denny Study & Teaching books

Discovery Channel - Pol Pot: Inside Evil A short biography of Pol Pot: Known for brutality and the murdering of millions of people in Cambodia, Pol Pot became an international criminal when he took government as head of the Khmer Rouge. While he was never brought to trial for the charges against him during his rule, he and his followers took the country into the deepest pits of despair. As a child, the young Saloth Sar, as Pol Pot was originally named, lived well off of his father, who was a wealthy land owner more than he was a farmer. Pol Pot in Cambodian literally means Politique Potentielle, in French, or Potential Politics - a form of extreme communism in which Pot religiously believed and changed his name to match. Pol, his brother, sister, and a cousin were favored be the Kingdom Monivong, which entitled them to some privileges not bestowed upon other Cambodian families. While living in the royal palace for a time, he witnessed what feudalistic power was dealt. During this time, Pol Pot attended various French language schools, but was either not bright enough or simply did not try to pass his classes. When he failed at earning his diploma and later becoming a monk, his family sent him to France to study, where he also failed academically. Politics struck his fancy and he joined the French Communist Party in the early 1950s. Following, he gained some military know-how in Yugoslavia before returning to Cambodia. By the early 1960s, Pol Pot began teaching in a ...