Forced Evacuation
One of the Khmer Rouge's first acts in power was to completely evacuate Cambodia's cities, sending urban residents to the countryside for "re-education" via hard labor. Ly-Sieng Ngo and her sisters tried to take the family's 10 puppies with them. "When we left home, we did not know what war meant to us. We were just very naïve, very protected by the family. We did not know what living meant, what life meant, what survival meant." In a scene reminiscent of Schindler's List, the family joined the rest of Cambodia's urban elite on a long death march into the jungle. "You only think it happens in books and movies, not in real life," she recalls. "I saw people crying, carrying things, elderly family members on hospital beds with the I.V. pole on the side. I said to myself, 'I have to go on. I have to go on.' And from that moment, I blocked myself out from the reality. For four years of war, with all the family members I lost, I never cried."
The Khmer Rouge forced all city residents into the countryside and to labor camps. During the three years, eight months, and 20 days of Pol Pot’s rule, Cambodia faced its darkest days; an estimated 2 million Cambodians or 30% of the country’s population died by starvation, torture, or execution. Almost every Cambodian family lost at least one relative during this most gruesome holocaust.
