What occurred in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 was an absolute, universal tragedy.
It was the killing of between 1.7 and 2.2 million people, which is about a third to
a quarter of the Cambodian population at that time.
The crimes during that period were some of the worst crimes of the 20th century, certainly
after the Holocaust in World War II.
The reason the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum went to Cambodia is that we wanted
to bear witness to the trial for the perpetrators of one of the great crimes of the 20th century.
I was a reporter here during the war.
I covered six months of very intensive American bombing.
I reported when the United States was very conflicted about this country, so I was heartened
to be with these Americans who wanted to be a part of helping Cambodians memorialize and
remember what they went through during the Khmer Rouge period, but also find justice.
One of the very moving things for me was the opportunity to see ordinary Cambodians lining
up to see the trials on the day we arrived there.
No one ever thought that the Khmer Rouge would ever be held accountable for their crimes.
On the day that we actually witnessed testimony, the focus involved the depopulation of Phnom
Penh.
The Khmer Rouge instituted a Draconian step of forcing hundreds of thousands of people
to leave Phnom Penh to go to the countryside to work as slave laborers, where many of them
were going to face death.
Khmer Rouge wanted to return the country to