, putting flowers in gun barrels and greeting them with a smile yet they still slaughtered the people there until Phnom Penh was basically a ghost city
You didn’t know that U.S bomb Kampot and mondulkiri that’s why we have Khmer Rouge and that time kampot people died 1000 people and you know US hate Cambodia that’s why they bomb us
My grandfather was a wealthy general. He was tortured to death, beaten with bamboo sticks. That's how he died. My family lived in those camps and endured the reign. A lot of educated Cambodians had to play dumb to live.
I have a feeling that my Grandma knows your Grandfather at one point. She knows a General that was killed in her district. Its an inciting story actually, the General was confronted by some rebels and they shouted at him to kneel down or something. He simply said “no” and they just shot him. What a badass
@Demeter greek Yeah so Mexico, Middle East, Africa were all communists?? How communist was Nasser in Egypt or Mugabe and Amin in Zambia and Uganda i wonder??! Επειδη κατηγορούν την Αμερική δεν σημαίνει ότι ειναι αριστεροί! Ολος ο πλανήτης τους κατηγορεί και δίκαια με τις εμπλοκές τους παντού και οποτε θελουν!!
@Demeter greek nah we create monsters to often we need to stop playing superhero because we always end up creating villains keep in mind we have al queda weapons even though they were allied at the time the bible has many quotes about the same issues
*Being a Vietnamese with the freedom to learn information, including documents from the West. I admit that the West has told a different story to change the fact that they support the Khmer Rouge genocidal regime, and claim that Vietnam invaded Cambodia, then embargoed Vietnam. If Vietnam invaded Cambodia, Cambodia cannot be an independent country now*
probably the most underexposed dictator and genocide in history of humans. there should be a new mainstream movie made in his name, about his atrocities so the modern world will know and won't forget what this evil dictator had done. the 80s movie "the killing fields" is still a great watch today, as well as the recent angelina jolie movie "first they killed my father". both were great at telling about the khmer rouge.
Benito Mussolini was once a elementary school teacher as well. Imagine if your teacher wanted to restore the Roman Empire but failed to take Greece lol.
@@ngockhoanguyen2886 And +60% of the troops invading yugoslavia and greece were italian, the germans didn't so much other than providing some breaktrough with it's panzers.
I have a co-worker of mine who was born in 1961 in Cambodia. He doesn't talk about it ever, but I heard he had to live in the jungle for 2 months, his entire family were killed beforehand. Truly horrible things humans can do.
Me too bro I always don’t want to eat food Khmer Rouge will not have back if we have we still have stronger troops and President if I’m a bussiness man I would build the bunker for the people to survive to help people
he killed my grandpa by blindfold him then throw him into a spike pit my grandma and dad watched in horror and madness and i never got to see my grandpa's face. edit: at the age of 14 I get to see my grandpa's old pics for the first time.
Although the Khmer Rouge was very cruel, when the Vietnamese army entered Cambodia to hunt them down, the world turned its back on Vietnam and said it was an act of aggression.
My mom’s father was gathered to join the Khmer Rouge army, which forced him to abandon my grandmother and his 4 barely-grownup children including my mom. Not knowing that was the last time they saw each other. Up till this day, I asked my mom does she even remember her father’s face? She said “no, not even found his body to bury.” I can’t imagine how traumatized she encountered at that very young age of hers.
USA never apologize because they have a big ego.. They never apologize to the middle east, the Philippines, vietname. They were hypocritely apologize to japan while McArthure laughing saying japanese are easily manipulated
I've been to S21 and the killing fields when I was visiting Cambodia. It's heartbreaking to see all the pain and suffering the Khmer rouge caused during that time.
The museum of the killing fields, which I visited in 2014, is by far the most impressive museum I have visited. It was so horrifying to see how brutal the regime was.
My parents were born a few years after the end of the Khmer Rogue, but my grandparents were more than likely young at the time with their parents being killed in the process (my great grandparents). I’ve always wanted to learn about Cambodia history from my family, but since the Khmer Rogue is one of the most important parts of it all, I’m always afraid to ask. Thank you for creating such a video, I can now sort of see what my grandparents and great grandparents had to go through. My grandpa is a very harsh man and I’m guessing this event is one of the reasons why if not the biggest.
Ah all my fellow Cambodians born around a few years ago, may we agree that our parents always talked about this? Describing their survival stories, how their brave brothers would go out and steal food risking their lives in labor camps? Also are there any other Khmer people here?
9:50 - I'm surprised they told the truth - that the Vietnamese were the liberators, and that the yanks supported the regime (though they HEAVILY glossed over how much the yanks helped).
My global history class in high school didnt even mention him! Ive learned way more on youtube in the past 2 year than in all of high school tbh. Thanks for educating us!
I am in college and only just learnt about this a few months ago via being bored and going down a rabbit hole. I would've definitely questioned it back in school especially been told "never again" when it came to the Holocaust
I went to a popular prison complex in Phnom Penh that used to be an all girls high school. There was bullet holes, old blood splatter, fingernails scratched into the wall, the torture devices they used, the paintings of the tortures, and a picture/signed confession of every single person who came in (about 5,000-20,000). And of those 5-20k, 3 came out alive.. It was one of the most sobering experiences of my life and I recommend everyone see it. Not because its cool or fun, but because it is horrible and awful and must be known and remembered by all.
@Nospam Spamisham lol I dont know of any gun owner (including myself) who 'looks down" on non-gun owners. Theres literally no reason to own one unless in a high crime area, shooting hobbies, or a hunter. I fall in all 3 hence, why I own firearms. Also 10/10 for you to connect a genocide that took place in 1976 to Joe Biden's candicacy for president hahaha. Impressive, I must say.
I visited there as a teenager and I almost fainted learning about this while there; I cannot imagine what it was like for the poor souls who had to live and experience what went on there
my grandpa from dad’s was killed as soon as the crew learned that he’s a teacher. most of my family members survived but unfortunately, only him that didn’t
My 12th grade college prep teacher's mom was from Thailand. When my teacher would visit Thailand as a teen, she would also visit Cambodia, and she said that the Chong Ekh Memorial is somewhere you can only visit once.
I’ve been to the killing fields and the high school when I visited Cambodia when I was 28. Was so sad. Still clothing sticking out of the mass grave pits and collection plates if you find any bones. We put a few teeth in there. A very sobering experience and happened not that long ago!
I'm Vietnamese and my ma used to tell me stories about a refugee Cambodian lady going to middle school with her in the era. She said some of the little Pol Pots would hold infants by the ankles top down and tear them in half chicken wing style to conserve bullets.
Angelina Jolie directed the movie 'first they killed my father' it talks about a true story of what life was like under pol pot's rule. I highly recommend its.
A friend I work with lost his six siblings and his parents under the regime. The irony is you couldn't meet a more happy go-lucky guy. I guess that's the best way to deal with it. He was adopted, grew up in Canada and married his Cambodian American wife and they have a 14 year old girl. I guess that's how he's gotten on-just tried to remake a new life for himself. I am reminded of how lucky I am every time I think of his life's story (my dad made it to 70 before dying of diseases, my moms still alive as are my 4 siblings.
I just watched this video with my Khmer (Cambodian) girlfriend. Her grandparents survived this regime and there are many dark and horrifying stories not taught to the wider world
Thank you so much for making this video! My mother is Cambodian and the stories she tells me of the genocide r truly horrific. I'm happy that more people can learn about what happened as most people don't know much about it.
Quite sad, my family lived through this from 1975 --> 1979, my mom still traumatized by this. My uncle (a teacher), was first to get killed. Family of one of my aunt (distant relative from my father side), all died except her (family of 20), she has been living with us since 1985.
Hey I live in Cambodia now, I want to know why it is has a lot of skull? on the picture, now I find this video and listen to it, and I know now, thank you it's video is really helpful.
Cambodia was on its way to being a decent first world country. Unfortunately the slaughtering of those talented/educated people set Cambodia back another 300 years….
my grandparents hid under dead bodies, pretended to be dumb, and escaped to thailand with my mom and my aunt. my grandpa described both of them as very frail and small because it was very hard to get food. if it weren’t for them i wouldn’t be here right now. my grandpa told us only a few details about what he meant through because everything else is just too graphic. sadly, my grandma passed away a long time ago. i’m so glad my grandpa is happy with my new grandma. they make everything so fun
@@datechds9434 No, he died of his own illness in a home in the jungle. They cremated him outside with his furnitures and a bunch of old tires. He was never tried for his crimes.
I had to learn about the Khmer Rouge as part of the history curriculum in high school, because we also had to learn about WWII. There was no getting out of it. If we tried to get out of it, we could potentially fail the class if we didn't have a passing grade. If we had a passing grade, we still had to learn about it or risk having a lower grade. This was in 12th grade. We had to watch the documentaries tied to "Première Ils Avent Mourtent Mon Père (First They Killed My Father)" and "The Killing Fields". We also had to read the associated books. I was absolutely horrified beyond belief. In the U.S., so many of my fellow college students tout socialism, and don't even know what they're talking about. My point is, be careful for what you wish for. You don't want to live like that.
As a Cambodian-Russian blood, my grandmother daughter her name ms.roth was a happy person from my gramma, she told me the story of her daughter death cause, the genocide was a brutal things I’ve learn from Khmer history, she died during 1978 from starvation.
Some elders that escaped to oversea, they're still in fear to come back to their homeland. It hurts them so much to come back, to where most of their relatives lost their lives to Khmer Rogue.
My grandfather and grandmother met during pol pots regime, both were rich before it, came out poor after, my grandma is a really happy person though, but I'm not sure about my grandfather haven't seen him in a while, he just watches anime in his room and it's lockdown anyways
My parents were children during the killing fields. My mother lost her father who was executed at the camp and my father lost his younger brother as they ran from the camps.
@@ccvjd3909 yes but think this, you're arguing with your friend and dont really need help bc you've got this, then some random classmate comes in and makes it a bigger deal and turns you two against each other even more just to make money off you two in the end, sounds familiar?
@Demeter greek Yeah really, if you google popular Cambodian music from around or just before that time what you’ll find is Cambodians embraced American music and culture. Cambodian psychedelic rock is a thing people.
@@klarisaarwena stop the spread of communism. Wether or even if by capitalizing via unfair trade I think it’s safe to say the Cambodian people would agree. Living as Americans being their allies would be vastly better than what they got. Communism always fails. The areas where it exists are dystopian nightmares.
If I was a real historian and not just some random person on youtube, I’d want to do a comparative analysis of WWI vs. the Vietnam War: -Both started with the actions of a smaller power that soon got the great powers involved (Russia intervened to protect Serbia, and Germany intervened on behalf of Austria-Hungary/US intervened to support South Vietnam, leading China to support the Vietcong) -Both *looked* like quick wars at the outset, but were... not -Both caused *such* brutal fighting, in part because the great powers involved were not prepared for the conditions they were fighting in (trench vs. jungle warfare) -And both left a country *so devastated* (Treaty of Versailles vs. US bombing of Cambodia) that they easily fell prey to a charismatic and cruel dictator, who went on to perpetuate the two bloodiest genocides in history...
I mean it as a compliment to her strength: She needs to speak on college campuses about why that's no way to live. She could change a few minds by sharing her story. Her strength is compelling.
My grandfather would have to keep chickens and have them lay eggs. When he lost a chicken, he lost a finger. I never had a chance to see my grandfather.
I visited Cambodia in early 2020 and without any doubt I can tell you that the cambodians were one of the most kind hearted and gentle people but the genuine pain of the late 70s was still quite visible in them, the lack of educated professionals is since a problem their especially in the medical sector where people are resorting to traditional tribal organic healing practices, I with my family visited that high school turned dystopian centre which currently acts as a museum and those graphic and heart trembling instances still terrify me, my parents couldn't listen to the information provided and within few moments of our museum tour, they left and sat on a nearby bench.
My family is Buddhist, which was outlawed by the regime, a lot of us became separated; most of us can’t remember our village before the death and wish to forget. I appreciate you visiting Cambodia, may life be blessed with happiness.
I know a Cambodian man who was there and absolutely hates Communism and Communist I don't blame or pass judgement upon him for the evils that occurred are a truly horrific on levels that many westernized people will NEVER comprehend
I remember a particularly horrible thing from S-21, there was an old tree from his reign, which I learned was “the baby tree” where infants were grabbed by their feet and swung against the tree, crushing their heads.
@@TNOfan4093 yeah I don't know what I was saying. The thought of them is about equal. You could probably do some math or something to find which was technically the worst but both were horrific.
My parents suffered and survived this horrific point in history. Thank you guys over at The Infographics team for shedding a light on a very untouched topic in modern history classes and courses. It truly means a lot to survivors of this time.
I am very saddened to hear that. In high school, I had to learn about the Khmer Rouge. I had to watch "Première, ils avant mourent mon père" and "The Killing Fields", and write an essay. I was deeply saddened, and I couldn't sleep for weeks. I am deeply sad to hear about what your family went through.
@blake yang Didn't ask
bro wdym hes just based
I was never even taught this in high-school unfortunately.. in the US.. glad they made it out safely though!
I am American and never heard of him in school. It's disgusting they don't teach this.
For those who don’t know, Nightmare on Elm Street was inspired by a Khmer Rouge child refugee. This is quoted from an article: “He recounted the story of a refugee child from the Cambodian genocide, who was terrified to sleep for fear that he would be attacked in his dreams and never wake up.”
Shut up u women
Interesting.
a bunch of the refugess started dying in thier sleep you left the craziest part out.
Wow that’s crazy
@@lilreeseakathechiraqgrimre1995 chill out you got some anger issues
The fact that the US knew about the Cambodian genocide before Vietnam exposed the regime's atrocities to the world, US still supported the Khmer Rouge because of the US loss in Vietnam war
@Hilde It was like villain (Vietnam, or at least that was how the world saw them after defeating USA in 1975) against villain (Khmer Rouge, genocide atrocities already started in the twilight years of Vietnam War) supported by another villain (USA, material and weapons support), almost nobody supported Vietnam (except Soviet Union) in their military campaigns against Khmer Rouge (KR killing their own people and ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia) and often starting border skirmishes
Lol they supported right wing, fascist autocrats in the name of combatting communism, mainly in South America and parts of Asia
newsflash. Vietnam knew about Cambodian genocide way before the United states and would have not invaded Cambodia if the KR hadn't started slaughtering Vietnames civilians starting in 1977. Vietnam isn't so clean here.
It’s like that. They did the same here when Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law. US had his support while he was ‘freely’ k*lling people
USA bombed them . Reall great support
My poor parents are still traumatized from him and what they have witnessed during his reign.
@Rufus Monroe Dude he's a murderer who killed 2 million people show some respect!!!!
You're Cambodian?
@@thabokgwele5268 Yup!
@Rufus Monroe he killed 2 million people in a country of 8 million people
@Rufus Monroe Not just a dictator, he destroyed whole generations, murdered A quarter of the population and caused a bunch of trauma to a lot of people, and caused pain and suffering!, show some respect man!
This should have been taught in schools. This atrocity should never be forgotten. Look into the horrors that was S-21.
nah man, it should be forgotten, there's more ignorant people in this world than the one with common sense
I feel similarly. We need to be taught the awful stuff. Especially with America, we should learn about the Bhopal disaster, the My Lai massacre, and other warcrimes that we have committed
Steve B Honestly we do learn about a lot of bad things the US has done, at least at my schools
@@EternalNico1 nice schoo
I HAD to learn about it in high school, and I was absolutely horrified beyond belief. I couldn't sleep.
His hatred of educated people is obviously rooted to his failure in school. Like a certain Austrian who failed in Art school
HAHA YOU DID A FUNNY
No doubt 😂😂😂😂or a Georgian farmer in Russia👀👀
Well people like us we never learned
That "certain Austrian" ended up invading Europe and making Germany one of the best education systems in the world...
@@eliasziad7864 it’s crazy how that worked out. Scarily crazy.
Remember this fact: US and China were supporting Polpot. And when Vietnam fighting Kmer Rouge, US called international for blacklisting and sanctioning Vietnam. China also started a war with Vietnam soon after knowing that Vietnamese army were fighting many enemies at once (Vietnam still kind of won that war with China lol)
its vietnam though
Khmer Rouge
It was the Cold War and both sides took the “my enemies enemy is my friend” approach. Both sides, especially in the West hooked up with some very unpleasant people and regimes. Nobody is proud of it.
Its Cambodia not Vietnam
@@Drannn54 "Its Cambodia not Vietnam"" so who defeated Polpot?
So much destruction from a man that sounded like a bowl of steamed rice.
Lol
The rice fields thing really fit him.
I subscribed to you
THATS RACIST BLM!!! Oh it's an asian guy? Carry on then
@@methheadmayhemmiller8747 did white boy miss the point
Vietnam basically stopped this man on its own just for the Americans and Chinese to make sure he kept some sort of power all because they hated Vietnam more lol
@Sahib cold war america with Nixon. He was a terrible president.
Vietnam number 1
@Sahib Don't forget to include China and the USSR.
Thailand and China are the two nearby countries which supported Polpot. And till now, Thai people still accuses Vietnam for raising that monster lol.
@@2hotflavored666 you know what, solely USSR had defended Vietnam from the big 4 of United Nations' (US, UK, CN and FR) accusions (invading Cambodia). It proves that they Soviet guys didn't support Polpot in the first place.
One of the most evil men in history and he gets house arrest? Makes sense
ty gamer which makes him evil lol.. if poeple are expendable to reach a vision..
It’s to not let him be a martyr.
@@Ty-vj4wg he killed a baby by smashing its head against a tree thats not evil at all :/
he gets support by the US, not surprising.
@@Ty-vj4wg Kinda like every other dictator
I had the privilege of visiting Cambodia a few years ago and the museums dedicated to the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge were heartbreaking. There were pictures of soldiers tossing babies and other soldiers holding a bayonet upright and I won’t explain the rest. We were told that because so many of the older generation were executed, Cambodia lost a lot of its culture - foods, education, history, etc. The Cambodian people are incredible because even after experiencing something like that, I saw people trying to reestablish their culture and reclaim what was lost. Go Cambodia!!!
Stuff like that is still happening every single day though... in nk labor camps, what they do to men, women, kids and babies.... you don't want to know. It's more horrible than anything I've heard in my life.
@@noorrougelewis6704 It's awful but I don't think they're actively executing people the way they did in Cambodia... It looks like you're trying to undermine the events even if it's not your intention but that's really something else.
@@w花b thank you! That guy needs to be more open minded lol.
@whannabi no, he isn't trying to minimize what you were talking about, he's saying stuff like that still happens, and that way you reacted I would say YOU are the one minimizing current atrocities in favor of focusing on something that already happened.
@meng7754 no, he doesn't, he didn't say anything wrong. YOU need to be more open minded.
Fun facts: most of the victims weren't killed by bullets. Due to shortage of ammunitions. beheading or smashing victim's skull by shovel were common methods. Even disembowelment in some cases. grosteque stuff.
That fact is not so fun
Fun?
Yes, we were happy killing 2 trillion urbanite capitalist scums
You seem really into it man, seek help.
@@phish8877 Yea… That aint a fun fact
Watch the movie: "First they killed my father" and you will understand how brutal PolPot was. Skulls were everywhere. Had it not been for the Vietnamese, Cambodia would have gone back go stone age. Too bad this video mentioned this very briefly.
I had to watch it in high school as a part of the history curriculum, and I was horrified beyond belief. It makes you think.
@@devinreis5811 you watched a Netflix movie mandatory for your hs history curriculum? lol.
@@lime4328 I didn't want to repeat the 12th grade.
@@devinreis5811 lul what a requirement. still, you’d think a real doc on the atrocities would be mandatory to learn from not necessarily a movie
@@lime4328 Because it was based off a true story. We also had to watch The Killing Fields.
I remember seeing skulls in a well in a buddhist temple in Siem Reap
Hot
@Quentin Gonnella yeah
S
Same here
S
My dad wasn't in Cambodia at the time and my mom was born after this horrible point but my grandma had to suffer badly but she survived and I'm thankful she is still here
There was a movie about a girl during this time called "first they killed my father" its pretty depressing and i probably wouldn't survive givin the same situation the fact that vietnam was the one trying to stop them from committing atrocities while america and china were funding them makes me question what other unethical things the government does
Punctuation next time helps lol, but yes def agree.
@@ccvjd3909 he's realistic
I had to watch it and read the book, as well as write an essay summarizing it, in high school.
I read that book and have never forgotten it.
Watch The Killing Road
My mom had 10 siblings, only 4 survived.
My mom don’t have a siblings I feel bad for her cause she lonely 😔
Joiy!!! Gud nah?
My mom had 5 siblings and only her and her single sister survived. My grandmother was dead before my mom even turned 10. The sister that survived/my aunt had a daughter but died because of sickness with water and food. A lot of deaths happens. The law is really horrible about the road work.
Long live you and your survived family wherever you are .
I am sorry for your loss, this era of cambodian history shouldnt be forggoten😢
The Vietnamese really are the heroes of this situation.
Although my country fought against Vietnam, I have to admire their struggle to unify their country and then end the genocide in Cambodia.
Thank you for your appreciation, rarely anyone would say like that after all the usa propaganda, even in the present
No... You guys are not. You're part of the reason it all went down. Stop taking credit for something you are partly responsible. Its beyond pathetic.
This genocide would have never happened if it wasn't for our evil nation. I wish I was European.
They more or less just wanted control over the region, caring about mass killings was second. They themselves also had killing quotas, difference being amount killed were couple instead of 25 percent of the popluation
@@equalityforever302 oh tes, what a evil nation, fought the group that commits such genocide
This guy makes 1984 look like a story for kids
69th likes
@@RGC_animation Nice...
Reality is often much more terrifying than fiction.
It is insane how similar his reign was to the one depicted in the book. Hard to believe that he supposedly never read it.
wait what was 1984 about?
Fact 1: Phnom Penh almost fell in 1973 when the Khmer Rouge assaulted the city. US air support and bombing pushed them off and delayed the fell of Phnom Penh by 2 years.
Fact 2: There are more than 190 killing fields (reeducation camp) around Cambodia; some disappeared, but most of them are still visible.
Fact 3: Pol Pot's regime killed so much doctors from the previous government that when the Pol Pot's regime fell, less than 50 professional doctors survived the regime.
@Nospam Spamisham It is well known that neither knowledge nor intelligence can be weighted using profession or literacy.
I'm cambodian and I knew alot of this stuff are you cambodian ?too
Fact 1.5: according to my teacher, the people at Phnom Penh were peaceful and friendly, putting flowers in gun barrels and greeting them with a smile yet they still slaughtered the people there until Phnom Penh was basically a ghost city
You didn’t know that U.S bomb Kampot and mondulkiri that’s why we have Khmer Rouge and that time kampot people died 1000 people and you know US hate Cambodia that’s why they bomb us
@@beybladepvp9734 no they have nothing to do with Cambodia they bomb us for the same reason that they bomb Vietnam a civil war against communism
My grandfather was a wealthy general. He was tortured to death, beaten with bamboo sticks. That's how he died. My family lived in those camps and endured the reign. A lot of educated Cambodians had to play dumb to live.
I have a feeling that my Grandma knows your Grandfather at one point. She knows a General that was killed in her district. Its an inciting story actually, the General was confronted by some rebels and they shouted at him to kneel down or something. He simply said “no” and they just shot him. What a badass
@@frags7792 Not badass at all what's wrong with you
yes my grandfather was in charge of rubber exports and had to pretend he couldn't write
Sounds horrific..im sorry
“And like almost all terrible events that occurred in the 70’s, Nixon got involved” 😂😂😂
@Alexander Leblanc Lets make it even more political, Nixon was a Republican /s
@Demeter greek Yeah so Mexico, Middle East, Africa were all communists?? How communist was Nasser in Egypt or Mugabe and Amin in Zambia and Uganda i wonder??! Επειδη κατηγορούν την Αμερική δεν σημαίνει ότι ειναι αριστεροί! Ολος ο πλανήτης τους κατηγορεί και δίκαια με τις εμπλοκές τους παντού και οποτε θελουν!!
@Demeter greek nah we create monsters to often we need to stop playing superhero because we always end up creating villains keep in mind we have al queda weapons even though they were allied at the time the bible has many quotes about the same issues
Hahah that's so ture bro 😂😂😂
Yeah, that is a a Nixon type move
My grandfather lost almost all his family member.He had 8 siblings and his parents.However,there were only 3 members including him alive.
*Being a Vietnamese with the freedom to learn information, including documents from the West. I admit that the West has told a different story to change the fact that they support the Khmer Rouge genocidal regime, and claim that Vietnam invaded Cambodia, then embargoed Vietnam. If Vietnam invaded Cambodia, Cambodia cannot be an independent country now*
Yeah, American said: bringong democracy to the word
Best liar lol
Where's the evidence that the US supported the Khmer Rouge?
@@si91 they dont even try to hide it, what do you mean?
yeah, thank god for vietnam for liberating the cambodian people!
@@vivelarevolution2835 But the US opposed the Khmer Rouge. The US was against Communism.
probably the most underexposed dictator and genocide in history of humans. there should be a new mainstream movie made in his name, about his atrocities so the modern world will know and won't forget what this evil dictator had done. the 80s movie "the killing fields" is still a great watch today, as well as the recent angelina jolie movie "first they killed my father". both were great at telling about the khmer rouge.
Imagine your teacher being one of the worst dictators in the world
Benito Mussolini was once a elementary school teacher as well. Imagine if your teacher wanted to restore the Roman Empire but failed to take Greece lol.
@@antitiktokunion3894 Do you realize that italy took greece during ww2?
Italy doesnt took greece by themselves, they had to call german support, they are so trash they couldnt take greece
@@ngockhoanguyen2886 And +60% of the troops invading yugoslavia and greece were italian, the germans didn't so much other than providing some breaktrough with it's panzers.
Italians failed to invade greece in the first place
I have a co-worker of mine who was born in 1961 in Cambodia. He doesn't talk about it ever, but I heard he had to live in the jungle for 2 months, his entire family were killed beforehand. Truly horrible things humans can do.
My mom always telling me to eat fast and not picky about food. She said back in Khmer Rough reign I wouldn't survive, if I don't do that.
Me too bro I always don’t want to eat food Khmer Rouge will not have back if we have we still have stronger troops and President if I’m a bussiness man I would build the bunker for the people to survive to help people
he killed my grandpa by blindfold him then throw him into a spike pit
my grandma and dad watched in horror and madness and i never got to see my grandpa's face.
edit: at the age of 14 I get to see my grandpa's old pics for the first time.
😪
That's awful 😢😢 I am sorry for your loss.
Sorry dude. Must hurt to think about.
That's the reason why, many Cambodians migrated to USA.
same my grandpa died cuz of stealing salt? he was shot to death
Although the Khmer Rouge was very cruel, when the Vietnamese army entered Cambodia to hunt them down, the world turned its back on Vietnam and said it was an act of aggression.
My mom’s father was gathered to join the Khmer Rouge army, which forced him to abandon my grandmother and his 4 barely-grownup children including my mom. Not knowing that was the last time they saw each other. Up till this day, I asked my mom does she even remember her father’s face? She said “no, not even found his body to bury.” I can’t imagine how traumatized she encountered at that very young age of hers.
It's a holiday in Cambodia
Where you'll do what you're told
It's a holiday in Cambodia
Where the slums got so much soul
i love that song
I was looking for this reference. lol
Nice song
My favorite song
the world and the United Nations still owe Vietnam an apology!
@Діма Базалюк the strong are always right :(
USA never apologize because they have a big ego.. They never apologize to the middle east, the Philippines, vietname. They were hypocritely apologize to japan while McArthure laughing saying japanese are easily manipulated
@@mohamadsyafiq6743 where are you from, bro? Do you think Turkey should apologize for everything they have done?
@Діма Базалюк Says the russian
@Діма Базалюк Joseph Stalin
I've been to S21 and the killing fields when I was visiting Cambodia. It's heartbreaking to see all the pain and suffering the Khmer rouge caused during that time.
The museum of the killing fields, which I visited in 2014, is by far the most impressive museum I have visited. It was so horrifying to see how brutal the regime was.
My parents were born a few years after the end of the Khmer Rogue, but my grandparents were more than likely young at the time with their parents being killed in the process (my great grandparents). I’ve always wanted to learn about Cambodia history from my family, but since the Khmer Rogue is one of the most important parts of it all, I’m always afraid to ask. Thank you for creating such a video, I can now sort of see what my grandparents and great grandparents had to go through. My grandpa is a very harsh man and I’m guessing this event is one of the reasons why if not the biggest.
Ah all my fellow Cambodians born around a few years ago, may we agree that our parents always talked about this? Describing their survival stories, how their brave brothers would go out and steal food risking their lives in labor camps?
Also are there any other Khmer people here?
Relatable.
Yes. Khmer here. Unfortunately, I even know some of the killers who escaped Cambodia and live amongst us. Some are my fathers friends. 😢
Yes, I can confirm
@@ccvjd3909 I try to figure that out myself.
Yes , I had heard my grandparent and my family member told me about their life during this era.
Bruh, he couldn't just relax and use skillshare to become a painter in art school instead, smh.
nah he would use skillshare to learn other stuff
@@yungtrashlord other stuff. eh?
Nah he would just fail and become even more hitter
Double joke
Wrong dictator
9:50 - I'm surprised they told the truth - that the Vietnamese were the liberators, and that the yanks supported the regime (though they HEAVILY glossed over how much the yanks helped).
My global history class in high school didnt even mention him! Ive learned way more on youtube in the past 2 year than in all of high school tbh. Thanks for educating us!
Global history=American involvement History
That is scary. In 12th grade, I had to learn about the Khmer Rouge. I was absolutely horrified and I needed my mother to comfort me.
I learned about him in my freshman year of highschool
I am in college and only just learnt about this a few months ago via being bored and going down a rabbit hole. I would've definitely questioned it back in school especially been told "never again" when it came to the Holocaust
UA-cam history videos are inaccurate also.
I went to a popular prison complex in Phnom Penh that used to be an all girls high school. There was bullet holes, old blood splatter, fingernails scratched into the wall, the torture devices they used, the paintings of the tortures, and a picture/signed confession of every single person who came in (about 5,000-20,000). And of those 5-20k, 3 came out alive..
It was one of the most sobering experiences of my life and I recommend everyone see it. Not because its cool or fun, but because it is horrible and awful and must be known and remembered by all.
@Nospam Spamisham lol I dont know of any gun owner (including myself) who 'looks down" on non-gun owners.
Theres literally no reason to own one unless in a high crime area, shooting hobbies, or a hunter. I fall in all 3 hence, why I own firearms.
Also 10/10 for you to connect a genocide that took place in 1976 to Joe Biden's candicacy for president hahaha. Impressive, I must say.
I can’t believe there were men as sick as him willing to actually enforce these orders. Us humans can be true monsters.
Fun fact
There still are men like him in the present like North Korea's dictator
Give a man power or mask, it will show us their true nature
I visited there as a teenager and I almost fainted learning about this while there; I cannot imagine what it was like for the poor souls who had to live and experience what went on there
my grandpa from dad’s was killed as soon as the crew learned that he’s a teacher. most of my family members survived but unfortunately, only him that didn’t
My 12th grade college prep teacher's mom was from Thailand. When my teacher would visit Thailand as a teen, she would also visit Cambodia, and she said that the Chong Ekh Memorial is somewhere you can only visit once.
plot twist: you are a revived soul of one who died during that time
I’ve been to the killing fields and the high school when I visited Cambodia when I was 28. Was so sad. Still clothing sticking out of the mass grave pits and collection plates if you find any bones. We put a few teeth in there. A very sobering experience and happened not that long ago!
I'm Vietnamese and my ma used to tell me stories about a refugee Cambodian lady going to middle school with her in the era. She said some of the little Pol Pots would hold infants by the ankles top down and tear them in half chicken wing style to conserve bullets.
Angelina Jolie directed the movie 'first they killed my father' it talks about a true story of what life was like under pol pot's rule. I highly recommend its.
She's involved in child sacrifice blood rituals too!
@@TCFan30 Source?
@@TCFan30 source trust me bro
I'm just going to go straight to the point.
I don't know what to say.
At least Tanya is showing you some love
@@tchoopee5143 LOL
@FuranDuron he wanted dictatorship, not communism.
A friend I work with lost his six siblings and his parents under the regime. The irony is you couldn't meet a more happy go-lucky guy.
I guess that's the best way to deal with it.
He was adopted, grew up in Canada and married his Cambodian American wife and they have a 14 year old girl.
I guess that's how he's gotten on-just tried to remake a new life for himself.
I am reminded of how lucky I am every time I think of his life's story (my dad made it to 70 before dying of diseases, my moms still alive as are my 4 siblings.
I just watched this video with my Khmer (Cambodian) girlfriend. Her grandparents survived this regime and there are many dark and horrifying stories not taught to the wider world
Thank you so much for making this video! My mother is Cambodian and the stories she tells me of the genocide r truly horrific. I'm happy that more people can learn about what happened as most people don't know much about it.
US: Help
China: :< I can't beat him too:<
Vietnam: So you two scared?
Polpot: hmm...
US and China: Let's support Polpot
Vietnam: *facepalm*
@@AccipiterSmith vietnam: facepalm
Still vietnam: anyway i start blasting
True
Quite sad, my family lived through this from 1975 --> 1979, my mom still traumatized by this.
My uncle (a teacher), was first to get killed. Family of one of my aunt (distant relative from my father side), all died except her (family of 20), she has been living with us since 1985.
Jesus, that’s frightening! I hope your family’s ok now.
Hey I live in Cambodia now, I want to know why it is has a lot of skull? on the picture, now I find this video and listen to it, and I know now, thank you it's video is really helpful.
Same
Heng kom leng gadoll heng na!
Legendary talented people were killed at that time.
Sadly
Ironically, the Khmer folk song Look At The Owl is often used in Khmer Rouge memes, yet the singer is rumored to have been killed by the KR.
Cambodia was on its way to being a decent first world country. Unfortunately the slaughtering of those talented/educated people set Cambodia back another 300 years….
Like ros sereysothea
timestamp
4:04
the vietnamese sasquatch appears behind the tent
Kim Jong un (if he's alive lol): sees this
Also Kim Jong un:hmm maybe I'm not opressive enough I need to make coughing illegal
He's alive
During pandemic that isn’t impractical.
@@Ty-vj4wg don't worry nk doesn't have covid
He's alive. It was proven.
@Ф.W.M.C what u talking about
He's so ruthless that his vietnamese comrades liberated cambodia from his rule
First they Killed My Father is an amazing book to read abt this horrible event
In high school, I had to read that.
I watched the movie at the stadium
My mom was born in his reign
She is still traumatize till today
I am sorry to hear this, may peace come to her
peace be with you
my grandparents hid under dead bodies, pretended to be dumb, and escaped to thailand with my mom and my aunt. my grandpa described both of them as very frail and small because it was very hard to get food. if it weren’t for them i wouldn’t be here right now. my grandpa told us only a few details about what he meant through because everything else is just too graphic. sadly, my grandma passed away a long time ago. i’m so glad my grandpa is happy with my new grandma. they make everything so fun
And he was never brought to justice ..for war crimes..
He was killed by Vietnamese forces
@@datechds9434 No, he died of his own illness in a home in the jungle. They cremated him outside with his furnitures and a bunch of old tires. He was never tried for his crimes.
@@TheTriple2000 I know that, I mistook "captured" as "killed".
I had to learn about the Khmer Rouge as part of the history curriculum in high school, because we also had to learn about WWII. There was no getting out of it. If we tried to get out of it, we could potentially fail the class if we didn't have a passing grade. If we had a passing grade, we still had to learn about it or risk having a lower grade. This was in 12th grade. We had to watch the documentaries tied to "Première Ils Avent Mourtent Mon Père (First They Killed My Father)" and "The Killing Fields". We also had to read the associated books. I was absolutely horrified beyond belief. In the U.S., so many of my fellow college students tout socialism, and don't even know what they're talking about. My point is, be careful for what you wish for. You don't want to live like that.
My parents escaped that nightmare and finally went back to visit this Thursday. They will be finally reuniting with their family in over 40 years
When are history teachers gonna just play infographics videos everyday.
Some already do. It's really quite sad how far some learning institutions have fallen.
It is best for you when you can learn history with significant paper reading skills
@@hieptrancong4110 heard of covid 19 bud
Been there in 2018. Very impressive. Loved my stay in Cambodia. Greetings from the Netherlands
i watched his last ever interview, it was actually terrifying to see how calm and innocent he was.
I know that his name is a nome de guerre, but never knew that it's short for Politique Potentiale. Thanks infographics!
As a Cambodian-Russian blood, my grandmother daughter her name ms.roth was a happy person from my gramma, she told me the story of her daughter death cause, the genocide was a brutal things I’ve learn from Khmer history, she died during 1978 from starvation.
Thank you so much for having manually written subtitles. Means a lot
Everybody else: Why haven't we heard of this guy before!?
*Me, who watched Deadliest Warrior*
Same
Thank you for making this video I was also Cambodian and I been waiting for someone that can spread this story ❤❤
It's always nice to see Khmer representation reach a wider audience.
Some elders that escaped to oversea, they're still in fear to come back to their homeland. It hurts them so much to come back, to where most of their relatives lost their lives to Khmer Rogue.
talking about reminding me about the Vietnam china border war in 1979, still wonder why they have so little record on the internet
Du mai gong ka!!
At first I thought it said bol bol
But my man would never become a dictator
Shut up bots
Bol bol would not approve
he become the greater thing, sixth man of the year
My grandfather and grandmother met during pol pots regime, both were rich before it, came out poor after, my grandma is a really happy person though, but I'm not sure about my grandfather haven't seen him in a while, he just watches anime in his room and it's lockdown anyways
Bro, a friend of mine was someone who suffered from this. His grandma died
I was listening to Paul Potts and youtube brought me here.
Amazing
My parents were children during the killing fields. My mother lost her father who was executed at the camp and my father lost his younger brother as they ran from the camps.
Man his rise to power sounds like something straight from an anime with a "Dark edgy ambitious rival character"
how america always finds a way to intervene in a war and make it seem like it's their problems is beyond me
Demeter greek nah america just like to meddle with other people’s problems to capitalize off it
@@ccvjd3909 yes but think this, you're arguing with your friend and dont really need help bc you've got this, then some random classmate comes in and makes it a bigger deal and turns you two against each other even more just to make money off you two in the end, sounds familiar?
@Demeter greek Yeah really, if you google popular Cambodian music from around or just before that time what you’ll find is Cambodians embraced American music and culture. Cambodian psychedelic rock is a thing people.
@@klarisaarwena stop the spread of communism. Wether or even if by capitalizing via unfair trade I think it’s safe to say the Cambodian people would agree. Living as Americans being their allies would be vastly better than what they got. Communism always fails. The areas where it exists are dystopian nightmares.
@@MrSladej i never said we should spread communism lol, but i'm glad you're having fun shoving words into my mouth
If I was a real historian and not just some random person on youtube, I’d want to do a comparative analysis of WWI vs. the Vietnam War:
-Both started with the actions of a smaller power that soon got the great powers involved (Russia intervened to protect Serbia, and Germany intervened on behalf of Austria-Hungary/US intervened to support South Vietnam, leading China to support the Vietcong)
-Both *looked* like quick wars at the outset, but were... not
-Both caused *such* brutal fighting, in part because the great powers involved were not prepared for the conditions they were fighting in (trench vs. jungle warfare)
-And both left a country *so devastated* (Treaty of Versailles vs. US bombing of Cambodia) that they easily fell prey to a charismatic and cruel dictator, who went on to perpetuate the two bloodiest genocides in history...
This remind of the quote in Black Lightning about this guy when Khalil was talking to the machine thing.
"He killed a quarter of his country"
Solano Lopez: Are you challenging me ?
@@WarCrimeGaming whoever was in war during the war
Stalin : *"Are you kidding me? That's insultingly low."*
@@aleksandarvil5718 stalin killed more but less percentage of people in ussr
A great movie about the Khmer Rouge is The Killing Fields. It really illustrates how insane and horrifying this era was in Cambodia.
I had to watch that in 12th grade.
Glad you finally did this video! I had suggested it over 8 months ago and I was excited to learn more. Thank you!
Next video : "A day in life of the narrator of The Infographics Show"
Up
My grandma use to told me about her past and this is her past and I’m so glad she survived
I mean it as a compliment to her strength: She needs to speak on college campuses about why that's no way to live. She could change a few minds by sharing her story. Her strength is compelling.
thx i really needed this information i need make a presentation about my country
My grandfather would have to keep chickens and have them lay eggs. When he lost a chicken, he lost a finger. I never had a chance to see my grandfather.
I visited Cambodia in early 2020 and without any doubt I can tell you that the cambodians were one of the most kind hearted and gentle people but the genuine pain of the late 70s was still quite visible in them, the lack of educated professionals is since a problem their especially in the medical sector where people are resorting to traditional tribal organic healing practices, I with my family visited that high school turned dystopian centre which currently acts as a museum and those graphic and heart trembling instances still terrify me, my parents couldn't listen to the information provided and within few moments of our museum tour, they left and sat on a nearby bench.
My family is Buddhist, which was outlawed by the regime, a lot of us became separated; most of us can’t remember our village before the death and wish to forget. I appreciate you visiting Cambodia, may life be blessed with happiness.
Always heard the name in class. Never paid much attention. Now i know i should have
Ikr
Thank you for acknowledging my country's history. Send a love to you from Cambodia 🇰🇭
I know a Cambodian man who was there and absolutely hates Communism and Communist I don't blame or pass judgement upon him for the evils that occurred are a truly horrific on levels that many westernized people will NEVER comprehend
This was really interesting, please do more like this
As a Cambodian, I too know how bad this dictator made our country looks.
I remember a particularly horrible thing from S-21, there was an old tree from his reign, which I learned was “the baby tree” where infants were grabbed by their feet and swung against the tree, crushing their heads.
when genius tactics, persuasion and evil ambitions come together, this is what it creates.
I studied this in University.
Most heartbreaking thing i've ever learned about.
The great purge? The gulag? The holoca**t?
@@Boredmf09 that's nothing
@@HollowKnightReference That's as much horrible
@@TNOfan4093 yeah I don't know what I was saying. The thought of them is about equal. You could probably do some math or something to find which was technically the worst but both were horrific.
@@HollowKnightReference The worst for Europe is certainly the Holocaust because of its industrial logic
College kids here in Europe and America: "that wasn't real Communism"...
Xi Jin Ping : Stares at the ground
huh? why xi jinping?
@@justanormalguyonyoutube1098 xi jinping is doing his own genocide by putting thousands of uighurs into reeducation camps
@@Petlin2552 never knew about that. What I know is that there are terrorist attacks in Xinjiang and these people got put in re-education camps.
@@justanormalguyonyoutube1098 oh its more than that.... They're even forcing abortions and sterilizing them
@@HerveyShmervy sounds like anti China propaganda to me