The Cambodian Genocide: The Killing Fields Of Cambodia

The Cambodian Genocide The “Killing Fields” of Cambodia, the most common name for the genocide that killed approximately two million, 1.7 million to be more exact, Cambodians. The “Killing Fields” of Cambodia needs to be kept in mind, like every other genocide for the same exact reasons. It is of import to learn and remember why and what happened, reactions of other countries, and how it is looked upon today, to learn how to avoid cases like this in the future and how to prepare for them in case they happen. It is also important to see the comparison of this genocide with that of the Holocaust and many others. The genocide we refer to as the “Killing Fields” of Cambodia was started by a group of “well-educated students who had lived in France …show more content…
In 1978, a high school was basically taken and turned into a place of torture for about 14,000 people, out of these 14,000 people only 7 had survived this place (S21 Victims). This high school could be seen as a concentration camp, but worse. Instead of forced labor or quick killing of those incapable of getting work done, all who were sent to this “school” were tortured until they admitted to crimes that they never committed. One can say that this torture they went through is equivalent to the suffering that Jews went through when they were forced to labor in conditions barely suitable for life itself. Many of the workers at the “prison” were “discouraged of torture that ended with death”, and were wanted to keep their victims alive as long as possible. This was a major difference from the experimenting that occurred during the holocaust. During the holocaust, jews were not even seen as people, so when they were tortured or had surgery done on them, unless they were needed as workers, there was no concern to even keep them alive, as can be seen in Wiesel’s memoriam novel Night. Another major difference in these camps from the Cambodian genocide compared to the camp of the Holocaust would be the age group of their employees. Many of the people in charge of administering the torture, or even taking pictures at the S-21 prison were teenagers and were from peasant backgrounds, while those during the …show more content…
Like during the Holocaust, those who had an education such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers were all killed, while schools were shut down (GENOCIDE) (Wiesel). Children were separated from their families and sent to a different type of labor camp, a lot of the time. There was also racism that went along with smaller ethnic groups living in the area, which happened during the Holocaust as well. Many can say, that the killing fields of Cambodia related to the Holocaust in so many ways when they do the proper research, and that of course is proven