Terror in Cambodia

Terror was all anyone felt anymore in Cambodia. Terror and anxiety as people counted the days until tragedy would take over life, as they knew it. There was no solace to be found and no comfort to be given. The entire nation was a shambles as everywhere families, friends, and individuals ran to escape the nightmare of war and rebellion. There was neither enough food nor water, so starvation made its home among people. Poverty went up as jobs became scarce and the death toll increased as people died, tens of hundreds a week. Survival became the hellish game of the people now, and the gamble that Somalisse Ros and her family learned to take in order to live. Somalisse Ros was one among the many terrorized people that endured the pain inflicted by the Communist group known as the Khmer Rouge. To understand the horrifying situations imposed on the Cambodian people, it is important to gain further knowledge about the Khmer Rouge and their purpose and the motives for their barbaric treatment of a nation and its people.
In the 1970’s the civil war that had shaken Cambodia for many years had finally ended, the leading group that acquired the victory being the Khmer Rouge. This group—initially known as the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK)—was later modified into the popularized title, Khmer Rouge and was responsible for taking over the Khmer Republic of Cambodia. It was a secret organization so hidden that no one outside of the CPK knew of its existence until 1977, the leaders referred to as “Angkar Padevat” to the common people. Many people shared the sentiment of relief and joy when the Khmer Rouge took over the government and the thought of liberation from the calamities induced by warfare seemed nearby. However, the people realized that things would be very different from what they hoped for, as one nightmare ended and another began in the form of the Khmer Rouge’s atrocities. The group had a strong belief and respect for Marxist-Leninist theories and desired that