Page 151 - Communism in Ambush

ents and their children.
Everyone, by contrast,
would kiss the hand
that fed them, regard-
less of how bloody it
was. 102
A Cambodian wit-
ness stated: After the Khmer Rouge took power, nearly the
This hunger was delib- whole population of Phnom Penh was forced to
leave the city.
erately caused. Even
while many died of
hunger, only one fifth
of the fields suitable for
sowing was put into
production! 103
For the regime, death
by starvation was no
problem, it was a goal.
Khmer Rouge leaders The people were driven into the country to
often said, "All we need to work the fields.
build our country is a mil-
lion good revolutionaries.
No more than that. And
would rather kill ten
friends than allow one
enemy to live." 104
The hostility to "love,
beauty, aesthetics and cul-
ture" that had showed it-
self in Mao's Cultural In a few days, the capital turned into a ghost town.
Revolution reached the
point of insanity with the Khmer Rouge. Anyone who combed his hair,
took a little care in his appearance, or even wore glasses was regarded as
an "enemy of the people." The excerpt below is taken from a speech
made by the director to the prisoners in a Khmer Rouge camp: