Cambodia has a messed up history. Khmer Rouge forcefully took the spot of government after the country was in shambles due to the destruction from the war between the US and Vietnam. The people thought this might not be so bad, but were soon forced to work in fields....everybody. They cut off Cambodia from the rest of the world, and from eachother. No mail, no flights, no media, they even abolished currency. They wanted Cambodia to be run by farmer type mentality, this meant anyone with education were sent to prison (later to be executed). Anyone who spoke another language, had any sort of education, had a good job...they even sent anyone who whore glasses. There were prisons set up where interrigations were completed to find out if these people had any family, they were tortured for days. The worst part of the reign of the Khmer Rouge was when Pol Pot was in power. He started killing his own army and government because they had advanced too high....crazy.
In all there were 343 execution sights, Phnom Pehn has the most famous one. During the 4 year reign of the Khmer Rouge hundreds of thousands of Cambodians were executed, and many many more died through starvation (everyone worked in fields, only the smallest portions of food were granted). In all about 2 million Cambodians died during this time. Apparently the rest of the world did nothing about it because they didn't know what was going on....but 4 years???....that's a long time for the rest of the world to sit back and do nothing. In the end Vietnam came to their rescue, but much too late.
Being in these places was good to see, but really eerie and creepy....even depressing.
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