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William Maiona

Mrs. McKeagney

English 2 Honors

11 November 2016

Genocide: Man’s Greatest Tragedy

INTRODUCTION

Introduction. Genocide. Even the word itself evokes the fear and terror that stems from the

atrocities committed by man in the name of power leading to the obliteration of a race or culture.

In the 1940s, the world experienced a genocide on a scale none had ever seen before, the

Holocaust. After the horrific event that plagued that dark period of human history, all of mankind

vowed that never again would such a tragedy violate the rights of man. Mankind has failed in

that regard. Recent genocides all across the world have sprung up since then, however, the most

horrific of them is the Cambodian Genocide, whose stain is still felt today. Pol Pot and the

Khmar Rouge seized power, and began organized obliteration of the educated and their entire

extended families, until his dramatic defeat at the hands of the Vietnamese, and the Cambodians

who had bowed before the man known as “Pol Pot” (Precursors to Genocide).

CAUSES

Social/cultural Cause. The Cambodian genocide was one of the worst crises of the twentieth

century. Many factors played into its origins, but one of the most critical of these factors was the

radicalization of Saloth Sar, who later became the infamous Pol Pot. Saloth Sar was born in 1925

in a farming family. He did poorly in school, but went to Europe where he abandoned his studies
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and became enthralled in Marxism, joining illegal communist groups and organizations. He

became infatuated with communism after hearing speeches from Mao Zedong, the leader of

Communist China (The Journey to the Killing Fields). Eventually he was forced to return home

where he plotted to overthrow the Cambodian monarchy (Aliprandini). Pol Pot fled into the

jungle, and joined a gruella warfare faction called the Khmar Rouge. When a US military coup

occurred, Pol Pot seized control during the power vacuum that followed (History Place). The

poor peasant society supported Pol Pot at first due to his claims of the middle and upper classes

oppressing the lower classes for their own benefit. This support from the largest social class and

the elimination of education and intelligence created the perfect catalyst for Pol Pot to install his

brutal regime.

Historical Cause. Genocide has many causes, but one of the most influential is the historical

factors behind it. For the Cambodian genocide, the historical cause is the bombing of Cambodia

by the US during the Vietnam War. In the 1960s, long range US bombers annihilated the

countryside and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, inspiring anti-western sentiments and

caused widespread support of the Khmar Rouge. Over the 14-year period, “The Vast majority of

civilian deaths were caused by the Khmer Rouge regime, but significant numbers of civilian

casualties also resulted from earlier violence during the U.S. bombing and civil war that brought

the Khmer Rouge to power” (Mass Atrocity). During this time, a radicalized man named Pol Pot

was living in the neighboring jungles with a radical group known as the Khmar Rouge. When a

US-backed coup took over Cambodia, Pol Pot seized the opportunity to take over Cambodia and

install his ruthless regime (History Place). Pol Pot recognized the hatred that his people had for

the capitalist west. He utilized this anger by creating a common enemy of the west, and

propagating any western supporter as an enemy needing purification. Anyone who displayed
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western sentiments was sent to re-education facilities and executed if they refused to obey in the

Killing Fields, that many suffered at such as Haing Ngor, who suffered tremendously in the

Cambodian Killing Fields and was eventually assassinated after he escaped to America by

members of the Khmar Rouge living in America (Survival). This pure hatred for any western

supporter and any educated person was the perfect shell for widespread devastation. Pol Pot’s

regime was achieving its goal, with causes behind it.

IMPACT

Facts and Statistics. Statistics of the genocide in Cambodia truly portray the vast extent of deaths

and the destruction of the region. Before 1960, Cambodia had a standing population of 7 million,

and in 1970, a population of 8 million. As a result of the genocide and war, losses are estimated

to reach “slightly less than 4,000,000 people to war, rebellion, man-made famine, genocide,

politicide, and mass murder” (Genocide in Cambodia). In addition, “almost 3,300,000 men,

women, and children (including 35,000 foreigners), were murdered within the years 1970 to

1980 by successive governments and guerrilla groups”. Records and statistics conclude that close

to “2,400,000, were murdered by the communist Khmer Rouge” (History Place). In only a single

decade, Cambodia lost a massive portion of its population, yet half of the fatalities were due to

only the Khmar Rouge. This is a percentile that demonstrates the enormous amount of damage

the Khmar Rouge caused. These numbers and statistics show the impact that the Khmar Rouge

had on Cambodia’s population, and the sheer devastation caused.

Torture in Prisons. Many Cambodian citizens were jailed during the Cambodian genocide and

were subject to many forms of torture and brutalization. Prisoners were tortured in a variety of

way, each one more brutal then the last. Many, when being tortured, were forced to follow
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regulations such as regulation 6 and 10, which read “When receiving lashes or electrification you

will not cry out at all," and "If you disobey any point of my regulations, you shall get either ten

lashes or five shocks of electric discharge," respectively. In several former classrooms, wall-

mounted photographs reveal what Vietnamese soldiers found when they liberated the center in

1979, “bodies, bloody, mutilated, each shackled to the frame of a bed where their Khmer Rouge

captors had tortured them to death” (Steven). Many of these prisoners had committed no crimes

whatsoever, and the main cause of them being imprisoned was having distant relatives that were

educated (Pol Pot). For the simple crime of crying out in pain, prisoners were electrocuted and

whipped, sometimes to death. These prisons are what make the Cambodian Genocide truly

horrific, clearly showing the brutality of the Khmar Rouge.

The Killing Fields. The Killing Fields of Cambodia are one of the worst tragedies a people had to

endure, and they are only matched by the Holocaust in their extreme brutality and cruelty. In

only a decade, over four million men, women, and children would be dead, two million, four

hundred thousand of which would be dead solely due to the Khmar Rouge (Rummel). The

documented killings of educated individuals show a stark brutality, rarely seen before in all of

human history. In the killing fields themselves, men, women, and children were often clubbed to

death, as the Khmer Rouge did not see the prisoners worth the valuable bullets. It was in the

killing fields that

“the Communists pressed their captives face-first into a concavity in the trunk and

clubbed them to death (the Communists' preferred method of execution, it is said, in

order to save precious bullets)- Small white signs shaped in the form of a stupa, or

Buddhist memorial, described what excavators saw when they uncovered these gruesome
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pits: ‘Here lay the bodies of 450 people;’ ‘Here 150 children were found beheaded’.

(Stevens).

Hundreds of children were beheaded in the killing fields, and thousands of people suffered a

painful death by clubbing, deemed unworthy of a quick death. Once again demonstrating their

brutality, the Khmar Rouge showed its disregard for human life and for the lives of Cambodia’s

citizens. These brutal and barbaric practices impacted Cambodia for many years, and drastically

shaped it for decades to come.

AFTERMATH

Resolution. After more then a decade of conflict and destruction, Pol Pot met his downfall. Pol

Pot had grown suspicious of his allies, and was paranoid betrayal (History Place). This caused

his position to be weakened to outside forces, and those forces were quick to take advantage of

this. On Christmas Day, 1979, North Vietnamese invaded Cambodia, and swiftly brought an end

to Pol Pot’s regime, expelling him to the jungle, where he continued his guerrilla war until he

died an ironically peaceful death in his sleep in 1991 (History Place). Over the decades,

Cambodia started to fall into what was essentially a third world country due to lack of education,

resources, and modern facilities. However, a state-wide forced enrollment in school soon fixed

the problem. More children were entering the school system then teachers or students leaving.

Education had returned (Headley). This is the best possible result for all of Cambodia. Education

and freedom of intelligence is returning to Cambodia, which had been stamped out by successive

governments in order to minimize opposition. Due to the new government’s efforts and with help

from the United Nations and hundreds of other countries, Cambodia is returning to the modern
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world. Facilities are being rebuilt, schooling resumed, and the sun once again has risen on a

peaceful Cambodia.

Prevention. For tragedies such as genocide, there will always be ways to prevent these types of

tragedies from occurring. In Cambodia, Pol Pot’s radical inspiration of communism due to Mao

Zedong’s speeches in France (History Place). It is often said that there are stages to genocide,

and in each one, preventable measures can and should take place. The first two are the

Classification of a group in society, setting them apart from others, such as “Jews” or “Asians”.

Classification is the end of where a person is viewed as a human person, and begin to become

and object. Symbolization comes next, with certain identifying stereotypes or characteristics. The

Jew’s Star of David comes to mind. With proper illegalization of hate symbols, this stage can

become almost completely eradicated (Stanton). Dehumanization then follows. The group in

question is viewed as less then human, and not worthy of the same privileges as others in society.

Constitutional protection starts to fall apart for the group. It can be prevented by the banning of

inciteful and threatening speech, and stopping genocide before it takes flight (Stanton). Soon

after, widespread persecution of the group in question begins, “Victims are identified and

separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. In state

sponsored genocide, members of victim groups may be forced to wear identifying symbols.

Their property is often expropriated. Sometimes they are even segregated into ghettoes, deported

into concentration camps, or confined to a famine-struck region and starved” (Stanton). This is

the last stage where humanity has a chance, a chance to direct traffic away from death and

destruction and the loss of a generation. At this point, the U.N. must take action, only an

internationally designated force has the neutrality and the resources to stop a genocide in its

tracks before it takes off. The final two stages are Extermination and Genocide. Extermination is
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past the tipping point of prevention. Genocide has reached full swing against the group. At this

point, the only measure even feasible, is an authorized, armed, U.N. taskforce taking things over

and removing the genocidal government from power and providing camps and refugee status for

the group in question (Stanton). The final stage of a widespread, genocidal massacre is denial.

Denial of the crimes committed. Denial that the actions were even crimes to begin with,

destruction of evidence, mass graves dug up, and the bodies burned, and a final solution

installed. This is the most harming of the ten stages of genocide. If the genocidal government

carries it out successfully, justice will be denied (Stanton). The same justice that we have not

carried out that is our duties as citizens of this good earth by caring for all people, regardless of

race, nationality, or origin. Only if we see each other as equals, will we make progress and fulfill

our oath of “Never Again.”

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Works Cited

Avanti, Michael. "The Cambodian Genocide." endgenocide.org, United to End Genocide, 2010,

endgenocide.org/learn/%20past-genocides/the-cambodian-genocide/. Accessed 16 Nov.

2018.

"Precursors to Genocide: Rise of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot." endgenocide.org, United to

End Genocide, 2010, endgenocide.org/learn/past-genocides/the-cambodian-genocide/.

"Cambodia: U.S. bombing, civil war, & Khmer Rouge." Mass Atrocity Endings, WordPress, 7

august 2015, sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2015/08/07/cambodia-u-s-bombing-civil-

war-khmer-rouge/. Accessed 13 Nov. 2018.

Aliprandini, Michael. Pol Pot: Young Revolutionary. Great Neck Publishing, 2006. EBSCOhost.

Accessed 2 Nov. 2018

"Genocide in Cambodia." hmh.org, Holocaust Museum Houston,

www.hmh.org/ed_Genocide_Cambodia.shtml. Accessed 13 Nov. 2018.

Headley, Tyler. "The Lingering Effects of the Cambodian Genocide." The Diplomat, 7 Sept.

2018, thediplomat.com/2018/09/the-lingering-effects-of-the-cambodian-genocide-on-

education/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2018.

Ngor, Haing. Survival in the Killing Fields. Carroll & Graf, 2003.

"Pol Pot in Cambodia." History Place, The History Place, 1999,

www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/pol-pot.htm. Accessed 2 Nov. 2018.

Pol Pot: The Journey to the Killing Fields. Directed by Andrew Williams, BBC, 2015. BBC

Two, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0078z1m. Accessed 16 Nov. 2018.

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Rummel, Rudolph. "Statistics of Cambodian Democide." hawaii.edu, University of Hawaii,

1997, www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP4.HTM. Accessed 13 Nov. 2018.

Stanton, Gregory H. "The Ten Stages of Genocide." Genocide Watch, 2013,

genocidewatch.org/genocide/tenstagesofgenocide.html. Accessed 16 Nov. 2018.

Stevens, Vincent "At the Killing Fields." At the Killing Fields, vol. 38, no. 3, Spring 97, pp. 247-

49. EBSSCO, web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=a7a92714-8d2a-44f1-

a553-

eb8c1c42e13e%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a

9h&AN=9705170399. Accessed 14 Nov. 2018.

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Annotated Bibliography

Aliprandini, Michael. Pol Pot: Young Revolutionary. Great Neck Publishing, 2006. EBSCOhost.

Accessed 2 Nov. 2018. In his biography, Pol Pot: Young Revolutionary (2017) Michael

Aliprandini explains how Pol Pot adopted a communist ideology in his youth, leading to

him being the mastermind of one of the worst genocides in the twentieth century.

According to Aliprandini, Saloth Sar was born in 1925 to farmer parents. He did not fare

well in school and never received his high school diploma. In 1946, he became enticed in

communism and joined the then illegal communist party in Indochina. Aliprandini goes

on to show how the friends he made and his studies of Marxist thermos would form the

backbone of his Khmar Rouge. Neglecting his studies in favor of communism, he was

forced to return home to Cambodia, which achieved independence one year later.

According to Aliprandini, when Pol Pot was working as a teacher, he aided the causes

against the monarchy, leading a secret life. His ruthlessness quickly caught on, viewing

Western civilization as the bane of human existence. Pol Pot’s confirming inspiration was

when he traveled to china in 1966 and personally met Mao Zedong, and then returned

biding his time to strike.

---. "Precursors to Genocide: Rise of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot." endgenocide.org, United to

End Genocide, 2010, endgenocide.org/learn/past-genocides/the-cambodian-genocide/.

Accessed 13 Nov. 2018. In the article “Precursors of Genocide: The Rise of the Khmar

Rouge” (2010) published by United to End Genocide, Michael Avanti explains the

statistics and numbers behind the mass murder carried out by Pol Pot and the Khmar
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Rouge. Avanti goes on to explain that between 1.7 and 2.2 million people were killed in

the Cambodian Genocide between nineteen seventy-five and nineteen seventy-nine.

These people were murdered for normally small offenses, such as wearing glasses or

showing affection. Over half a million tons of explosives were dropped on Cambodia,

killing as many as 300,000 civilians in just 8 months. Avanti explains that 14,000 people

were put into each concentration camp, with only 12 survivors on average. These

numbers allow us to peer closer into what truly happened. Avanti demonstrates the

statistics behind his article, and the numbers behind the Cambodian conflict.

"Genocide in Cambodia." hmh.org, Holocaust Museum Houston,

www.hmh.org/ed_Genocide_Cambodia.shtml. Accessed 13 Nov. 2018. In their

Holocaust Museum Houston article “Genocide in Cambodia”, we are told how the

Vietnam conflict greatly influenced the Cambodian genocide and anti-western

mentalities. HMH describes how during the Vietnam war long range US bombers

ravaged the countryside causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians. This

created great anger and anti-western sentiments in the people of Cambodia. According to

HMH, when Pol Pot rose to power, preaching anti-capitalist and anti-west propaganda,

the people supported him widely and enabled his regime. Pol Pot utilized this widespread

support to inspire the people with anti-western propaganda. Guided by the belief that the

people of Cambodia had been tainted with western ideas and needed to be “purified of

western sentiments”, Pol Pot started to wipe out anyone with any form of privilege.

According to HMH, the citizens who displayed western ideas were sent to re-education
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facilities where they could move up the ranks, but many did not. Those who refused were

slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands, forming what today is known as the

Cambodian Genocide

Headley, Tyler. "The Lingering Effects of the Cambodian Genocide." The Diplomat, 7 Sept.

2018, thediplomat.com/2018/09/the-lingering-effects-of-the-cambodian-genocide-on-

education/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2018. In his The Diplomat article “The Lingering Effects

of the Cambodian Genocide” (2018), Tyler Headley describes the end and aftermath of

the Cambodian genocide, and how Cambodia started its slow and steady recovery.

According to Headley, the Cambodian genocide ended when Cambodian rebels and

Vietnamese soldiers entered Cambodia in December, and overthrew Pol Pot on Christmas

1979. Peace accords were signed a decade later in 1991, and reconstruction could begin.

Education had suffered tremendously, with over 96% of tertiary students killed by the

Khmar Rouge. Headley describes how the new government diverted 15% of the national

budget to education, but this fell to 8% in a few years. Due to the shortage of education

and modern facilities, Cambodia began to mimic a third-world county. However, there

was a relative turnaround, when nationwide education of children began, and more

people stayed in school, allowing Cambodia to surpass their pre-Khmar Rouge state.

Headley ends on a hopeful note, that Cambodia still has far to go, but with their current

government and systems, a communist dictatorship will never again rise in the ranks of

the Cambodian government.

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Ngor, Haing. Survival in the Killing Fields. Carroll & Graf, 2003. In his memoir “Survival in the

Killing Fields” (2003) Haing S. Ngor describes his personal journey in the Cambodian

Genocide and his descent into the hell that was the Cambodian Killing Fields. Ngor

describes how he was taken from his home and pit into a prison camp due to his

background. Ngor was a doctor, and the Khmar Rouge wished to exterminate anyone

who was educated, this included Ngor, who was sent to the Killing Fields. In the Killing

Fields, he was forced to labor, with only a small tin of rice for food. After he escaped, he

fled to America, where he was assassinated by members of the Khmar Rouge that were

living in America. His memoir instills a sense of awe into the reader, showing the

strength and the determination of the oppressed Cambodian people

"Pol Pot in Cambodia." History Place, The History Place, 1999,

www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/pol-pot.htm. Accessed 2 Nov. 2018. In

their The History Place article “Pol Pot in Cambodia” (2014), History Place describes Pol

Pot’s attempt in Cambodia to from a Communist society that resulted in the deaths of 2

million people. History Place confirms that Pol Pot rose to power when he fled into the

jungles of Cambodia, and formed an armed resistance movement known as the Red

Cambodians and fought against the government. Pol Pot seized control of the nation

when a U.S. backed coup overthrew the previous government, and Pol Pot proceeded to

take over. History Place further describes Pol Pot’s actions and how they ultimately led to

the inhumane slaughter of 2 million people through starvation, overwork, disease, and

executions. History Place evaluates Pol Pot’s eventual downfall, when raiding parties

attacked bordering Vietnam villages, and Vietnam quickly became hostile towards Pol
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Pot’s communist regime. Fed up with the attacks, the Vietnamese government invaded

Cambodia on Christmas, 1978. Pol Pot was forced to flee only 13 days after the invasion,

retreating into Thailand with his army, beginning a war that would last 17 years. In 1998,

Pol Pot died of a heart attack. By describing his horrific actions, History Place informs

and educates on the cause, effect, and aftermath of the Cambodian genocide which

plagued the nation for 4 years.

Pol Pot: The Journey to the Killing Fields. Directed by Andrew Williams, BBC, 2015. BBC

Two, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0078z1m. Accessed 16 Nov. 2018. In his BBC

Timewatch documentary, “Pol Pot: The Journey to the Killing Fields” (2005), Andrew

Williams viciously describes the Killing Fields used by the Khmar Rouge during the

Cambodian Genocide, and how the brutal regime caused many untimely deaths. Williams

starts off with describing the sheer casualties of the Cambodian genocide, with 1 in 4 of

the total population murdered at the hands of the Khmar rouge, and how 2.4 million men,

women, and children would meet their deaths, and be buried in mass graves. It began

when a man named Soloth Sar, later to be known as Pol Pot, attended speeches by

China’s communist leader Mao Zedong, and became inspired by communist ideals and

decided to bring them home to Cambodia. Thus, Pol Pot’s reign of terror began. The

documentary describes how millions would die due to his implementations, and prisons

and killing fields. The documentary also describes Pol Pot’s downfall due to the

Vietnamese soldiers and Cambodian rebels sweeping in and overtaking the country. The

documentary concludes with the country’s history since the Cambodian genocide, and the
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Cambodian’s recovering

Rummel, Rudolph. "Statistics of Cambodian Democide." hawaii.edu, University of Hawaii,

1997, www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP4.HTM. Accessed 13 Nov. 2018. In his

University of Hawaii article “Statistics of Cambodian Democide: Estimates, Calculations,

and Sources” (1997), Rudolph Rummel gives the statistics and evaluates the numbers

behind the Cambodian genocide, showing the tolls the Cambodian genocide inflicted.

According to Rummel, in 1970, Cambodia had a population of around 7 million

inhabitants. By the end of the decade, 4,000,000 were dead for many reasons. 3 million

men, women, and children were murdered deliberately by governments and guerilla

groups. According to Rummel, about 2.4 million of these were just from the Khmar

Rouge. About 8 million Cambodians lived in Cambodia after 1780, showing that the

genocides and wars did not permanently inhibit Cambodia’s population.

Stanton, Gregory H. "The Ten Stages of Genocide." Genocide Watch, 2013,

genocidewatch.org/genocide/tenstagesofgenocide.html. Accessed 16 Nov. 2018. In his

Genocide Watch article “The Ten Stages of Genocide” (2013), Dr. Gregory Stanton states

the 10 stages society goes through to end up with genocide and the methods used to

prevent them. Stanton claims that the path to genocide starts with classification and

symbolization of a group, separating them and creating identifying details in order to

distinguishing them form the rest of society. Discrimination and organized polarization of

the group comes next, with laws forbidding the interaction with members of that group,

and banning them from jobs and positions and governments. Preparation of armies and
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persecution comes soon after, the controlling group now has the resources and the

widespread sentiments in order to begin widespread organized persecution against the

group. Stanton explains how genocide itself occurs, with organized, governmental

extermination of the group in question. The only way to stop extermination is with the

overthrowal of the group enforcing it, or international armed intervention. The final stage

is denial. Throughout and after the genocide, the atrocities committed are always denied,

with evidence destroyed and faked. Investigations of the crimes are often faked or

blocked, claiming no crime was ever committed. International courts are the only thing

that can decide at this point, whether the crimes committed were genocide. Stanton states

that all of these stages are preventable, it only requires us to pay attention to the signs, so

we can prevent genocide before it happens

Steven, Vincent. "At the Killing Fields." At the Killing Fields, vol. 38, no. 3, Spring 1997, pp.

247-49. EBSCOhost, web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=a7a92714-8d2a-44f1-

a553-

eb8c1c42e13e%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=970517

0399&db=a9h. Accessed 14 Nov. 2018. In his journal, “At the Killing Fields” (1997) published

by PARTI communiste du Kampuchea, Vincent Steven explains the tortures that the occupants

of the prisons experienced during the Cambodian genocide. Steven explains that during the

Khmar Rouge, prisoners were often shackled to the wall, whipped and electrocuted as a form of

punishment for little reason. Steven demonstrates how the prisoners would receive this

punishment for crying out in pain during other forms of torture. Steven also reveals how when

Vietnamese soldiers raided the prisons, they found dead, mutilated bodies shackled to the walls,
 Maiona 17

and scorpions put on the prisoner’s skin. Stevens explains that a good portion of these inmates

were children. Steven explains that in the killing fields, hundreds of prisoners were laid down,

and clubbed to death because they were not worth the bullets. The Khmar Rouge would take the

children of the inmates and behead them in mass graves with hundreds of children. Steven

summarizes the brutality and violence that the people of Cambodia experienced, and

demonstrates the true horrors of war and holocaust