You all know that I don't watch horror films because I have nightmares for ages afterward. I had the same trouble seeing the concentration camp in Czech and the Nazi memorabilia (I don't know if this is the appropriate word) in Germany. I had just awful dreams. I do not think I will be sleeping well tonight either.
The article discussed the atrocities committed by the Angkar regime under Pol Pot in Cambodia in the 70's. I had heard some rumblings about trials on CNN, but no one seemed to be getting all that worked up about it. We should be getting worked up about it. We are quick to attack any suspected Nazi guard, and it made front page news when Demjanjuk was deported for trial. The attacks in Darfur were all over the news.
Yet I had heard almost nothing about the 1.7 million people slaughtered in Cambodia. They killed doctors, engineers, and educated people preferentially at first. It seems they believed an uneducated population was a more easily controlled population. They beat babies and children against trees. They did things that caused me to become physically ill reading about.
I have no doubt that this is partially my fault. I probably heard a blip and let the story slip through my mind as I am wont. I don't really know what I want to say about this. I just think more people should know. We should be upset. Crimes like this are crimes against our humanity. The victims deserve recognition. They deserve to be remembered.
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