What is the saddest place on earth?
The Killing Fields.
Just the name alone should probably give some insight into the horrific nature of the place.
During the Cold War, a Communist Revolutionary who made Stalin look sane, came to power in Cambodia.
His name?
Pol Pot.
He and the rest of the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge, began fighting for power in 1970 and captured the capital, Phnom Penh by 1975.
Under the regime of the Khmer Rouge, former government officials, intellectuals, political opponents, and ethnic minorities were slaughtered brutally.
Children were drafted into the military and refugees poured across the Thai border, desperate to escape the carnage in the country.
Nearly a quarter of the Cambodian population died during these years, and today, these fields still stand as a testament to what can happen when one dangerous man seized power.
While the Khmer Rouge is less talked about than other major tragedies such as the Holocaust, it still is important to remember the millions who died there.
May the World never forget such a tragic loss of life.
Have you ever heard about this place?
