Pol Pot: The Man Behind the Khmer Rouge

[@BioshockChicken]

I used to sometimes go with my ex girlfriend when she’d go to get her nails done by an older Cambodian man. I think he liked that there was a guy there to talk to so one day he started talking about his younger years under Pol Pot and it was absolutely terrifying. He had a scar from being shot and was small and feeble from growing up malnourished. It sounds like most of his family didn’t make it and he eventually was able to flee to America. In spite of all of this he was the nicest and happiest guy in the world. I’ll never forget as he was gluing on my girlfriends nails, he gave a slight smile, looked up at me and said “I used to wonder if I was going to live to see the next day. Now I get paid to hold pretty girl’s hand. This is the best country in the world.” Great guy, I miss him more than my ex.

[@vaibhav4634]

Great guy, I miss him more than my ex. :D

[@ianL-S]

sometimes the brightest of smiles hide the saddest pair of eyes

[@applesandgrapesfordinner4626]

That man deserves better. I'm glad he's doing fine

[@3p1Kf41L]

So what happened between you and your ex

[@Hanzo2024]

Did he sleep with your girl too?

[@Achillez098]

"He had trouble understanding Marx, so he started studying Stalin" This was never going to end well...

[@slavicemperor8279]

Stalin would have pissed his pants if he saw the horrors Cambodian people experienced. The madness of Pol Pot cannot be compared to ANY dictator ever.

[@afinoxi]

What's wrong with Stalin ? **Soviet soldiers start marching while singing Partizan's Song** _GULAG FOR YOU ! ХАХАХАХАХАХАХАХА !_

[@sheilaclemett4353]

Stalin was responsible for the Holodomor. Check that one out.

[@emileroberge9459]

Emil not commies , tankies

[@dazuk37]

"He had trouble understanding Marx" Sounds like every commie I ever met... After all if you understand Marx you shun his ideas as you would a rabid dog and thus can never be a commie.

[@jamesfrost2032]

I remember visiting Cambodia over a decade ago and seeing people still refusing to wear glasses and looking at me weird because I do. There were also tons of landmine warnings. The horrors this monster unleashed. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[@ryanbarrett8906]

Well, the landmine warnings will be because of the US bombings but yeah Pol Pot was an evil bastard (but so was Henry Kissinger)

[@AdamSmith-gs2dv]

Socialism is the greatest evil on this planet, sadly 100 million deaths is not enough to prove to it's idiot followers why it's bad

[@IFukkEm]

@@ryanbarrett8906 the landmines is because the Khmer rouge littered the countryside with thousands of landmines.

[@Machtyn]

He was that bad before he gained power. The sad thing is, people gave him the rights to that power.

[@breadandblack7718]

@@AdamSmith-gs2dvI'll have to respectfully disagree. I believe the actual figures are closer to 100 Gorillian.

[@mostlymessingabout]

You missed a few bits. He invaded the unified Vietnam and massacred many Vietnamese multiple times. So the Vietnamese retaliated and invaded Cambodia. Thailand and China continued to support him despite his genocides.

[@baseafterbase1048]

Thanh Tran DANNNGGGGGGG I didn’t know my country was that revengeful and savage. “He massacred many Vietnamese multiple times” “So the Vietnamese retaliated and invaded Cambodia”

[@mostlymessingabout]

@@baseafterbase1048 you can look it up. When I say massacre, its entire towns and villages of thousands of people were butchered at a time, maybe they might leave 1 person behind to tell the tale of what happened... you don't do that unless you have the support and guarantee of China.

[@baseafterbase1048]

slovene ball frick

[@grizzdesu9732]

@@mostlymessingabout makes sense, seeing as china invaded vietnam not long after

[@mysteriousmuffin6017]

R O Actually you could argue that the US played a large role in the victory of the Cambodian Communist Party. If they had not dropped bombs on Cambodia the Communists would not have had as much support.

[@neosodon9895]

I don't think any dictator has ever put so much effort into making their country miserable as Pol Pot did. He banned basketball, technology, doctors, all forms of entertainment, even love and pretty much anything that would make people happy. Most other infamous dictators made at least some effort to better their country but Pol Pot's only concern seemed to be maximum suffering for everyone.

[@bluegregory6239]

Say what you like about North Korea, but Kim Jong-Un never banned basketball and is actually a big fan!

[@jenniferdecker8901]

I appreciate the way you treat darker subjects, respectfully but unflinchingly. It's a hard line to walk, but you do it well.

[@14beans]

Agreed. Good journalism.

[@rbrinks5]

Simon Whistler is an international treasure

[@bigfootwojak4393]

The horrors of communism need to be talked about more often

[@unaontour]

I visited Cambodia around 10 years ago and it's one of the most beautiful countries i've ever been to and one of the most generous people i've ever met. But there is a psychological sadness in the people, you can see it in their eyes. Like an entire country is suffering from PTSD.

[@sknight2810]

Yeah bc these types of mental illness can be passed down.. and u have a nation full of ptsd giving birth to the next generation..its gonna take longer time to heal

[@thoughtlessdotjpeg4655]

Having lived there my entire life, I agree. As someone who is not Khmer, but (since I have been here since I was born) was essentially accepted into the culture, they are the most generous, kind people I have come across. But there is sometimes just this air of despair that I can never relate to, like a universal and powerful understanding.

[@TheProco2020]

Honeymooned in Cambodia and loved the country, the people and the food. I cried when visiting the killing fields and other places that are now tourist hot spots but it’s important to know, and not repeat, man’s inhumanity to man. I’d like to visit again now and enjoy the Cambodian hospitality again.

[@michaeldowdy3176]

I just recently came back to the Philippines from Cambodia ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and stayed at the hotel hard to believe it’s only 40 years ago all this happened.

[@maverick7291]

An Idiot Western commie lover: that wasn't communism derpa derpa 🤪

[@Makarosc]

Pol Pot a dictator so cruel his fellow Communists had to run him off

[@codenamevisage]

Pol Pot China has party capitalism. Only party members can be capitalists and make money.

[@kaybevang536]

EFE Man China is capitalist with a commie cover on it after Mao became a senile old man lol 😂

[@nothingspecial1053]

@EFE Man : Well china suolport pol pot too so ...

[@cottonball5499]

@@kaybevang536 xi is a softliner, things are slowly getting more socialist

[@kaybevang536]

Cottonball there still capitalist they are making lots of Muneh out of us westerners

[@melmoo6630]

My parents were able to escape his awful regime.

[@georgeefilms2625]

Really, how?

[@rizgomez6949]

how

[@nhanuwu4444]

@@georgeefilms2625 by running and hiding fast enough, I could tell you what they did to the people they caught if you want

[@nhanuwu4444]

They tortured everyone to death, including children, the elders, and women. For kids, they were torn apart into 2 pieces vertically I don't remember the other methods of torturing but they're equally brutal

[@k1thya]

@@nhanuwu4444 gosh tear apart into 2 pieces vertically is disturbing

[@IAmNumber4000]

Was Pol Pot psychotic or brain damaged or something? Even from the perspective of a sociopathic dictator, purging the only defense force between you and your geopolitical enemy is a shockingly stupid thing to do.

[@mexodroid1848]

While living out in the jungles he was fascinated by the native tribes and their moneyless agrarian village societies. His next move was to apply that to the whole country. It went well as you could expect.

[@sto1238]

Lol yea the Vietnamese practically walked into the capital 😂

[@导演文森吴]

He definitely must have had some disfunction in his brain that caused complete lack of empathy for individuals and was therefore free to experiment with the country like a kid does in a game.

[@fukkitful]

He took a page out of Stalin's book, literally... Stalin purged his senior Army Officers right before Germany invaded.

[@sjins1poolboy698]

@@fukkitful Stalin purgered his senior officers yes, but Pol Pot purged his army, officers and soldiers alike, leaving very few people left to defend Cambodia. The USSR suffered in early WWII due to the lack of experienced leadership and experienced troops but they didn't lack bodies to throw into the defence.

[@santiagomachado7378]

Ironies of Pol Pot's life: He had everyone with glasses killed for being "too intellectual" and "not peasant enough" yet he himself spoke French and used glasses

[@lalaboards]

Santiago Machado. that Hypocrisy alone describes the brainwashed American left to a tee .

[@j.2512]

that just communism

[@santiagomachado7378]

@@lalaboards Yep. "It is wrong to do ________, unless we do it, in which case it's fine and you have no right to complain because if you do you're a bigot/racist/Nazi/white supremacist/etc."

[@knivesmillions2913]

That's such a straw man and an obvious smear. Also amusing given the fact that overwhelmingly Liberals are more drawn to intellectual pursuits like science, medicine, law, philosophy, technology etc...

[@santiagomachado7378]

@@knivesmillions2913 Liberals pursuing science when they're pushing gender ideology? Medicine when they say fat acceptance is alright and that obesity is a social construct? Law when they literally made death threats on anyone supporting Judge Kavanaugh? Philosophy when their main references are Sartre, Marx, Foucault, de Beauvoir and BS feminists like Judith Butler and Kate Millet? Technology when they whine and bitch about "evil capitalism" whilst they tweet about it in iPhone Xs? Nah mate, its the people on the right that are smart. Lefties are literally the NPC meme

[@Mark-qq9cd]

Please don't "apologize" for the ads. Your excellent mini-docs are fantastic and much appreciated. Besides, when learning about Pol Pot, one needs a break!

[@therealbettyswollocks]

Well said.

[@WhoNeedsRussiansAnyway]

These kinds of comments keep me hopeful. :)

[@robertjones9598]

Dependance on advertising is problematic as it can constrict the content of videos to only things that don't offend the market.

[@robertjones9598]

@Ben Lane A general point, not specific to this content. Although who knows? The point is that it could be affected and compromised, and you wouldn't neccesarily know it. How many unconscious assumptions are we making that just go by unaddressed, just accepted as the norm?

[@RankinMsP]

Thank you. I came to say this but you have done so more eloquently.

[@burnoutberry]

"Average student, at best, held back 2 years". Average must be really low these days if he was anywhere near close.

[@greetingsfromamsterdam4830]

"Angkor Wat told me my people could do anything, so i made them all rice farmers" (???)

[@arbaz79]

😅😅😅

[@godhere6459]

Stupid a...

[@lukeyluke9637]

Communism is a mind virus.

[@coppermoth6069]

Then I killed all doctors, teachers, business owners, etc. and anyone with an education 🤦‍♀️

[@wh2960]

​@@lukeyluke9637 right and who were the ones to support him and who were the ones to overthrow him?

[@loretta_3843]

I remember studying this in year 11 in high school. I've never heard of a more senselessly useless group. Their violence and ability to think up new and sadistic methods of death is not for the faint of heart. Absolutely heartbreaking.

[@blinksstayfresh2524]

Same here. Learned about pot he is sickening

[@piuscalvinus]

I lost my 2 grand-aunts and grandfather to this regime.

[@BaldingClamydia]

I'm sorry 😟

[@ybbok]

Sorry to hear that, but why anyone would like that comment 🤷🏿‍♂ I have been to the killing fields in Cambodia. Shocking stuff. The devil is real...

[@BaldingClamydia]

@@ybbok I think it's more acknowledgment than "like." I bet if there was a sad button, it would be pressed.

[@ahuddleston6512]

I so sorry to hear that...may they rest in peace.

[@justjuli3t]

So sorry for your loss. I can't even begin to imagine the horrors your family and other Cambodians went through.

[@StaticImage]

I asked and you delivered. Thank you so much. But we can't forget the bone chilling words spoken to the people- "To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss." That and the fact that the people were expected to harvest all the rice you said, but if they were caught eating a single grain, they were killed on the spot. Most of the rice was exported.

[@HuiQiu-n1h]

I heard a story where people stomach were cutted open if they were caught or suspected eating.....

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:00 - Chapter 1 - Early years 3:35 - Chapter 2 - Budding revolutionary 4:30 - Chapter 3 - Becoming a communist 6:30 - Chapter 4 - An independent nation 8:45 - Chapter 5 - The khmer rouge 10:45 - Chapter 6 - Seizing power 12:00 - Mid roll ad 13:20 - Chapter 7 - Reign of terror 18:00 - Chapter 8 - The final years 19:20 - Chapter 9 - Death without justice

[@shanghaichang]

My grandmother gave birth to my mom in 1976 one year in Khmer Rouge. And my father witness his mother killed by Khmer Rouge. Mental Illness, especially, PTSD is a big crisis for not only survivors but also the children who affected the after-match likes my parents who traumatized and develop bipolar and then pass it on to me and my young brother. We both struggling with OCD, Anxiety & Bipolar Depression since childhood. It’s both genetic and social.

[@JakeGillies-p3f]

i hope she wasnt born 2 years

[@manuginobilishair5662]

You can’t develop a disease and then pass it on to your children unless there is genetic predisposition

[@freewifi4335]

I travel to Cambodia frequently and it's astounding to realize that any Cambodoan that is over the age of 30 probably witnessed some extremely horrible acts violence as well as having suffered while trying to survive.. the whole country suffers from a collective PTSD

[@sto1238]

Pretty much every Cambodian family has lost at least one family member or close friend. Approximately 1/4 of the population was killed off in a span of 3 years.

[@One.Zero.One101]

Sadly public opinion can do a 180 turn very quickly in a single generation. In my country we had a brutal dictator who was reviled and hated by my generation. Today he is beloved by the Gen Z and they deny all the atrocities he's done. This is made easier with the emergence of social media. All you need to do is buy likes and upvote an opinion to the top, and it becomes the popular opinion.

[@LikeOMGDuh21]

When I moved to the states, (I was almost 11) in middle school, people asked if I knew about “pol pot” (with the pronunciation you said) and I was so confused and asked “who?” They all thought I was stupid and didn’t know my own country’s history and started to explain it to me. Long story short, I knew who he was, just not the way American pronounced his name.

[@NonSecular]

How u pronounce

[@LikeOMGDuh21]

Dark Matter it’s hard to type up how you’d say it, which is why it’s spell that way. If you didn’t know Khmer (the Cambodian language) you wouldn’t think to pronounce it the correct way. So here goes though pol (the ol should make the “old” so p-old) And pot (“ot” sounds like oat. So p-oat) if that make sense.

[@jonezmontenegro3916]

Thanks Cammy, I think I do get it now.

[@AlexVanChezlaw]

In spanish it has the same pronunciation, americans say it weird

[@krazziejrboi]

Same i always heard "pole poat"

[@peter-radiantpipes2800]

I’ve been to the killing fields in Cambodia. Picked up the bones and teeth and placed them in the plates when you find them and ive seen plenty of clothing still sticking out of the pits. Been to the 1000 skull memorial and the high school turned torture and execution area. It was horror. It’s more surprising how few younger (and older) know about this genocide that happened so recently. That said, Cambodia is a beautiful place with the nicest people I’ve met and I’ve been to 20 + countries across the world. The food is amazing. Ankor Wat and siem reap is gorgeous. The rivers are amazing. It’s a must if you are a traveler. I cannot wait to see it again and adventure around more. Though I don’t need to see the horrors again. Once is enough. The rest of the country and the people are amazing.

[@professor.dickweed]

Wouldn't it have been somewhat not allowed to touch the stuff in the killing fields? Its kinda odd that you did that

[@peter-radiantpipes2800]

Amrok they have collection plates for random bones that you’re supposed to put them in when you find them. So I was supposed to do that. Not weird at all. You don’t pull the clothing out but if you find a tooth etc, there are plates mounted all over for that. At least there were back in 2009

[@yangliulang8853]

@@peter-radiantpipes2800 thanks for praising my country. Next time you come here you should try the coast line provinces such as Sihanouk Ville, Kampot, Koh Kong and Kep for the amazing scenery :)))

[@peter-radiantpipes2800]

yang liulang I’ve been to Koh Kong and spent a lot of time on boats and along the Mekong. Some of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve seen. I still miss the curry so much! It’s different than almost anywhere. I cannot wait to visit again and see new places. I only had a few weeks notice before I went the last time. Then we got stuck in the airport not being able to go to Vietnam for visa issues. I had to pick a spot on the map Within an hour for our next destination. We ended up in Ko Samui, Thailand but it was great too. The highlight of that South East Asia trip was definitely Cambodia though. The people, your people are just so great. I’m looking forward to taking my son next as soon as he is well enough and old enough to travel. Have you heard of the American band Dengue Fever? It’s eclectic popular music with a Cambodian singer. They’ve been around a while. I’ve seen them live a few times. Always a lot of fun. I only wish we had Cambodian food here in Santa Barbara, CA, USA. :) anyway, have a great week. 👍

[@EstrangedEstranged]

People don't know about any of the communist genocides because the Left in the First World has a vested interest in suppressing these facts.

[@jaythizzle1969]

I've been to Cambodia and it's so crazy that there are no old people. Wonderful place, super sad history.

[@yangliulang8853]

Next time you come here, I can show you where they are :)))

[@pfw4568]

@@yangliulang8853 What does that mean?

[@alsyrriad]

@@pfw4568 It’s not that deep, they’re probably just being nice.

[@historiculgeomocule5569]

The Khmer Rouge is the only regime I know of that murdered people exclusively for wearing glasses.

[@glorytotheaprdeathtotheufl7917]

Funnily after crushing the Paris Commune (the first ever socialist society) the French army started a terror campaign against the Pariseans where they singled out people with glasses to be executed (they weirdly assumed that "intellectuals" must have started the rebellion and argued that people with glasses had to be intellectual)

[@WhiteBloggerBlackSpecs]

The USSR also executed intellectuals, so I'm sure spectacle clad Russians were pinched

[@jerrymarshall2095]

A seeing eye dog would spell doom for your whole village,and the dog would be your last meal.

[@Jupiter.141]

School classmroom turns into a torture room

[@angelusvastator1297]

@@glorytotheaprdeathtotheufl7917 Source?

[@snoo1296]

I've been to the killing fields, it's bloody sad. The worst part in my opinion is that no one stepped in sooner, it only took the Vietnamese 2 weeks to liberate the whole country, yet he was able to go about his killing for 3 years. Blows my mind.

[@JoshSweetvale]

"Never interrupt your enemy while he's making a mistake."

[@whywhy3289]

China backed him making action against him really risky

[@bennhem109]

The Vietnamese at first captured those Khmer refugees and bartered them to the Khmer Rouge for cows, rice, sugar. They were dragged a few hundred meters inside the burger and killed immediately. The viet maintained embassy in Cambodia to the very end.

[@tridinh1011]

​@@bennhem109 we fcking ended the entire regime, you mean the usa and un backed that entire khmer rouge?

[@oldleatherhandsfriends4053]

Why would any of the Countries around stop him? He is destroying his own country so it will be less of a threat to the others around it, hell it would make it easier to take if say China eventually needed to take over it.

[@UCSPanther20]

The first dictator of Equatorial Guinea, Francisco Nguema was dubbed "The Pol Pot of Africa" because he was a very brutal, murderous and demented tyrant who eclipsed even Idi Amin in terms of violent insanity. He was known to wipe out whole villages on a whim, outlawed private education, and even ordered the execution of anyone who wore glasses. It was believed that a lot of Nguema's erratic behavior was due to his heavy drug use. During Nguema's reign of terror, Equatorial Guinea was dubbed "The Dachau of Africa", but it was mercifully brought to an end when his nephew overthrew and executed him in '79.

[@dlf7789]

Would you consider creating a biographic on Chiang Kai-shek?

[@Bj-yf3im]

YES!

[@maxthesax2807]

Lol, that criminal corrupt warlord?

[@bullmoosemedia]

@@maxthesax2807 I live in Taiwan right now. It was a police state until the late 80s/early 90s, but Taiwan apparently has the lowest whiskey tarriffs in the world because he loved whiskey so much, so at least there is that.

[@Z1VA]

Mr Zogu. Are you the king of Albania?

[@zufalllx]

@@maxthesax2807 Nah, you're thinking of Mao Zedong

[@seariakett4209]

Angelina Jolie's *"First They Killed My Father"* is a sweeping story of the Khmer Rouge and the fictionalized account of one family's hardships. I highly recommend it.

[@SuperLumpyPumpkin]

Believe it or not, it wasn't fiction; it originally was an account of a survivor of the regime through the eyes of Loung Ung, who was five at the time of all of this happening. I highly recommend reading it if you haven't yet!

[@jahendrix1543]

It’s sadly not fictional, it was a very deep, and dark book but overall a good read

[@lilpsycho4425]

It was made into a movie that's on Netflix!

[@leobuscaglia5576]

I would suggest you watch 'The killing fields'. It's based on real life characters and events. This is a far superior movie about the terror perpetrated by the Khmer rouge.

[@small_joys2022]

Nothing made by jolie is worth seeing. Aa far as I know she is a raging communist supporter herself. These people are the reason that communism thrived and devastated so many poor countries.

[@tuliko8678]

I went to S21 and one of the killing fields... very sobering. I got to meet one of the 7 survivors, Chum Mey... my hero. I gave him a big hug

[@penguintaco9038]

Man was a monster

[@Mshi-]

Source?

[@penguintaco9038]

@Mshi- he and his regime killed 7 million men women and children. Didn't you watch the video?

[@rubenkerobyan6891]

Had to make a presentation about this devil

[@itsblitz4437]

Why not? He did it on other monsters such as Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, and other monsters.

[@molivah]

Rick Sanchez I think the OP was saying that he, not Simon, had to do a presentation

[@---qw5nb]

I would never.....He’s horrible and ruined my country.

[@deeandthedead]

Doing that right now lol

[@cadelaide]

There are still blood stains on the floors and walls of S21 jail in Phnom Penh. Torture racks, boards full of photos of the condemned still stand Bones scattered throughout the grounds at the killing fields. The whole spectacle has become a macabre tourist display of cruelty. It’s still a surreal scene of total carnage and the poverty that has ensued a tragedy, beggars child prostitution Cambodia still pays the price of lose generations. I thought I had a stomach of steel but Nearly 10 years later and memories of that place still shake me and I ain’t even Cambodian or religious. That smell, the heat, you just know that most people on the street older than 40 are likely killers. It’s pure ☠️☠️☠️ Cambodia will take generations to recover if ever.

[@Machtyn]

"that most people on the street older than 40 are likely killers." You probably mean 50. Those in their 40s were born between 70 and 79 at this point. Well, unless they had 5 year olds shooting people.

[@oceanberserker]

@@Machtyn All things considered, would that really surprise you?

[@danielfazlan4769]

@@oceanberserker My grandmother was once a teacher in malaysia to a khmer rouge refugee in the late 1970s. Her cambodian student once described the horrors she had to go through to escape the khmer rouge. At one point before making it to the thai border she had to breath through a bamboo stick in a river to avoid detection by khmer rouge soldiers who had a strict no escapees policy. Once she happened to witness khmer rouge soldiers killing a month old baby by smashing its head against a rock and scooping out and eating the baby's brain using a spoon. Needless to say my grandmother still has chills today when recounting this story to me.

[@dinneyney4043]

@@danielfazlan4769 the Khmer Rouge is extremely cruel. There even told a story where a woman get raped by the soldier before getting killed, and also a child soldier (badly influenced and manipulated easily) bashing a man’s head as a torture because he stole a fruit to feed himself.

[@DogCoffee138]

My only critique of this video would be the mention of Pol Pot’s love of Stalin’s “Cult Of Personality” as there’s little evidence of Pol Pot implementing this (apart from quite begrudgingly during the Vietnam invasion to rally support). Pol, although a dictator who controlled all of Cambodian life, kept himself out of the limelight for the most part with few people actually knowing who Pol Pot actually was (as in, few knew his face). I absolutely love your series and use them often in my lessons

[@ameanasaur]

After so many videos, i had to drop a comment about your ability to fit the sponsors into the video. I actually listen to the creative and effective approach that you take and the ability to relate the products to not only the channel but the interests of your core demographic show a masterful understanding of your viewers as well as marketing as a whole, kudos.

[@Biographics]

Thank you. The way I see it is that people are not here for the ads, but we need to have them to make money, so I might as well try to make them as painless as possible :)

[@ameanasaur]

@@Biographics And after all, "if Napoleon were still alive, he'd definitely be using skillshare." brilliant, hahahah

[@em1osmurf]

i lived through this era. what a disgusting regime. and kudos on at least trying to get through the foreign names, etc! (my russian acquaintances sometimes laugh at my google-inspired "Russian") ya cain't win 'em all! khmer: pronounced like "try to hawk up a loogy--mer." ugly vid due to ugly subject.

[@BaldingClamydia]

I have to think about that sound before I make it! I don't understand how to do it and sound natural, like the trills in Spanish (rolling R's), if I try to use it in the middle of the sentence I sound like a lawnmower that won't start. 😩

[@kimmolaine8069]

His cruelty toward his own people was on such another level that I've literally had nightmares about it. Guess another Pol Pot videos is what I need...

[@ganjaman59650]

One of his best friend in that period and was with polpot for 4 years at the genocide time still live in france protected even by medias, jaques verges,now he is lawyer and is seen as the robin hood of the french justice...never been interogated, nothing, and also he still defend some khmer as a lawyer in cambodia, combodian people throw rocks at him calling him the devil in front of the tribunal; but as usual France just protect this war criminal since this period, wtf. The number of war criminal that studied in france is just insane, thanks to the bourgoies communist teachers. Even kim jong-un studied in france not long ago.

[@lik--]

Jacques Vergès died in 2013.

[@neo-didact9285]

*WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FAAAACE???*

[@steveb2618]

Visited cambodia and the killing fields as well as Ankar Wat. What an amazing experience. At the killing fields there are still today, human bones on the ground and barrel converted with dirt. The tree where soldiers smashed babies’ heads against is visible and gut wrenching to see. Very informative video. Thanks

[@thoughtlessdotjpeg4655]

As someone who has lived in Cambodia for most of my life, this pisses me off so much. Indochina was just starting to flourish, it could have been so beautiful, and then this...

[@Discosaturn]

One of the 15 dislikes is from a guy named "Paul Pott".

[@TehUltimateSnake]

@Ruturaj Shiralkar pole pot

[@Discosaturn]

@Ruturaj Shiralkar That's the point of the joke. There must be some guy named Paul Pott (which of course rhymes with the name of the Khmer Rouge leader) who dislikes this video.

[@ThisCharmingMan1984]

Disco Saturn Loves To Do Subtitled Comedies and Other Things 24/7 I believe there’s a singer from the U.K., where I’m from, called Paul Potts: I think he was on one of those talent shows, like ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ or some bollocks like that haha. Not a fan of that type of show, myself, but I remember a friend of mine mentioning his name once; I misheard, and said “Pol Pot was on a talent show!?”- much to the amusement of the person I was talking to haha. So, yes: there is indeed someone called “Paul Potts”- and why he hasn’t changed his name, I don’t know haha. It’s a strange old world. 😀

[@Discosaturn]

@@ThisCharmingMan1984 I'm from the US so I didn't think such an actual person named Paul Potts could make a live appearance on a TV show. But thanks for pointing that out.

[@reichtangal7666]

I see what you did there

[@averageotaku1993]

“Holiday in Cambodia”. Great song.

[@vespadavidson2315]

AverageOtaku93 Brilliant. Listened to it today.

[@santiagomachado7378]

"Holiday in Cambodia! Where you'll do what you're told! Holiday in Cambodia! Where the slums have so much sooooooooul!... POL POT!"

[@santiagomachado7378]

Do I get time at Tuol Sleng if I say I only heard of them after playing GH3 Legends of Rock?

[@santiagomachado7378]

Dang it. Well, in PP's Cambodia I would've gotten that anyways. I'm a glass-wearing law student that has done something like 10 days of hard labor in his life :(

[@jasonfedeli]

You’ll work hard with a gun in your back for a bowl of rice a day

[@5x385]

My wife and her family are Cambodian, too many sad stories, luckily they live to tell.

[@jimsteffel]

"Confess your weaknesses and seek forgiveness" Eerily familiar.

[@iowa_lot_to_travel9471]

Not even close. 😅

[@Johnny206]

I love hearing the stories of my parents. It makes me feel so much more appreciative of life. They endured so much pain and agony from losing loved ones and escaping their own country in which our own people were being slaughtered worse than cattle. (No exaggeration) The stories they tell me are so vivid and clear I can see it happening in real time. I wish I would be able to meet a producer or director and make a movie out of their stories for it to be as authentic as it could be. Authenticity is everything and what my parents went through I feel would showcase the many horrific stories other families went through.

[@aguyfromnothere]

Glad your parents escaped.

[@lapensulo4684]

There are two movies. The first is titled, ‘The Killing Fields,’ and the second is titled , ‘First, They Came for my Father.’

[@1969Kismet]

After watching this I need to make soap bubbles and watch butterflies videos.

[@vector7035]

Same.

[@Bra-a-ains]

In a way, there is a happy ending. Nowadays, you can freely and safely travel all around SE Asia - Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore. Only Burma is the odd man out. It boggles my mind that this used to be a dangerous war zone. It gives me hope for other parts of the world.

[@The_Original_Default_Username]

It wasn't just any French University he went to. Believe it or not, it wasn't the Chinese that brought Communism to southeast Asia, but the French intellectuals.

[@AdamSmith-gs2dv]

France is the worst, thanks to their revolution they brought the evil of Socialism into this world and it's still killing people to this day

[@thatsnodildo1974]

Ah yes Europe. The Ogs of fucking up the world but some how America takes a lot of the blame

[@glorytotheaprdeathtotheufl7917]

Wow thats an ahistorical take

[@richardzhang2773]

@Thegreatkingslayer Hail the Enclave. May we build the America again!

[@richardzhang2773]

@Thegreatkingslayer God Bless the Enclave, God Bless America. May we stand together against the enemy of the people

[@minhminh-ke5go]

Pol Pot : *Exits* Also Pol Pot : Try to invade Vietnam. Vietnam : *I'm gonna end this man whole career.*

[@grizzdesu9732]

@Zack Wilkerson anyone who steps foot in there has never lasted, be they the victor or not. the chinese is the only exception but certainly not in recent times.

[@tymgamerz]

@@grizzdesu9732 the vietnamese actually constantly kicked the chinese out but the chinese kept coming back in and the french was the one that held vietnam the longest apart from the great viet of china

[@ryanching8]

@Zack Wilkerson cause they always mad. Ready to fight anyone without backing down.

[@nguyenbao1314]

Some Missing fact from Video: Fact 1: Polpot study much of his ideology in Chinese. Proof with fact and checkable source: From the 1950s on, Pol Pot had made frequent visits to the People's Republic of China, receiving political and military training-especially on the theory of dictatorship of the proletariat-from the personnel of the CPC. From November 1965 to February 1966, Pol Pot received training from high-ranking CPC officials such as Chen Boda and Zhang Chunqiao, on topics such as the communist revolution in China, class conflicts, and Communist International. Pol Pot was particularly impressed by the lecture on political purge by Kang Sheng. ( "Chandler, David P. (2018). Brother Number One: A Political Biography Of Pol Pot"). Fact 2: Polpot is an anti VIet. In 1963, WPK are being attacked by Cambodia gorverment led to the dead and lost most of pro-Viet, Polpot take that time, kick out all the member that have pro-Viet attitude. (Proof: Kiernan, Ben (2004). How Pol Pot Came to Power). Fact 3: Polpot form his organization without Viet know about it. Polpot him selves said: KPRP is a group that form by Viet to control Cambodia, thus Polpot have to create CPK without Viet people know about it to be independent with Viet Nam. (Conversation with Tep Khen, Moscow, March 10, 1985).

[@kaybevang536]

And this time Vietnam is the one invading

[@pcarro11]

Dear Simon, Thanks so much for the videos. Please don't apologize for the ads. The videos are well worth them. Again, thanks so much, you are awesome!!!

[@Biographics]

Thank you :)

[@serskippa5058]

Would love to see a Octavian Augustus Biographic since you did Caesar

[@happyshopper570]

simon, i think you are brilliant! i love all these interesting videos (including your top tenz as well etc) that you are putting out each and everyday. So to be honest, i am telling you. it is WORTH sitting through a few advertisements. Its the least I can do for watching something extremely well produced. thank you and you don't have to apologize for the advertisements half way through the clip.

[@lilpsycho4425]

In my local city, I met a Cambodian guy who ran a diner. I asked him about his experience in the genocide, and he told me that his whole family was forced to work for them and after his brother died, he and his father escaped to the U.S. I've never met someone who survived such a horrible atrocity.

[@ishouldfindagoodname2416]

4:27 You know things aren’t good when Biographics busts out this music.

[@Yodawes]

I dont know the name of this play...

[@psychospacecadet]

Remember one Cambodian family near us growing up. I was very young and they later moved away. One thing imprinted on my mind was their arrival in USA. They told us how they were 3 days away from The Killing Fields and escaped on foot, walking to the mainland of China, pled for asylum and eventually coming to where they lived. I took it for granted, in part because of my age I was told the clean version, it wasn't a major topic even on the news, and they were rather restained and didn't speak of it. Later, I researched on my own and started understanding what happened. Thank you for filling in more of the story.

[@georgekraft1401]

I clicked like, though Pol Pot was horrific. I believe it important to learn these lessons to prevent their occurrence.

[@ricefarmer5246]

I am shocked that my country has managed to recover from this and all my family members made it alive. Some of my dad’s friends got killed randomly in a shoot out. They would just shoot people randomly in drive bys . Thank god I never experienced this, but that doesn’t take away the fact that my parents and grandparents have seen war.

I have been to the killing fields. While walking around, you can see bones and clothes emerge from the soil underneath your feet - but the most shocking for me was learning that bullets costed too much to use on people, so a branch from a tree was used to slit people's throats instead

[@TheCryptonomatron]

I have been a regular visitor to Cambodia since 2000, absolutely love the place and the people, and I still can't get my head around what happened there. Tuol Sleng is truly a haunted place.

[@bluegregory6239]

That and the Killing Fields are the most f'ed up places I've ever been to, and on the same day. Still haunted by that 10 years later.

[@ellaeadig263]

Like many of you I visited Cambodia (in 2012) and the scars are still so huge. The people are trying so hard to build their country back up but there's so much work to do. I'd highly recommend visiting the Cambodian Landmine Museum near Siem Reap if you get the chance. I also, about 15 years ago, did volunteer work for a child welfare organisation and though I didn't visit Cambodia through that work, we did have a fairly big operation going on there. Almost every child we were helping had parents who were children during the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror. They were taken away from their parents or orphaned so they effectively grew up without any model of parenthood, so when they became parents themselves they had no idea what to do. We had adults doing things like leaving 2 year olds to wander the streets all day long while they went to work etc and thinking nothing of it because they simply didn't know it was dangerous. The way this regime disrupted something as simple as people knowing how to raise children was utterly horrendous. (Please note, I am not saying that Cambodian people in general don't know how to be parents, just that the individuals in our program had no model of parenthood when they were younger and that it had very far reaching effects on their own kids).

[@weeooh1]

I dont think anyone in history could elicit as much revulsion from me as Pol Pot.

[@ADEpoch]

That's horrible, and I'm glad you explained the history of the situation. It was always a name I'd heard growing up, but never fully understood the gravity and evil of until now. These biographics really are teaching me history through the life of one person at a time. Even if that history is unpleasant.

[@pbenga]

I appreciate you covering this part of history that many outside of Cambodia knows about. My family and I escaped this terror and made it to the US. My grandfather, two uncles and an aunt were victims of his terror.

[@aaronmarks9366]

Even the most creative visions of Hell can't approach what happened in Cambodia under Pol Pot.

[@user-wg3gc5uz1g]

You sir are going to do great things keep up the hard and amazing work!!!

[@Biographics]

Thanks :)

[@MaryCeleste86]

Pol Pot was supported by Thailand and PRC, yes, but somehow you forgot to mention UK and USA.

[@ภูมิสิทธิสมวงศ์]

especially the US

[@kaybevang536]

Not surprised they at one point supported the Burmese army to kill innocent Karen people

[@ภูมิสิทธิสมวงศ์]

And the Karen fled to Thailand.

[@ภูมิสิทธิสมวงศ์]

By the way, Kaybe Vang, can you be more specific about when? , it happened so many times.

[@LordHeadBooty]

Blaming the U.S. how original

[@OfficialFingazMC]

"If they're that clever take the glasses off when he walks by"

[@bobbygoestoabyss6624]

🦇 ah ah ah

[@thatwouldbeme]

I can't urge people enough. Go to Cambodia. Visit the Fields, the Prison. It's the most life changing thing I've experienced. Not to mention it's a genuinely beautiful country with awesome people.

[@mupchoi74]

That field tell you nothing about Pol Pot. Pol Pot was the grandson of a Chu-Han sent over from Hue to spy on boats going in and out of Kampong Thom all the way to Preah Vihear during the Siam and Viet wars.

[@MrDarrylMan]

I'm enjoying these biographics. You do a good job.

[@thomasmccullough7233]

Amazing how some of the most brutal men in history, always get away with their crimes! Very informative. Thanks for the upload!

[@suthinanahkist2521]

Partly because some of the most brutal people in history are or were in the govt.

[@kyariju]

reading through the comments it is clear that so many have and are still affected but this man’s horrid regime, it’s so sad that so many forgot and thank you for creating a video about this

[@wndw2000]

"He had trouble understanding Marx.." really says it all with Pol Pot. His interpretation of communism is childish at best.

[@jakobwebber2547]

wndw2000 fair, but it’s not as if any other interpretations of communism have worked either.

[@Eastcyning]

@B0rder55 In what way? The Khmer Rouge autarky was inspired by Samir Amin, whose Marxian theory was inherently rooted in anti-Marxist rhetoric

[@suthinanahkist2521]

Communism as a whole is childish at best.

[@Eastcyning]

@@suthinanahkist2521 As is reductionism

[@thebullshtstartshere1804]

No, he got millions murdered , communism always starts off like this, he read the directions of Marx and followed them like a good commie. Then enslavement, , see North korea, if you actually can see?

[@marvinau8972]

This was such a great video! My parents only recently started talking about their experiences living through all of this in Cambodia and I’m just so thankful to learn about it from not only the internet, but finally from my parents too.

[@madmick3794]

I remembered watching this through the 80s and 90s with my dad and mum explaining what was happening. I could never understand why . . . Thank you for another informative video.

[@Shadowbannddiscourse]

I'm from a part of California ,which has a sizable Cambodian community..many my age went through that experience. The stories I've heard are sobering... just mad..:(

[@nickschallick5259]

Tell me one

[@Matthewgriffiths18]

I only heard about this genocide a about a year ago because of a film called first they killed my father by Angelina jolie decent film tbh

[@timdella92]

Matthew Griffiths i cried all through out that film.

[@shayfay00]

The killing field is another good movie about the khmer rouge

[@sufimuslimlion4114]

It wasn't a genocide you idiot

[@reichtangal7666]

@@sufimuslimlion4114 it is a genocide

[@lettuceman9439]

The irony of the Soviet Union and Vietnam against China and US is still not lost with me

[@DCGamingNetwork]

Yes! I requested this.

[@sikksnakk]

In primary school my favorit subjects was history and geography. I've seen a lot of your storys of countries and you are like the teacher I wish I had. Funny and interesting, giving me lessons that I I need to understand the world. You giving history/geography lessons with a good blend of personality and commitment is not the only reason I listen and log in to your channel. I love to read historical biographics and you often sound like you have read the same books as me. Im' currently reading a half good biography about Pol Pot and his way to power. Your short video told me more than this 400 pages book ever did. I'm just curious, where does this need to explain history com from? You prorably already know this, but books about historical persons and events can be boringly fokused on dates and names. With a few exceptions Mao, Hitler , Napoleon, Stalin, Idi Amin, Pol Pot and other crazy leaders have they'r story told by books that fokuses more on name and dates, than the psycological and personal inpact of theyr crazy ideas. We just want to live, and your videos shows us how people try to live around the world.

[@dawee-crochetconnoisseurn2758]

as a child of survivors of Pol Pots regin of terror. thank you for doing this video. truthfully you were prouncing the khmer words incorrectly but did a good job with it. my parents were small children that should not have survived it as many others their age passed away from hunger and disease. they were 4 and 10 yo when the millions of ppl were driven out of the city. my mother well remembers how terrifying it was cos larger families with small children were left behind for being too slow and noisy. my father doesnt like to talk about it but would tell me how he would climb tall trees if he wanted to sleep as if you were on the ground at night they would find you and take you with them or smash the back of your head with whatever was in their hands. terrifying to experience as children but they managed to survive through the selflessness of their parents and grandparents. both my parents became orphans as the khmer rouge of terror ended and they ran across the border to Thailand to the safety of the refugee camps.

[@mupchoi74]

You need to learn a little more about the Chu-Han before thanking this video. His grandfather was like the Alamo defending Kampong Thom against the opposing rival Siam. The French did ended Cambodia joint vessel between Viet and Siam but didn't ended the Chu-Han administration. Don't confuse the Chu-Han with the Chinese Mandarin because that was what most author did. Some author such the author written Kampuchea The Decade of Genocide even confuse the Chu-Han to be Chinese. The Chu-Han was sent to governed Cambodia from Hue during the reign of the Nguyen Dynasty.

[@politicallycorrectredskin796]

Coming soon to a Seattle near you!

[@Yodawes]

You are soo right!

[@matthewmckenna248]

Could you cover the rest of Hitler's henchmen?

[@frogglen6350]

I dunno. 4chan has a lot of people.

[@pierrebegley2746]

And eventually Hitler himself would be pretty informative.

[@codgun8575]

@@frogglen6350 Have you ever been on 4chan?

[@codgun8575]

@@frogglen6350 Sorry, I'm braindead. Who's Facebook?

[@billcarrig9434]

doc Liberal media corporation that's enslaved millions. Very similar to network TV and news.

[@pghudd]

Who else would like to see a bio about Simon and the rest of the gang behind the scenes?? I’d be interested to find out how this all started

[@Grinnar]

Man, that was even darker than I was expecting. I already knew some of that stuff, but holy moly.

[@synner707]

It's ok Simon. I skip the ads in the middle just as quick as someone who puts them in the front.

[@adammoore251]

Was there last year, bones are still coming to the surface at the killing fields. There is a tree they would smash the babies off.

[@RankinMsP]

😱

[@cullenkerr6556]

When will we get one about our lord and savior Leroy Jenkins?

[@WorstCommenter2008]

What's there to say? Was a fake thing made to get people join his guild and went viral. Blizzard cockblocked him and cashed in on the character like the dicks they are while screwing him over.

[@thekittycats8061]

do you mean our great lord Jim Pickens?

[@kaja263]

IS THAT A FOLLOWER OF JIM PICKENS I SEE

[@thekittycats8061]

it is indeed

[@tintinismybelgian]

I think you mean "Leeroy Jenkins."

[@canadianeh1977]

I feel it should have been noted that the US government, knowing full well what Pol Pot had done, supported him during his time carrying out guerilla attacks from Thai camps. They were more interested in causing the North Vietnamese problems than denouncing a genocidal maniac.

[@Thebusysuperhuman]

Such a good channel. I don’t mind the ads as you have to fund this treasure trove of information

[@alexpainter4169]

I am not Cambodian but my most heartfelt sympathies go out to the survivors of the Khemer Rouge's regime & their families. I hope that you have found peace, where ever you are.

[@av8orAH64]

Thank you for your concise accounting of what happened under Pol Pot's reign. My business travels carried me to Phnom Penh. Incidentally, they were using helicopters there to locate the remains of US Military MIA as late as 2018. This activity was part of the contract for the helicopters I was there to talk about. Having grown up in Japan and Okinawa as a military dependent I was always curious about the war in Viet Nam as well as the Khmer Rouge. This is a war in which the lines were blurred between right and wrong. I grew up in a military family in theater and later served 20 years myself in the US Army. This struggle and the resolve of the people are very hard to ignore. At home, we had protesters, and abroad we had seasoned warriors who used the jungle to facilitate guerilla warfare against all comers. The Americans were the last ones to feel the determination of the local people. Many in black outerwear with straw hats outlasted the might of the US military. I still remember the images of the evacuation in Saigon. I was just a boy, and have never really come to understand what this war was really about.

[@donnarobinson7480]

It don’t half put your own life in perspective. How lucky we are. Count your blessings every single day people.

[@connorfalcon7080]

*America invades* Vietnam: “Oh no!” *America leaves* Vietnam: “Anyway”

[@masturchief]

i can't wrap my head around why anyone would do this. if you're the dictator of a country, why destroy your own economy and population?

[@nessmess500]

Most likely their policies are proven to be inept, but since they are the paramount leaders, their policies can't be shown as faulty. Therefore they scapegoat some other group of people for the failures, and either double-down on the policies with a "more is better" attitude, and/or quietly change those policies. Either that or they're delusional.

[@aguyfromnothere]

Why did Mao starve so many. Why do we have policies that achieve the opposite effect of intended? Ideology over everything. Be wary of leaders that adhere so strongly to their vision of the world that it requires violence to enforce or denial of reality.

[@ladynikkie]

I'm surprised that most of his surviving victims or their families didn't try and come after him after he escaped.

[@nhanuwu4444]

America supported him soooooo..

[@fluffyydumplings]

My grandmother and grandfather went through this,they were lucky unlike others

[@theoverunderthinker]

Pro Tip: if someone leaves your country for France and comes back as a revolutionary, take them out immediately; it will not end well otherwise!

[@cyrilmrazek6649]

worked for Vietnam, tho...

[@theoverunderthinker]

@@cyrilmrazek6649 did it really though? looking at Vietnam today, aside from being a single party ruled country, are they much different than if Ho Chi Mien had not come back from France, right? Probably would have ended up a small Asian country selling their labor to the West (like their neighbors) either way. Not like France still has any other colonies. :)

[@theoverunderthinker]

@@cyrilmrazek6649 you could have also chosen Iran, Khomeini came back and overturned the Shah, but is Iran better off for it? I think you could argue it either way depending on what is more important to you. My point is that the government in power should take out the returned revolutionary from Paris, because in a lot of cases, they overthrew the government in power, so from the point of view of the government in power, not necessarily the man on the street.

[@cyrilmrazek6649]

​ @The Over/UnderThinker i wil argue that emancipation is value after all. We don't know, whether Iran or Vietnam would be better off... (nor we know whether US would be better off as a UK colony). We only know that they are all independent and free from colonial/imperialist rulle and I will argue that these are positives, at least in human society context.

[@theoverunderthinker]

@@cyrilmrazek6649 I am not saying that you are wrong, just wondering if the people who are running your authoritarian government being born in your country and of your own race really makes a big difference in the end. Is the Vietnamese Communist party better for the man on the street than the French government would be? Is the Shah worse than the Ayatollah? Probably depends a lot on which person in that country you are I would guess. Better for some people and worse for others. Is there a value to the idea that your country is independent and not a colony? probably in your own mind there would be. Morale would be higher. But if your economy is dependent on manufacturing orders from overseas aren't you still a kind of colony? Is independence WON worth more than independence GIVEN? probably on some morale basis. I don't think that Vietnam would still be a French colony today if they had lost the wars (which is 100% conjecture because how could anyone know). You can make the argument that there is value to it, as you said, and maybe you are right, but Vietnam's economy is growing (at China's expense currently) and Iran's is suffering (because of Sanctions related to their nuclear ambitions) so even though they are both independent, prospering is prospering and starving is starving. maybe Iran would be better of still being a vassal state of the US (it would be militarily protected and the economy would likely be pretty good) and maybe Vietnam is better off being independent because their govt. was smart enough to bury the hatchet after they won the wars and trade with France and the US readily, their former adversaries. that is to say, the value of shrugging off colonial rule comes mostly in how well the country is run afterwards. Freedom to starve is a paltry freedom, I guess better than starving as a slave, but not by a ton. :)

[@BoilingHotCoffee]

wasn't living in the 1970s but I lost 7 out of 8 great-grand parents to this regime

[@SamonMarquis]

The highlight of this video had been learning about Squarespace.

[@25xxfrostxx]

I'm two years late but I worked with a man about 20 years ago who survived this. He had been in the US for decades but he still survived on two hours of sleep per night, caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol because of the trauma. He only talked about it once but he told us that his father had been arrested on suspicion of being able to read and was subsequently executed. The family was informed that this was because he had "resisted" and that he had been shot by a soldier with a rifle. They informed them of where this occurred so they could collect the body. When they got there he said that he realized that they had lied. They didn't execute him with a rifle, they had used a grenade launcher. At 18 years old he had to manage keeping his mother away from the scene so she wouldn't see while collecting the remains. As for the US bombing in Cambodia, the story that we were attacking Vietnamese forces was only partially true. Our jet bombers would fly out of airbases in the south and head into north Vietnam to strike a target. Then they would fly into Cambodian airspace to avoid enemy fighter patrols and in order to increase fuel efficiency for the trip back south, they would just drop any unused ordnance in the Cambodian jungles and forests. The US had military personnel there for decades after the war assisting in cleanup of unexploded munitions.

[@buddhabinaural]

That advert mid video was done so well it didn't annoy me. Very good approach. Good for the company and your content.

[@ronr6450]

I really can't believe this man was allowed to live until 1998.