When talking about the most evil leaders of the 20th century, names like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong are often brought up. One that is often forgotten, however, is Pol Pot.
Pol Pot, also known as Saloth Sar, was the former Prime Minister and Communist leader of Cambodia from 1976 to 1979. He was born in 1925 in the province of Kampong Thom, Cambodia, and was raised in a wealthy, well-educated family. Pol Pot was educated in Paris, France, where he became involved in Marxist-Leninist politics and developed a strong hatred for Western colonialism and imperialism. As has was ideologically a Marxist-Leninist, when he grabbed power in Cambodia in 1975 and set about to create a communist paradise on Earth.
I first learned about Pol Pot from a docuseries and afterward, I researched a lot about his atrocities and brutality. Not only did he try to take his regime back to the middle ages when most people would work on farms, but he also went to horrendous lengths to try to make the social engineering attempt work. I view Pol Pot as one of the most evil leaders in recent history for a variety of reasons. Pol Pot was strictly against any freedom at all. He forced the urban population of about 2.5 million to move to the country and work on farms. Civil Servants, Doctors, and other professionals were all stripped of their possessions to toil in the fields. Furthermore, all citizens had to wear the same black clothing. All aspects of a person’s life were controlled under Pol Pot. Because I believe freedom is one of the most fundamental things for humans, I regard Pol Pot’s regime as one of the most barbaric. Another reason I do not like Pol Pot is his disregard for human life. Anyone who was viewed as an intellectual, including those who wore glasses, was killed. Those who complained, concealed their rations, or broke rules were tortured and then killed. one infamous example was detention center S-21, where only 7 out of 20000 imprisoned survived the detention center. In total, an estimated 1.5- 2 million Cambodians dies from starvation, execution, or disease under Pol Pot’s regime.
Pol Pot’s regime finally ended in 1979, when the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia and overthrew the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot fled into the jungle and continued to lead a resistance movement against the Vietnamese-backed government until his capture in 1997. He was placed under house arrest and died in 1998 before he could be brought to trial for his crimes.
The fact that Pol Pot’s regime only fell about 40 years ago helped me realize that we are not past the brutalities and savagery of the colonial era and the middle ages. Even today, Kim Jong-un’s regime has power and commits heinous crimes every day. It is important to recognize these atrocities so we can continue to learn from them and not become victims of them as it does not take a long time for brutal regimes and people to develop. Hopefully, we can one day live in a world that is peaceful and conflict-free.
I’ve heard of Pol Pot, but I’ve never actually learned about him in school, which I think is a shame. I get the sense that people think that the Holocaust was the only genocide to have happened, when in fact, many have happened afterwards. Angelina Jolie actually directed a movie about the atrocities in Cambodia called First They Killed My Father.
As someone who’s taken many history classes throughout high school, I’ve never heard of Pol Pot. More schools should certainly teach about this conflict given the massive casualty and death toll. Although you mentioned dates and years, I couldn’t believe that these series of tragedies only occurred about 40 years ago! I’ll definitely check out the film Jackson mentioned to learn more about this issue.
It’s crazy that he is not taught in school curriculum, or at least in mine. I think that this is so important given the impact it had on so many people. I will definitely look more into this.
I find it really surprising to realize that this leader was not taught in any school curriculum in my high school. While it is common to learn about historical leaders who abused their power and citizens, it is always jarring to hear about this abuse happening in today’s society. This post did a really good job of providing enough context and information to get a grasp of how Pol Pot led Cambodia.
I had never heard about Pol Pot, so firstly, I appreciate you making this post about him as I was able to learn more about such an important historical figure I didn’t know existed. It is crazy that this didn’t really occur all that long ago and it makes me wonder about whether or not Cambodia has been able to fully recover from the damage that has been done, like all of their urban development being pushed to the side or all of the thousands and thousands of deaths that have occurred. I like how you also wrote about someone who isn’t morally “good.” It’s very important to remember that there were truly terrible leaders in the past and present.