The Facts



Tuol Sleng Prison



                In the four year span of 1975-1979, 2+ million Cambodians died under the Khmer Rogue (Pol Pot); they died due to starvation, exhaustion for being overworked, and executions. Though millions died the actions of the American, Vietnamese, and Cambodian governments caused a surge of popular support for the Khmer Rogue.  The Khmer Rogue made efforts for a “Year Zero” state for Cambodia, destroying history sources and historic artifacts, all in an effort to create Cambodia all over again, to start over.  “He began by declaring, ‘This is Year Zero,’ and that society was about to be ‘purified.’” (History Place) Capitalism, Western culture, and all foreign influences were to be extinguished in favor of an extreme form of Communism. 20,000 people were tortured into giving false confessions at Tuol Sleng, a high school converted into a jail. And with this we ask, what caused these atrocious events?