Pol Pot

Saloth Sar wanted to turn Cambodia into an isolated and totally self-sufficient Maoist agraruan state.

Pol Pot was born May 19th, 1925. His given birth name was Saloth Sar. Saloth Sar was born in Prek Sbauv in Kompong Thom Province. Prek Sbauv was a small Cambodian village about 140 kilometers north of Phnom Penh. Saloth Sar's father was a prosperous landowner, with elite connections. His sister and a female cousin were dancer in the royal ballet in the capital Pheom Penh, living comfortably under the kings protection. At the age of six, he went to live with his brother at the royal household in Pheom Phen. In 1949, Saloth Sar wins a government scholarship to study radio elcetronics in Paris. In the winter of 1949, Saloth Sar went to study in Paris on his government scholarship. We know that he enrolled in courses connected with radio-electricity. Saloth Sar fails to obtain a degree but becomes extremly intrested in writings on Marxism and revolutionary solcialism. Saloth Sar bonds with other like minded young Cambodians studing in Paris, including Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan, Khieu Ponnary, and Song Sen.

Sihanouk's Coup D'etatinsprised Saloth Sar's first known political writing. An right-page essay entitled "Monarchy or Democracy?" was pusblished in a special issue of the Khmer students' magizine, Khmer Nisut, under the pseudonym Khmer daom. Sar's friendship with Khieu Ponnary probably became more intense during the campaign when they worked closely with Keng Vannsak and they were married in a quiet ceremony in July 1956. Saloth Sar becomes known to the world as Pol Pot. In 1952, Pol Pot joins French Communist Party, drawn in by its anti-colonial stance. In 1953, Pol Pot joins (IHC) Indochina Communist Party which was dominanted by Viet Minh. In 1954, the government begins a crack down on communists. Pol Pot is forced to flee to the jungles near the Vietnam border to avoid arrest. In 1965, Saloth Sar is summoned to North Veitnam for consultations. Saloth...