Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge followers

Phnom Penh after Khmer Rouge shelling, January 1975

Frightened Cambodians watched the Americans desert Phnom Penh

The Khmer Rouge occupied Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975

The Khmer Rouge sought to destroy any evidence of Western influence

Pol Pot planned to restructure Cambodian society so there would be no evidence of Western influence (seen as corrupt). The inhabitants of Phnom Penh were forced to evacuate and begin a new life cultivating rice. Those who were considered to be unfit for the new ways were tortured and killed.

A prisoner’s details were recorded before torture and death

Pol Pot’s Utopia - A slave labour camp

The Cambodian rail system was wrecked - The ruined French-built railway station in Kampot.

Sihanouk’s palace in Kep was gutted

Many of the villas and public buildings in the holiday resort of Kep were destroyed.

Kep

Some of the victims

Mass graves were found all over Cambodia

Memorial to the killing fields of Battambang

Tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees fled to camps in Thailand where many remained for more than a decade

Pol Pot died in his jungle home, 15 April 1998, aged 73years. He never faced charges the story continues....the story continues