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| This simple field marks the historical end of a dictator. |
I'm
back in the remote border town of Choam, and I’m looking at a
simple field. With green grass and a few trees, there’s a well worn
path right down the middle. It’s a quiet, lonely field; I’m alone
except for a few loose chickens. I head down the path, towards a small
structure at the far end.
I approach what looks like a small, strange little shelter. It is only
a rusting corrugated iron roof, supported by wooden poles. Short in
height, it's not much for a shelter, but one man could lie down under
it comfortably. Beneath it is a pile of dirt and ashes.
A
blue sign nearby states its importance, “Pol Pot Was Cremated
Here”.
The
man who destroyed Cambodia, the man most responsible for the genocide
that killed over a million people, was burned to ashes right here in
this empty field. The old communist's body was cremated in a hurry;
his funeral pyre was more like that befitting a pauper. His corpse
was covered by a pile of old worn out tires, discarded wood, a
mattress, and set alight. There were few mourners.
A
man with humble beginnings, Pol Pot, the leader of the murderous
Khmer Rouge, had risen so high, only to crash and burn like Icarus.
A
dedicated communist, after he took over the Khmer Rouge he traveled
to Beijing where he met Mao Tse Tung. While there he witnessed the
oppressive excesses of Mao's Cultural Revolution. Mao's radical
policies inspired Pol Pot to be even more extreme once he seized
power in 1975. Favoring the Chinese brand of communism, he later led
purges to execute cadres who favored Soviet style communism promoted by
the Vietnamese, whom he despised.
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| This small shelter marks where Pol Pot's body was unceremoniously cremated. |
His
power over all of Cambodia was absolute. But when he ordered the
Khmer Rouge to raid Vietnamese border villages hoping to seize lost
territory in 1978, he sealed his own fate. The Vietnamese Army
countered by invading Cambodia, with their army rolling into Phnom
Penh in a matter of days. Pol Pot fled to the jungle, where he
continued to lead the Khmer Rouge for years.
I
look at what remains of his cremation site. A knee high wooden
fence surrounding the shelter is falling apart. Clear empty bottles
have been buried upside down in the ground, making a strange glass
rectangular border around the base. Bits of paper and litter are
scattered about. The only thing cheerful about his memorial, (if you
can call it that) are some purple and white flowers growing around
it. Pol Pot finally died in 1998, shortly before the long years of
war in Cambodia finally ended.
Mystery
and rumors surround this despot's death. He may have died from
malaria, or some other jungle disease. Since Pol Pot had been
reported dead in the media many times before, Cambodians didn’t
believe that he was really dead when his end finally came. It was
only when a journalist’s photo showing his pale corpse was
published worldwide that the truth finally hit home. One of the worst
genocidal maniacs in world history was finally dead. The Khmer Rouge
would never return to power, and all of Cambodia breathed a
collective sigh of relief.
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| Pol Pot ordered the horrific genocide. |
Even
the location of Pol Pot's cremation site here is suspicious. It’s
within sight of the Thai border, only a quarter mile away. I remember
my friend Mali that had lost a leg to a landmine, she had been his
cook. Pol Pot had lived in Thailand in secret for years, while he
continued to lead the Khmer Rouge trying to regain power. Did he die
in Cambodia, or did he really die in Thailand? Details are murky, and
witnesses are still silent today.
By
the time Pol Pot's final days came, he was no longer the leader of
the Khmer Rouge. His second in command, Ta Mok, 'The Butcher', had
mutinied against his long time friend. Ta Mok had him tried,
convicted and imprisoned in a jungle hideout. Local whispers say that
Ta Mok ordered him killed afterward, maybe poisoned. The timing of
his death is also curious. Pol Pot died just as the Khmer Rouge were
finally losing Anlong Veng, their last major stronghold against the
Cambodian Army.
At
the foot of the shelter site, I find a small wooden altar, with stubs
of incense sticks. There’s also a small spirit house, with more
used incense left by Buddhists. How ironic! Pol Pot was not only as
evil as they come, but he was also a brutal atheist. Back when he was in
power, he would have ordered the execution of those that he saw
practicing Buddhist rituals. That doesn't stop some Buddhists today
from praying to his spirit.
A
small sign nailed to the corrugated metal roof, says in Khmer:
“Please Respect”. That sign was placed here due to looting.
Among Cambodian Buddhists, there are those who believe Pol Pot still
wields power in death, and some have dug through the dirt and ashes
here, and pulled out most of his bones! Some Buddhists who took them,
keep the bones for 'good luck', praying to Pol Pot to help them win
the lottery! How ridiculous. A few foreign tourists have also grabbed
bones from the despised communist, not for good luck, bus as macabre
souvenirs.
I
think back to Hanoi, where I saw Ho Chi Minh's body, displayed with
honor in his mausoleum. Mao and Lenin's body are still displayed in
the same morbid manner, cold corpses of old communists, whose
ideology died with them. But there is no display of honor for Pol
Pot. His flesh is now in ashes. He escaped justice through death, but
his final indignity, is that his own bones have been scattered as
gruesome souvenirs and good luck charms.
Many
would say, that's the exact memorial that he deserves.
