Pol Pot

Pol Pot was born Saloth Sar on May 19; 1925; in Kompong Thom Province; Cambodia. He rose to power as leader of the Khmer Rouge; Cambodia’s Communist regime; which took control of the country in 1975. During its reign; which ended in 1979; Pol Pot oversaw the deaths of an estimated one to two million people from starvation; overwork or execution. The mass graves he commanded his people to dig were often referred to as "the killing fields." Pol Pot was arrested in 1997 and died under house arrest on April 15; 1998.