The cruel ruling of Khmer Rouge affected the Cambodian way of life for decades.  While Khmer Rouge only ruled in Cambodia for less than four years, Cambodia is just now beginning to fully recover from their terrible actions.  The Khmer Rouge has scared many citizens of Cambodia for life because of what they did.

When Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia in 1975, they executed and killed millions of people.  The numbers are not known, but close to two million graves were found from this time period, while it is widely known not everyone had a grave.  Experts say it could be anywhere from two million to four million.  While the numbers are not known, what happened is known.

When Khmer Rouge ruled they were a communist party, and they were threatened by many people within the society.  Any one the proposed a threat, including people affiliated with the former government or foreign governments, teachers, intellectuals, people with intellectual stereotypes (glasses), merchants, Catholics and Christians, and minorities, were executed in mass numbers.  It is estimated that half of the Cambodians who died in this time frame died from execution.

Other than execution, people were dying from overworking, starvation, lack of rest or sleep, illnesses, and other various types of death.  The citizens who were not executed were kept on labor farms so they could be controlled and monitored.  These people were forced to work twelve hours straight with no food or water.  Khmer Rouge did not provide them with necessities, and they closed the hospitals, so there was no facility for the sick or dying.  In addition, Khmer Rouge banned western medicine, so only traditional medicine was allowed to be used.

The people that could successfully fled to Vietnam, which is a country bordering Cambodia.  As the number increased, Vietnam was becoming restless with the Khmer Rouge ruling.  When Khmer Rouge attacked Vietnam in December of 1978, Vietnam had its last straw.  Vietnam attacked and drove away Khmer Rouge in early January of 1979.  Cambodia was finally free from Khmer Rouge’s rule.

The Cambodians did not feel free.  They were still fearful the Khmer Rouge would return, and their way of life changed completely.  Each Cambodian lived in fear, and the fear was passed generation to generation.  In 2005, three quarters of the population alive during the genocide was no longer living, but the story is still very well known.  Due to the severity and emotions about the genocide, the government does not require schools to teach about the Khmer Rouge.  The story is strictly living on the word of mouth between generations.

Starting in 2009, schools will begin teaching about the tragedy that Khmer Rouge brought upon Cambodia.  This is ten years after Khmer Rouge no longer existed, and it is eighteen years after Khmer Rouge no longer practiced communism.  This goes to show the pain and suffering the Cambodia’s endured during the four short years Khmer Rouge ruled their country.  The genocide of Cambodia is said to be one of the worst of its kind.

Khmerguy owns a website about Khmer music at KhmerPortal.com.