Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
POL POT
The contemptible Pot was a lovely child.
Loth Suong, Pol Pot's older brother
The factors that turned
Pol Pot
from a sweet-natured child into a paranoid mass-murderer will
probably never be fully understood. He was born
Saloth Sar
in 1928 at Prek Sbaur, near
Kompong Thom, where his father was a prosperous farmer. Sent to live with his brother, Loth
Suong, in Phnom Penh, at the age of 6, he had a relatively privileged upbringing - the family
was well connected through a cousin, who was a ballet dancer at the royal court.
Academically, Saloth Sar was unremarkable, and it was probably thanks to the influence of his
cousin rather than through aptitude that he was chosen to attend the newly opened Collège
Norodom Sihanouk in Kompong Cham in 1942 - Sar subsequently left without passing a
single exam. He went on to study at the Lycée Sisowath in Phnom Penh, and his academic
performance must, at some point, have improved as, in 1949, he was among a hundred
students chosen to study in France.
In Paris, Sar joined the French Communist Party (along with his friends Ieng Sary and Khieu
Samphan) and was exposed to radical new ideas; he also met Khieu Ponnery, a highly
educated Cambodian woman who was to become his first wife. Returning to Cambodia in
1952, Saloth Sar joined the Vietnamese-run Indochina Communist Party and set about
campaigning for the socialist cause in Cambodia. Imperceptibly, he began veiling himself in
secrecy, isolating himself from his family, keeping a low profile and beginning to use an alias,
“Pol”. An ardent member of the newly created
Cambodian Communist Party
, he appeared
content to work in the lower ranks, giving seminars and recruiting for the cause through his
job as a teacher. Those who met him at this time remarked that he was a kind-hearted and
mild-mannered - albeit enigmatic - figure. Without ever seeming to promote himself, he rose
steadily through the party ranks, from lowly assistant to Party Secretary.
By 1963, Sihanouk's support for the socialists had turned to persecution, and Saloth Sar, along
with other key party members, was forced to flee the capital and seek refuge on the border with
Vietnam. Moving frequently, the Cambodian communists were supported first by their North
Vietnamese comrades, and later by the Chinese - whom “Pol” visited on several occasions and
held in great esteem for the “success” of their Cultural Revolution. Isolated in the northeast by the
escalating Vietnam War, “Pol” had ample time to develop his own plan for a better state, run on
Marxist-Leninist principles. Living simply in the jungle he developed great admiration for the
peasant's life, and by the time the revolutionaries - now dubbed the
Khmer Rouge
- had gained
control of Cambodia in 1975, he was probably reasonably certain of his formula for returning to a
basic agrarian society and the implementation of his (ultimately disastrous) “Four Year Plan”.
Sihanouk was forced into a delicate
balancing act
to preserve some semblance of
neutrality and avoid Cambodia being drawn into the Vietnamese conflict. In 1963,
he broke off relations with South Vietnam, (which was receiving financial and
military support from the US), though US planes were allowed to fly over Cambodia
in the mid-1960s on their way to bomb North Vietnam Meanwhile Sihanouk had
been unable to prevent North Vietnam sending men and arms via Cambodian
territory to the communist
Viet Cong
guerrillas in South Vietnam, leaving him little
option but to sign a secret agreement with the North Vietnamese in 1966, allowing
them safe passage.
1904
Early 20th century
Death of King Norodom. The French install his
half-brother Sisowath (ruled 1904-27), although
the monarchy is increasingly reduced to a
ceremonial figurehead
Crippling taxes imposed by the French and widespread
Vietnamese immigration and influence lead to
disillusionment
