1975年，波布領導的柬埔寨共產黨推翻親美政府掌權，開始一連串激進的社會主義改革和政治清洗，將近四分之一人口死於營養不良和酷刑迫害，史稱紅色高棉或赤柬。這段歷史造成柬埔寨人心中的陰影，以及往後長達30年的政治動盪。多部電影如《S-21：紅色高棉殺人機器》及安潔莉娜裘莉執導的《他們先殺了我父親：柬埔寨女孩的回憶》皆在描述此事件。目前金邊附近有一座吐斯廉屠殺博物館，便是由當時的集中營和集體處決中心修建而來。

Year: 1975

In 1975, the Cambodian Communist Party led by Pol Pot overthrew the pro-American government and launched a series of radical socialist reforms and political cleansing campaigns. Nearly a quarter of the population died of malnutrition and torture. The political party is known in history as the Khmer Rouge or Red Khmers. This period of history casts a shadow on the minds of Cambodians and left behind a period of political turmoil for the following three decades. Many films such as S-21: “Khmer Rouge Killing Machine” and “First They Killed My Father” directed by Angelina Jolie feature this atrocity. Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum near Phnom Penh was built on the concentration camp and mass killing center of the time.