Dehumanization
"To spare you is no profit, to destroy you is no loss."
Forced to move from their homes under the threat of death, the Cambodians were brought to collective farms and labor camps. Where they worked until they were unable to do so any longer or their assistance was no longer necessary. The ill, disabled, young, old, those who refused to leave or were unable to make the journey to the labor camps were killed on the spot.
Entire cities were evacuated into the countryside. There was no warning of what was to occur, it was get up and go.
Schools, universities, hospitals, factories and private institutions were shut down and all former owners, employees, and extended families were murdered. Religion was also abolished. Christian missionaries and Buddhist monks were killed and their temples and churches burned. It was common for people to be killed for
speaking foreign languages, smiling, crying or wearing glasses. Any one who showed signs of being more intellectual was killed.
Many of the killings were caused by extreme propaganda of the new military communist transformation taking place. Families were separated from parents to kids and all civil and political rights of the citizens were taken away. The Cambodians who survived the dreadful purges and marches worked on little rations for what seemed to be endless hours as unpaid laborers. All of them living together in public communes with little food and many deadly diseases swarming around them. Due to starvation, physical injury, and illness, many were unable to perform their duties in these camps. One by one they were slain by the Khmer Rouge.
This genocide would go on to last three years until Vietnam would invade Cambodia in 1978 and defeat the Khmer Rouge government. Over two million people in civilian deaths were taken into account
(Genocides and Conflicts, Cambodia Genocide)
Entire cities were evacuated into the countryside. There was no warning of what was to occur, it was get up and go.
Schools, universities, hospitals, factories and private institutions were shut down and all former owners, employees, and extended families were murdered. Religion was also abolished. Christian missionaries and Buddhist monks were killed and their temples and churches burned. It was common for people to be killed for
speaking foreign languages, smiling, crying or wearing glasses. Any one who showed signs of being more intellectual was killed.
Many of the killings were caused by extreme propaganda of the new military communist transformation taking place. Families were separated from parents to kids and all civil and political rights of the citizens were taken away. The Cambodians who survived the dreadful purges and marches worked on little rations for what seemed to be endless hours as unpaid laborers. All of them living together in public communes with little food and many deadly diseases swarming around them. Due to starvation, physical injury, and illness, many were unable to perform their duties in these camps. One by one they were slain by the Khmer Rouge.
This genocide would go on to last three years until Vietnam would invade Cambodia in 1978 and defeat the Khmer Rouge government. Over two million people in civilian deaths were taken into account
(Genocides and Conflicts, Cambodia Genocide)