"the Communist revolutionary Pol Pot ordered his followers, the Khmer Rouge, to kill intellectuals, clear out cities and eradicate religion. By the time the Pol Pot regime collapsed in 1979, nearly a quarter of the country's 7 million people had died" https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/26/nyregion/children-of-the-killing-fields.html

"The Khmer Rouge said that the Communist revolution could be successful with only two people. Our lives had no significance to their great Communist nation, and they told us, 'To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss.'" https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/p/pran-cambodia.html

"They accomplished all of this by promoting and encouraging villagers, farmers, and the uneducated. They were the most violent and ignorant people. They took orders without question. The Khmer Rouge built animosity and jealousy into them so the killings could be justified"

Enemies of the Khmer Rouge communists:

-Intellectuals
-Students
-Former celebrities
-Poets
-People who wore glasses
-Merchants
-Capitalists
-Businessmen
-Rich farmers
-Former soldiers
-Police
-Landlords
-Doctors
-Lawyers
-Monks
-Teachers
-Civil servants

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/p/pran-cambodia.html

"The Khmer Rouge said they were creating a utopian nation where everyone would be equal. They restarted our nation by changing everything back to zero. The whole nation was equally poor...the entire population was dying of starvation, disease, and hopelessness"

"the destruction of my homeland occurred in only 4 years. Buddhist temples were turned into prisons. Schools were turned into Khmer Rouge headquarters where people were interrogated, tortured, killed, and buried. School yards were turned into killing fields. Books were burned."

"We gathered to share our horrifying stories. Stories about people being pushed into deep wells and ponds and suffocating to death. People were baked alive in a local tile oven. One woman was forced to cook her husband's liver, which was cut out while he was still alive."