How would you react to being forced out of your home at gunpoint, ordered to leave all of your belongings behind, and instructed to walk for days, weeks and months, to an unknown fate in the countryside?
And that is just the beginning of the nightmare.
The first episode of the series is intended to be a very basic introduction to the the complex set of circumstances that Cambodia faced midway through the 1970s.
The conquest of Cambodia by the Communist Party of Kampuchea, known to the world as the Khmer Rouge, would usher in one of the most destructive and murderous regimes of the 20th century. This limited series is an attempt to provide a detailed narrative history of Cambodia, with a focus on explaining the rise of the Khmer Rouge and the reasons why their utopian visions ended with more than one quarter of the population dying in just under four years. More than two million Cambodians, as well as various ethnic minorities, will perish at the hands of their own government. Explaining this story requires time, research and explanation of historical forces in Cambodia as well as the wider world. Not just dates, numbers and names.
Join Lachlan Peters, a long-time student of Cambodian history as he shares the story of one of the most fascinating countries in the world, and the long path toward its darkest period.
Sources
Pin Yathay Stay Alive My Son
David Chandler A History of Cambodia and Voices From S-21
Philip Short Pol Pot: History of a Nightmare
Roland Neveu The Fall of Phnom Penh
Elizabeth Becker When the War Was Over
