The Killing Fields were hard to walk through. The graves are just grassy indentations in the ground, and without the audio tour and the signs, you'd never know what went down here. On the outskirts of town, far from prying eyes, thousands of innocent people were brought here to be bludgeoned to death. Bullets were expensive, so throats were slit, skulls were smashed with hammers, iron rods, and rusty garden tools, and children were held by their little legs and swung headfirst into trees trunks until their brain matter was scattered across the ground. There's a pall that hangs over this place, as there should be. 2 to 3 million people died under the Khmer Rouge's fanatical 4 year reign of terror in Cambodia, from 1975-1979. Many of the people responsible escaped repercussions for their actions. There were many guilty parties involved in this holocaust, from the top on down, but much of the responsibility lies with the Khmer Rouge's self-proclaimed "Brother Number One," the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea and the architect of the regime's crimes. Pol Pot was a psychopath, and he was at the helm of one of the most brutal revolutions in human history.
Pol Pot casts a deep shadow over Cambodia. Even though he died in exile in China in 1998, his presence is still felt everywhere, and his impact on the lives of all Khmer people is ongoing. In the four days we spent in Cambodia, I don't think I met a single person older than 40, which is a testament to how effective the Khmer Rouge were from 1975-79 in committing one of the worst genocides in history. They killed 25-30% of their country's population in one of the most fanatical attempts at a socialist revolution ever engineered. Upon taking power they proclaimed it "Year Zero", closed the borders of the country, and instituted a radical program intended to create a completely independent and isolated state. They forcibly emptied out Cambodia's cities, confiscated all private property, and executed anyone involved in "free-market activities." They closed schools, abolished currency, forbid communication between family members, and created vast collectivized farms in which they forced the entire population to undertake a massive, completely unrealistic goal to triple Cambodia's rice production. They starved the population, tortured and murdered at will, and destroyed all the institutions of Cambodian culture in an insane attempt to create a classless agrarian communist society. People will be studying the Khmer Rouge for centuries, as one of the most depraved and unconscionable political movements to ever take root in any country on the planet. Pol Pot was forced from power in 1979 after the Vietnamese invaded after a series of provocations, and he and his Khmer leadership fled westward into Thailand. It was 1980 before the world fully began to understand the scope of the Khmer Rouge's crimes, and yet eighteen years later, Pol Pot hadn't faced serious consequences or sanctions for his actions. He died in China in 1998, just as UN trials were getting underway into the Khmer Rouge's crimes against humanity. Pol Pot's legacy is a nation with a traumatized population, no credible economy, severely damaged institutions, and with no foundations for a civil society and no capacity to move forward from this horrific chapter of history. Former Khmer Rouge officials are still in positions of power throughout Cambodia. There is no resolution in sight, and no means to fix the many problems that plague this war torn nation...
Cambodia's recent history is a glimpse at the worst crimes humanity is capable of. I learned a lot in three days here. It's like peering into the depths of mankind's evils, and realizing that there is no bottom. Where you thought there was a limit is just an infinite abyss. When the bottom falls out of your world, you're forced to build your convictions all over again. I suppose that's one of the reasons why we travel, to be confronted with experiences that forcibly expand our awareness. I've realized here in Cambodia that I have no idea what pain is. Everything I've ever suffered in my life is laughable compared to what these proud people have endured. My life is cake. Pure, unadulterated privilege born from good parenting, a fine genetic heritage, a strong work ethic, and the best education money can buy. Every obstacle I've ever faced has been something I could overcome with hard work or coherent thinking. I've never been irrevocably screwed by the universe. Such a stark realization puts everything in a different perspective, and I am thankful to this country and its people for reminding me of what I should not take for granted. As my mother was fond of reminding me throughout my younger years in Bangladesh, "there but for the grace of God am I..." I hope Cambodia's warm, generous, and traumatized people can find equilibrium once again, and that they can start to rebuild all the values, ethics, and institutions that make human society livable. They deserve all the opportunities that the rest of us have been given so easily...
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