to think Hitler was bad
Moving into the 20th Century, we come to Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge and ruler of Cambodia between 1975 and his death in 1997. The Khmer Rouge’s main aim was to transform the country into a classless society free from the interference of other countries. This began, predictably, by isolating Cambodia from the rest of the world. What followed was a series of bizarre moves that read like something out of a dystopian novel.
Under Pot’s leadership the government outlawed all education, religion, and finance. Because they were deemed dangerous to the regime, anyone who was already deemed educated was executed. They then abolished private property and began a program of moving people from urban populations into the countryside, where they were forced to labour in communal farms.
In total, it is thought that between 1 and 3 million people died under Pot’s regime. This might seem low, but the deaths accounts for about 25% of the population of Cambodia. So while in absolute figures this isn’t nearly as high as many as some of the other people on this list, the death toll is significantly higher in terms of percentages.
