A Testimony for the Victims of Pol Pot

I am interested history. If I travel to a country I attempt to understand the history of the country and try to talk to the people to find out more about their history and stories. When exploring Cambodia, I noticed the friendliness and the openness of the people, who were always willing to help me.

The Cambodians would greet me with a smile, but their eyes told a story of sadness

However, I also observed that every friendly smile bore sad eyes and everywhere I would hear stories about children who had lost their parents. I would hear stories about wives who lost their husbands and I started to wonder what exactly happened to Cambodia and its people. It seemed so surreal, that I traveled through a country that appeared to have lost everything – infrastructure, religion, trust and maybe even a bit of its own identity.

At the beginning of my journey to Cambodia, I hardly knew anything about the history. All I knew was that Pol Pot had led the Khmer Rouge. I knew that many people had died, that Cambodia has a problem with landmines and that the country is still struggling with the aftermath to the present day. Over the course of our journey I had to learn that, according to statistics compiled by Tuol Sleng Prison Museum, the Regime of Pol Pot killed almost 1.7 million people – this amounts to quarter of the population. Read the rest of this entry »