Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center
Following the success of ‘Transmissions 2015’, Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center renews this experience in 2018. Transmissions 2018 can be considered as an online exhibition on inter-generational dialogue between the Khmer Rouge survivors and youth. Through documenting and sharing their personal stories, ‘Transmissions 2018’ focuses on the importance of “Acts of Memory” for Cambodian people to move forward.
Length: 18’20
Year: 2017
Place: Battambang
After the collapse of the Khmer Rouge, a wide gap in knowledge remains between those who survived the horrors of the regime and those who were born later. In families, inter-generational dialogue happens between parents and children. Such is the case of Mr. IM Bunchhoeun and Mrs. SOEUN Chanthorn, Khmer Rouge survivors, who retrace their path from 1975 to 1979 with their children who were born after the Khmer Rouge.
Length: 18’25
Year: 2017
Place: Pursat
Mrs. CHAN Phai details her personal story under the Khmer Rouge: how she was displaced by the Khmer Rouge’s agricultural policy; how they separated her from her husband; how much it hurt her when she was ordered to marry another man; and how vulnerable she was while detained in a Khmer Rouge prison as a witness of sexual violence suffered by fellow female prisoners.
Length: 19’57
Year: 2017
Place: Battambang
Mrs. IM Sameth, primary school teacher at Kampong Prieng in Battambang province and civil party in case 002/02 at the Khmer Rouge tribunal, was a high school student when the Khmer Rouge rose in power. She was married to Long Chhoeun who was a base people. It was a collective marriage arranged by Angkar (the Khmer Rouge). In this interview, they recall their past under this regime, especially their revolutionary wedding.
Length: 16’50
Year: 2017
Place: Battambang
Mrs. Heng speaks about her married life under the Khmer Rouge regime. On April 17, 1975, she was forced to evacuate from Phnom Penh to the countryside. In early 1976, she was forced into marriage in a cooperative in Battambang province. She was informed only one day before the wedding date. There was no traditional ceremony. The couple held hands and made their marriage commitment statement before Khmer Rouge cadres. At night, there were spies underneath the newlyweds’ house to check if they made love. If the couple didn’t do so, they were punished.
Length: 12’42
Year: 2017
Place: Kampot
The interview is conducted by Mrs. YIM Sotheary, psychotherapist/conflict and peace consultant. It concerns the married life of Mr. HENG (57 years old) under Pol Pot’s regime (1975-1979). The Khmer Rouge arranged a collective marriage for 9 couples in his cooperative. As a member of a youth mobile unit at that time, he was forced to marry a woman in whom he was interested but did not love him. They spent 7 or 8 months together before having sexual relations. They separated following the collapse of the Khmer Rouge, even though they already had three children together.
Length: 14’50
Year: 2017
Place: Battambang
Mrs CHEUK Sopha has an older brother and a younger sister. She was living in Battambang province with her father when the Khmer Rouge won the war against Lon Nol’s regime. Like other Cambodians, her family was sent to a worksite near Tonle Sap Lake. Sopha’s father died because of malaria and her brother was killed by the Khmer Rouge. They accused him of being CIA. She was forced to marry her husband, who was later killed.
Length: 13’21
Year: 2017
Place: Kampot
In 1975, Mrs. TEU Ry was taken by the Khmer Rouge to Koh Kchorng. Due to her Cham ethnic identity, she suffered a lot: she was forced to eat pork, cut her hairs, and do heavy labor. The Khmer Rouge forced her to get married to a stranger. There were around 20 couples at that time. Fortunately, her selected husband didn’t show up. He escaped to Vietnam. Mrs. Teu was sent to a Khmer Rouge prison in Koh Kchorng where she witnessed cruelties committed by Khmer Rouge guards, who killed prisoners and ate their intestines.
Length: 18’00
Year: 2017
Place: Pursat
Because of poverty and civil war, Mrs. DOEUK Som couldn’t go to school. In 1974, Khmer Rouge soldiers arrived to her village in Pursat province and made inhabitants go to the forest with them. The Khmer Rouge indoctrinated the villagers in their ideology and sent them to fight against Lon Nol’s forces barehanded. After the victory of Khmer Rouge, she, like other Cambodians, was sent to build dikes and canals. She was arrested and imprisoned in 1977 after being accused a traitor. She was tortured with electric shocks and forced to do heavy labor until mid-1978. A few months later, she was forced to get married. Her husband left her with their children after the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime.
Length: 12’10
Year: 2017
Place: Kampot
Mrs. SOT Lah, a 57-year-old Khmer Muslim, is interviewed by the psychotherapist YIM Sotheary about her life under the Khmer Rouge regime. Because of her ethnicity, she was badly treated by the Khmer Rouge and ‘Old People’. She was evacuated to Chhouk of Kampot province, where she was forced to get married in late 1975.
Length: 18’26
Year: 2017
Place: Kampong Speu
Mrs. Po Dyna tells her family stories in the past. Before 1975, she was married and lived in Phnom Penh with her past husband. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge arrived in Phnom Penh and evacuated her to Kandal province. Then Khmer Rouge evacuated her to Pursat province. The Khmer Rouge began to force her into hard works and starvation. And the Khmer Rouge killed her brother, including her son, and her son was killed by buried alive. Later, the Khmer Rouge forced her to marry but they broke her leg and she was jailed for refusing to marry.
Length: 17’32
Year: 2018
Place: Kampong Speu
Mrs. Oem Tem and her family was evacuated from Phnom Penh to different areas. During the Khmer Rouge, she worked in the child mobile unit. She was also threatened by the Khmer Rouge because she made a cat of Angkar lost. With the help of her team leader, she was allowed to look for the cat for 3 days.
Length: 40’31
Year: 2018
Place: Kampong Speu
During the Khmer Rouge, Mrs. Satum was evacuated from Phnom Penh to Kampong Speu. She lived only with her mother and worked in the mobile unit. She was hospitalized twice at the Khmer Rouge hospital. She saw many patients who had died, had no proper care, without enough medicine.
Length: 21’52
Year: 2018
Place: Svay Rieng
Mr. Oem Savon lives in Svay Rieng. He was about 10 years old during the Khmer Rouge regime. He worked in the child mobile unit, tended cattle, picked up cow manure for fertilizer, etc. He later worked in the mobile unit, such as digging, building dike, and so on. He lost 4 relatives during the Khmer Rouge due to severe torture, starvation and lack of medication for disease.
Length: 21’09
Year: 2018
Place: Svay Rieng
Mrs. Rina was 7 during the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge ordered her to pick up cow manure and help look after the little children with her grandmother. The other two older siblings were tending cattle. At the age of 8, she had to tend cattle in addition to regular works. Her mother was accused of immorality, and she was fined to pile up 3 meters with 1 meter deep of dirt a day and stay away from the family.
Length: 29’37
Year: 2018
Place: Takeo
During the Khmer Rouge, Mrs. Rath Ra was assigned by the village chief to be the leader of her team, and then she practiced shooting and became a night patrol in the village. After that, she was transferred to the regional unit as she freed some arrested prisoners. She was forced to marry her current husband.
Length: 18’53
Year: 2018
Place: Tbong Khmum
Mr. Sim Ponleu reunited with the Khmer Rouge’s national liberation movement. At that time, he worked in a department called Khor Vor Sor (The Cultural Propaganda of the District), where he played cassette tapes announcing the work of the front-line and back-line battle. Later, he became a printer of documents for people to understand the front-line and back-line battle. He also learned art techniques and became an art trainer in his district.
Length: 48’27
Year: 2018
Place: Tbong Khmum
Mrs. Yiev Thieng was about 15-16 in the Khmer Rouge regime, and she joined the art group of Kroch Chhmar district. During the Khmer Rouge era, she was separated from her parents to study art techniques in the district and later became a trainer. While performing, she must have said what she was told. Besides working as an artist, she also dug canals like other people, and she helped many new people who had been evacuated to her area.
Length: 44’28
Year: 2018
Place: Svay Rieng
Mr. Meas Hay was a young man studying at a pagoda in Svay Rieng province. Later, Svay Rieng province was occupied by the liberation army, so he no longer learned and he forced himself to join the Khmer Rouge. He later participated in several battles, and one day, he was injured and sent to Phnom Penh. He saw some scenes in Phnom Penh at that time.
Length: 49’03
Year: 2018
Place: Svay Rieng
Mrs. Yuos Yin lives in Svay Rieng province. In the Lon Nol era, she and her family had to flee from the bombing, and during the Khmer Rouge, he was the head of the children unit. Later, she joined the mobile unit working on the dirt piling up and digging canals. She was very hard working at the time, and she was not well fed, unlike the army chiefs or cadres, who were well fed.
Length: 22’17
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Sem is based in Siem Reap. Before the Khmer Rouge, she and her family were not in the area, but ran into the forest to escape the bombing. Later, during the Khmer Rouge, she was an artist. She learned to sing, dance and then she was forced to marry.
Length: 26’53
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mr. Tim Le is 60 years old and was ordained a monk at the time of Lon Nol. Then, the Khmer Rouge defrocked him and put him in a mobile unit. He had to work in distant regions like Varin. He was persecuted and had to run behind a horse while being tied up after running away from his unit. Then he was released and reinstated in his mobile unit. He never had enough food to eat while he worked day and night.
Length: 35’36
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Chea Noeun was a victim who managed to survive the Phnom Troung Bat massacre. She was arrested and tortured twice by the Khmer Rouge who accused her of betrayal and theft of chicken and rice from Angkar. She is the only one to have witnessed the Khmer Rouge executions at the Phnom Troung Bat massacre site.
Length: 51’12
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mr. Chhaom Naret was born in Siem Reap. He was was 7 or 8 years old at the time of Lon Nol. He was happy when he saw American planes drop bombs. Later, the Khmer Rouge made him work in a children unit. He encountered a lot of difficulties because he was forced to collect Siam weed, make fertilizer with mound soil and carry soil to the hoop in baskets that were larger than himself.
Length: 41’02
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mr. Penh Choub is living in Siem Reap. After the coup of Sihanouk, his family fled into the forest to escape the bombing. During the Khmer Rouge regime, he was assigned to drive carts, plow, rice and food. After the Khmer Rouge regime, he was struggling to make a living. He hopes that his stories will spread to younger generations.
Length: 57’27
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mr. Chhum Ros is 66 years old and currently lives in Siem Reap. In the Khmer Rouge, he worked in transplanting seedlings in paddy fields in a mobile unit. Sometimes the Khmer Rouge ordered him to play traditional music for their shows. He explained life at that time was extremely difficult because he had to do heavy works, while the food was insufficient.
Length: 35’14
Year: 2018
Place: siem reap
Mrs. Rin Prich currently lives in Phnom Trong Bat village, Pong Thkov commune, Kralanh district, Siem Reap province. Before the Khmer Rouge came to power, her mother had sent her to work as a maid for people in Battambang province. She did not go to school because she had to work full-time. When she was 13 years old, the Khmer Rouge arrived in her village which was intensely bombed. The Khmer Rouge executed both parents by accusing them of being Khmer Surin.
Length: 29’44
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mr. Sao Soeun, age 76, currently lives in Tbaeng village, Tbaeng commune, Banteay Srei district, Siem Reap. He was 34 years old under the Khmer Rouge and taught at that time a course on the political governance of Khmer Rouge society and the history of capitalist exploitation. The Khmer Rouge did not deport him anywhere, and work on a farm. His first job was teaching, before becoming a soldier, he fought in Oddar Meanchey and finally he ended up being a craftsman.
Length: 20’50
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Ms. Leat Sokha currently lives in Banteay Srei District. She had eight siblings, but lived with only three of them. Under the Khmer Rouge, she worked in a children unit where she had to cut Siam weed and pick up ox dung to make fertilizer. During lunch break, children had an hour of agricultural study. She did not have enough clothes, the Khmer Rouge distributed two sets a year to each person.
Length: 16’20
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
At age 14, the Khmer Rouge put Mrs. Chan Son in a cooperative where she had to dig up tree stumps. Then she had to dig canals and tear off seedlings. In the evening, she had to train for Khmer Rouge shows that extolled revolutionary politics and discredited the Lon Nol regime. Later, the Khmer Rouge made her work in a special unit. In wartime, her unit had to leave first. However, she never went to any battle because she always found excuses.
Length: 50’15
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mr. Khin Hoeung is 63 years old. Under the Khmer Rouge, he did a lot of works in an itinerary unit. He transplanted seedlings, transported seeds, monitored palm sugar, searched for fish and finally transported food. One day, when he was carrying food, he once saw Khmer Rouge convoy convicts to a place of execution. They were whole families. Fortunately, he did not lose anyone in his family under the Khmer Rouge.
Length: 21’44
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Sorn currently lives in Siem Reap and has nine siblings. She lived in a cooperative house in a region that was quite supportive. She could plant vegetables for her own consumption. Her children married under the Khmer Rouge, but she only had a 5-cent coin to give to her children as a wedding present. After the ceremonies, she secretly celebrated rituals for the happiness of her children and to inform the elders of the events.
Length: 57’18
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Pann Saroeum is 64 years old. She was married under the Lon Nol regime. Soon after, her husband was conscripted into Lon Nol’s army. At the Khmer Rouge time, her husband lived little with her, and she was alone with her younger sister. The Khmer Rouge regime deeply affected her psychologically. She lost 12 members of her family, including her mother.
Length: 64’11
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
When the US bombed, many people fled into the jungle to escape the bombing. In 1975, Mrs. Aut Saut was evacuated to work in a factory in Phnom Penh. In 1978, the Khmer Rouge forced her to marry an indigenous man, but she refused. She then remarried with her current husband.
Length: 49’31
Year: 2018
Place: Kampong Cham
During the Khmer Rouge regime, Mr. Khat Chan worked in the children unit, separated from his parents. One day he missed his parents so much and he ran to meet his parents. When he did not work as planned, he will be punished for starvation. He urged the younger generation to study hard to know about Khmer history and not to engage in socially inappropriate activities.
Length: 33’33
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Luong Savy has six siblings and lives in Siem Reap. Under Lon Nol’s regime, she and her family had to leave their homes to avoid bombing. Under the Khmer Rouge, she worked in an itinerary unit. At the end of 1978, the Khmer Rouge forced her to marry, but she didn’t live with her husband. After the Khmer Rouge, she got married again.
Length:46’15
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mr. Yat Yem was born and lived under the French Protectorate. He went to school for two years and learnt Siamese language. Then he went to study in Thailand. He still remembers all the details of the events that occurred from that time. Under the Khmer Rouge, he had orders to work hard like carrying soil, digging canals, while being undernourished.
Length: 17’47
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Sor Hean has four siblings and eight children. During the Khmer Rouge, she was not evacuated from her village and she worked in a women’s group like farming, transplanting, and so on. In the village where she lived, people were killed after the arrival of the Southwest zone men.
Length: 21’18
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mr. Pho Hong lives in Tbaeng village, Siem Reap. He has eight children and is now engaged in farming. In 1970, many people in his village were taken to the battlefield to transport food for the Khmer Rouge. Until the Khmer Rouge era, he worked in a transportation group that was tasked with transporting food or seedlings to rice farmers. During the Khmer Rouge regime, he lost three relatives, including his biological brother.
Length: 16’33
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Mak has five children. During the Khmer Rouge, she worked as a rice farmer and did transplanting, but later the Khmer Rouge put her in charge of husking rice. It was then that she discovered many holes of dead people killed by Khmer Rouge. She did not stay with her husband because he had to work at a place far away, and in several months, he came home once. Later, her husband became ill and died. After the Khmer Rouge, his son joined with the government as a soldier.
Length: 76’14
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mr. Chheng Theng is 69 years old. He was a newly liberated people during the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge moved him to work in various fields, such as transplanting carpentry and eventually working as opening the canal. During the Khmer Rouge regime, he struggled and worked hard until he became a special mobile unit. He says that we must make changes according to society to survive.
Length: 56’58
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
At the time of the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, Mr. Ing Phorn was a student and engaged in farming. By the Lon Nol era, due to the war, he had no education at all. Later, the Khmer Rouge came to campaign in his village to persuade people against the US. Until the Khmer Rouge era, he worked in a mobile unit. During the regime, he married a widow, a people of 17 April, because of his sympathy.
Length: 44’02
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Chin Run is 65 years old. During the Khmer Rouge, she built dikes and dug canals. One day, she and another group of women secretly ran home. She visited her mother. But not many days later, she was called back. The Khmer Rouge forced her to marry, but she refused. What hurt her and made her unable to forget was her living apart from her parents and the loss of her two siblings in the Khmer Rouge.
Length: 49’41
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mr. Kroem Ret lives in Siem Reap. Before the Khmer Rouge, he was a monk. When the Khmer Rouge arrived in his village, he resigned from being a monk and worked in the mobile unit. He had a hard time getting enough food to eat. Later, with the approval of the cooperative president, he left the mobile unit and came to work in the cooperative.
Length: 32’13
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, when Mrs. Pak Yean was a child, she went to see King Norodom Sihanouk in the Royal Plowing Ceremony with her father. During the Khmer Rouge, she worked in the mobile unit. Because she was separated from her mother for too long, one day she ran away from the mobile unit to meet her mother. Her team leader learned that she had run away and was chasing her. When she learned that she was being chased, she ran away from her house at night and no one arrested her.
Length: 29’28
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Chea Moeng’s family was separated by the Khmer Rouge to work in different places. She was 23 years old and worked in the women’s mobile unit. Her father, brother and sister-in-law were killed by the Khmer Rouge for betraying Angkar. She was forced to marry a disabled man. She was dissatisfied with the marriage, but the Khmer Rouge threatened to kill her. Today, she has five children and is living with her husband happily.
Length: 34’17
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Preap Deang is 86 years old and has four children. In the Khmer Rouge, she had to work hard, ate only porridge and worked until late night. In addition, she also saw many carts full of old and young people who would be killed. She added that even after the Khmer Rouge, some people were still suffering because the war was still ongoing and she did not want another war because she was miserable enough.
Length: 15’48
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
During the Khmer Rouge era, Mrs. Pat Duong was about 10 years old. She was evacuated from her parents and worked in the children’s mobile unit. She didn’t eat and sleep well enough. The Khmer Rouge ordered her to collect Siam weed to make fertilizer. In addition, the Khmer Rouge also ordered her to transplant rice. She doesn’t want war anymore, and living today is at peace enough.
Length: 69’24
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, Mr. Hub Touch had heard King Norodom Sihanouk announcing on the radio, calling on the people to flee to the Maki forest and dig tunnels to escape the bombing. Also, the people avoided to make smoke while cooking rice. If there was smoke, the US would drop bombs there. During the Khmer Rouge, he was in charge of a small unit, obeying the commanding officer. He hopes everyone learn a lot on Khmer Rouge history to know the truth that our people had experienced.
Length: 39’44
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Phoeng Hok was married at the age of 21 and her husband was a Lon Nol soldier. In Lon Nol era, she was given military training, but she had not yet entered any battlefield before the Khmer Rouge. During the Khmer Rouge, she was sent to pull out seedlings, transplant rice, and carry soil. At dawn, she was sent to spin silk and learn to weave. She had to pulled cotton out of the ground to make yarn. The Khmer Rouge forced her to marry. Up to 50 couples were married at the time.
Length: 37’04
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
From 1971 until 1973, Mrs. Em Phon was recruited by the Khmer Rouge to work in the military in front of Angkor Wat in preparation for firing with Lon Nol soldiers. She learned a few combat techniques, such as how to use a rifle, run, creep and so on. From 1973 to 1975, she was replaced from Dom Dek to Pradak village, where she was assigned to serve as the commander of a small group of 300 women. She was forced to marry in 1976.
Length: 29’34
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mr. Im E was born in Phnom Penh and he’s now living in Siem Reap. As a child, he only knew of a coup d’état against Norodom Sihanouk and rebellion demonstrations. Many people from Kompong Cham protested against the coup, but were killed by Lon Nol soldiers. His parents didn’t dare let him go to the army, and let him become a monk.
Length: 48’20
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Tuy Bunroeun is currently in Siem Reap. During the Lon Nol regime, she was 10 years old. She did not remember much, only to find that she had been escorted by her parents to the forest to escape the bombing. During the Khmer Rouge regime, she worked in a child unit, carried soil, ditched canals and so on. She felt relieved after telling her story to the younger generation how difficult it was in those days.
Length: 21’44
Year: 2018
Place: Kampong Thom
Mr. Chab Nhon lives in Trach, and he has five siblings. He was about 10 to 11 years old in the Lon Nol era and he was a monk. By the time he was 12 years old, Khmer Rouge arrived, he had been collecting Siam weeds, cow manure, digging soil and dumping it at Wat Sra Nge. After the Khmer Rouge, he started his own family business.
Length: 16’17
Year: 2018
Place: Tbong Khmum
Mr. Eng Nguon and Ms. Yann Thorn married after the fall of the Pol Pot regime. They were both young in the Khmer Rouge. They were ordered to look after cattle, pick up fertilizer, and build dikes. Only porridge to eat and not enough. After the end of the regime, they run their own business until now.
Length: 26’56
Year: 2018
Place: Ratanakiri
Mr. Puoy Sor is currently residing in Pa Or village, Pak Te commune, Banlung district, Ratanakiri province. He was about 17 years old and in 8th grade in the Sangkum Reastr Niyum. DurRing the Khmer ouge, he was ordered to grow cotton, and he married during that time.
Length: 28’03
Year: 2018
Place: Tbong Khmum
Mrs. Phin Sameth lives in Kampong Thom province. During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, she was too young, and she cannot remember much about it. By 1975, she had been sent to work in the mobile unit to build dikes, dig canals, sleep in rice field, and be separated from her parents. In those days, food consisted only of banana trees with fish, no meat to eat.
Length: 45’10
Year: 2018
Place: Siam Reap
Mrs. Lann Lai is 59 years old. She had a hard time living in the war because of the bombing. During the Khmer Rouge regime, she had to live away from her parents and work in the mobile unit. She was forced to marry her current husband and live together until today. After the end of the Khmer Rouge, she met her family and parents again, but life was very difficult because of the lack of food.
Length: 61’37
Year: 2018
Place: Ratanakiri
Mr. Seng Thang is currently in Ratanakiri province. During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, his parents farmed and hunted for subsistence. He did not study deeply because of his away school and the coup in the Lon Nol era. In 1977, the Khmer Rouge appointed him as a mobile physician in the cooperative. The Khmer Rouge also taught him how to make, to boil and to mold medicine. He was also arranged by the Khmer Rouge to marry. After a week of living together, the Khmer Rouge separated the two back to their works.
Length: 30’54
Year: 2018
Place: Kratie
Mr. Yiv Sinn is now 70 years old. Before the Khmer Rouge, he was a vegetarian and studied, and at the beginning of the Khmer Rouge, he was the village chief, but was disqualified for alleged moral misconduct. He later lived and worked as usual in the cooperative. After the Khmer Rouge, he lived in his village with his family. He knows something about the Khmer Rouge tribunal but is not satisfied with the sentence and he does not believe the Khmer Rouge would happen again.
Length: 51’27
Year: 2018
Place: Ratanakiri
Mr. Khun Sarin lives in Thmor Da village, Sangkat Boeung Kanseng, Banlung town, Ratanakiri province. When the Khmer Rouge came, they were evacuated from Phnom Penh to various cooperative groups. He was first in a group of herdsmen in Phnom Pen. Two years later, he was sent to work in the mobile unit. Then they let him go up palm trees. In those days, he ate only porridge and sometimes secretly went fishing. Until the Khmer Rouge fall, he met his wife again.
Length: 40’26
Year: 2018
Place: Tboung Kmom
When Lon Nol overthrew H.E. Sihanouk, Mr. Khun Srors was 13 years old. He was only in grade 10 during that time, and then entered the Maki Forest. During the Khmer Rouge regime, He was sent to fight with Vietnamese army which was Sor Phim’s division. Unfortunately, he was paralyzed to this day.
Length: 49’42
Year: 2018
Place: Kratie
In the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, Mr. Yiv Son was a monk and studied, and he later resigned. After the 1970 coup, he enlisted as a soldier of the Republic and was sent to Thailand to study. After returning home, the Khmer Rouge began and he was evacuated to Kampong Cham with his family. At that time, he had been suspected and questioned about his profile several times, but he still kept his profile secret. To this day, he still wonders why the Khmer Rouge tribunal only prosecutes Khmer, while foreigners who supported the Khmer Rouge are not prosecuted?
Length: 41’04
Year: 2018
Place: Kratie
Mrs. Yiv Narin lives in Kampong Thom. She went through the era of Sangkum Reastr Niyum, and at the age of 10, she was in the seventh grade. In the Khmer Rouge regime, she worked in the garment and food storage at Wat Dey Dos. She didn’t transplanted rice nor work under the sun, but was ordered to make clothes only by Angkar. She ate only porridge with banana stem and water spinach, once in the afternoon and once in the evening.
Length: 42’19
Year: 2018
Place: Tboung Kmom
In the Sangkum, Mrs. Prak Norn was 10 years old and in first grade. During the Pol Pot regime, she was evacuated from her hometown into the children unit and required to work hard, such as carrying soil and digging canals. At meal time, Angkar provided feed rations, until one o’clock, everyone went on working. She carried two to three cubic meters of soil at a period of time, until five o’clock so she could stop. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, she lost all her siblings, and she moved to Chamkar Leu district, Kampong Cham province.
Length: 76’28
Year: 2018
Place: Phnom Penh
Mrs. Ian Kim Sopheap, 53, was born in Phnom Penh and studied at Phsar Toch primary school in the Lon Nol regime. While studying, everyone heard bomb sounds, and then ran into the trench. During the Khmer Rouge regime, she was evacuated from Phnom Penh with her family by ferry to Kampong Chhnang and then to Kampong Thom by car. She later got into the children’s mobile unit. After a short time of studying, all children had to work. She had enough food to eat, and baked some potatoes. One of the things she remembers is when she saw graves.
Length: 81’59
Year: 2018
Place: Ratanakiri
Mr. Ma Tin is a native of Ratanakiri province’s Lumphat district. During the Khmer Issarak, he learned a little at camp in the jungle. In 1967, Khmer Issarak announced on the radio convincing people to buy salt and rice because there would be war in the country. In 1968, his family, and many others, fled into the jungle. During the Khmer Rouge regime, his father was killed by the Khmer Rouge, accusing him of being a powerful speaker, having job from the old regime, and being able to speak three languages: Khmer, Lao and Tampuon.
Length: 50’22
Year: 2018
Place: Svay Rieng
In the Sangkum, Mrs. Yos Yun was an adult. She engaged in farming business with her mother, and she married. In the Khmer Rouge era, she was ordered to do farming, building dikes, without enough food. The Khmer Rouge then killed her husband. After the Vietnamese troops came to save the country, she returned with her family and restarted her farming business. She will never forget, because of the Khmer Rouge regime, she lost her husband and children.
Length: 71’08
Year: 2018
Place: Ratanakiri
Mr. Rochom Nhong lives in Lea village, Romchor commune, Oyadav district, Ratanakiri province. During the Socialist era, he enlisted in the Communist army in Vietnam. He later returned to Cambodia, working with the Khmer Rouge with various positions. Although he served the Khmer Rouge, but he didn’t have much mindset in common with the Khmer Rouge. In other words, he was a good cadre for the people of the regime. He was eventually arrested and almost killed by the Khmer Rouge, but he escaped to Vietnam. There he became acquainted with some Vietnamese leaders, but he was not trusted. He was imprisoned until 1984 when he was deported back to his mother country.
Length: 42’19
Year: 2018
Place: Siem Reap
Mrs. Lim Vat is currently living in Kamprum village, Khun Ream commune, Banteay Srei district, Siem Reap province. She has 12 siblings. During the Khmer Rouge regime, she worked in the cooperative, working as a weaver, guarding rice field, husking rice and transplanting. Her husband was sent to plow at Sre Krom. After sharing her past memories to her grandson, she is very much relieved.
Length: 51’05
Year: 2018
Place: Phnom Penh
Mrs. Yos Yat was born in Svay Pahu village, Svay Rieng district. During the war, she lived in Phnom Penh with her family, but in 1975, she returned to Svay Rieng. Her husband was killed and later, her son died. About two years later, she and her sister were evacuated to Pursat, where she had to live with other widows and worked like normal people. Then she was ordered to dig graves. One day, while working, she prayed for help, and suddenly a cadre came.
Length: 47’04
Year: 2019
Place: Pursat
Mr. Chum Net lives in Pursat province. During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, he studied at the elementary level and later he became a monk and studied at Puth Rangsey pagoda. He resigned from being a monk before the Khmer Rouge arrived. During the Khmer Rouge regime, he was forced to plow and tend cattle. His siblings were killed by the Khmer Rouge and he did not live with his parents. He was later evacuated to Boeng Sdok, where he worked as a blacksmith, and made bullock carts.
Length: 25’49
Year: 2019
Place: Pursat
During the Lon Nol regime, Mrs. Vann Ki worked in the fields as usual with her parents. By the time the Khmer Rouge entered, she was forced to work hard, like digging canals, harvesting rice, and transplanting. Even though she didn’t eat enough, she still worked hard because of fear of being killed. Because she was doing a good job, she was assigned to be a team leader controlling 30 people. She had never been abused by anyone because of her hard work.
Length: 24’05
Year: 2019
Place: Kampong Chnang
During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, Mrs. Phok Horn moved to Phnom Penh with her brother. During the Khmer Rouge regime, she was evacuated to Tbeng village, Kampong Chhnang province. First, they forced her to carry soil, then sew clothes at the 1st cooperative. There are no New People there, but only Old People and cadres. She married during the Khmer Rouge regime. Unfortunately, her brother was killed by the Khmer Rouge. To this day, she still remembers the person who killed her brother, but she did not take revenge, and leaving him to receive the karma on his own.
Length: 41’07
Year: 2019
Place: Kampong Chnang
At the age of eight, Mr. Uch Sakien attended Trangel Primary School until the Superior Course, which is equivalent to the current sixth grade. In 1968, he became a monk and resigned during the coup overthrowing Sihanouk. He married in 1971, then he became a member of the Svay Tran group. During the Khmer Rouge regime, he lived apart from his wife and children and was ordered to build dams in other areas. After the liberation, he returned to reunite with his family.
Length: 49’02
Year: 2019
Place: Pursat
During the Khmer Rouge regime, Mrs. Kren Ren was a local physician. She was selected to study medicine because she was an Old People. In this field, she specializes in nose, ear and throat. At that time, she did not have much difficulty because she had enough food and time to rest and she was not required to work extra. She became a physician from 1975 until the fall of the Khmer Rouge. After that, she continued her medical practice for another four to five years, but she quit because of her old age.
Length: 44’07
Year: 2019
Place: Pursat
Mr. Chea Saruon was born during the Lon Nol era. During the Khmer Rouge regime, he was ordered to cut down Siam weed trees, and cut firewood. In the dry season, he was ordered to collect cow manure in the field, and then he farmed with adults. In those days, food was not enough, sometimes there was nothing to eat. In 1978, he had become a spy because the Khmer Rouge thought he was young and active. After the Khmer Rouge, he enlisted in the army.
Length: 38’04
Year: 2019
Place: Pursat
Mr. Heng Vit was nine years old when the Khmer Rouge arrived. The Khmer Rouge assigned him to work in the Angkar’s special spy units. Then they moved him to farm. One day, the Khmer Rouge planned to kill him, but by chance five women from Svay Rieng were killed before him, so he took this opportunity to escape. At the end of the Khmer Rouge regime, he returned to live with his mother and siblings. In 1981, he enlisted in the army until 1983.
Length: 35’22
Year: 2019
Place: Phnom Penh
In the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, Mrs. Phour Kim Yeng was chosen into the army of Neary Klahan (Brave Women) with several shotgun rehearsals and other things. But she never got into any battle. During the Khmer Rouge regime, she was evacuated to Kampong Cham province and placed to work in many cooperatives. At the time, she was not living with her family. As a New People, she is constantly being monitored. However, she always worked hard, not daring to rest, to escape the surveillance and killing by the Khmer Rouge.
Length: 29’36
Year: 2019
Place: Takeo
During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, Mrs. Soeur Nuon was engaged in farming. During the Khmer Rouge regime, she was not evacuated. She was later forced to marry her current husband. She was also assigned by the Khmer Rouge to dig soil and build dams, and food was never enough. When the Khmer Rouge regime fell, she returned to live with her family.
Length: 42’30
Year: 2019
Place: Takeo
During the French colonial era, Mrs. Kong Chea was 10 years old. Her mother had a little business while her father made and sell Khmer noodles. During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, her family lived in poverty, and during the Lon Nol regime, she saw only bombings and every house had a trench. In the Khmer Rouge, she was forced to lift manure to fill the pit, then farm, harvest, and make rice.
Length: 48’36
Year: 2019
Place: Kampong Thom
Mrs. Som Sour was born in 1953 in Tnot village, Kampong Thom province. During the Khmer Rouge era, she was an Old People and a farmer. When she was pregnant, the Khmer Rouge ordered her to make fertilizer to grow vegetables until she gave birth, and then she could rest. Her relatives were not killed by the Khmer Rouge, but one of her sons died of an illness.
Length: 57’35
Year: 2019
Place: Kampong Thom
Under the Lon Nol regime, Mrs. Pang Chakriya was about six or seven years old, and she still has some memories of the US bombing. She and her family were later evacuated from Phnom Penh to Kampong Thom province. Because her family is a newcomer (New People), she is often abused by the spies and forced to work harder than the Old People. Fortunately, there was a family of Old People that always helps her family. The two families still connect to each other like siblings to this day.
Length: 58’04
Year: 2019
Place: Phnom Penh
During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum era, Mr. Sin Sokhom studied until the seventh grade. In 1967, he dropped out. During the 1970 coup d’état, he was 23 years old. In the Khmer Rouge regime, he was assigned to climb palm trees and teach the Old People how to climb palm trees. Then he was assigned to sow rice and fish. During the harvest season, he was required to harvest at least 75 bags of rice a day.
Length: 36’18
Year: 2019
Place: Prey Veng
During the Khmer Rouge era, Mr. Chea Sophon was ordered by the Khmer Rouge to work in the fields and later climb palm trees. He often changed jobs because the Khmer Rouge did not trust him. During that time, three of his siblings were killed by the Khmer Rouge. After the end of the Pol Pot regime, he got married and brought goods from Tây Ninh to sell in the districts, and later he became the principal of a primary school.
Length: 42’26
Year: 2019
Place: Kandal
Before the Khmer Rouge, Mr. Som Ry lived in Phnom Penh. In the Khmer Rouge, he joined the children’s unit, which had to do a lot of works, such as building dams, making fertilizer, and so on. Because the works in the children’s unit were too difficult, he and a few of his friends fled to the mountain to tend cattle with the old men. However, living in his cooperative was much easier because he had enough food.
Length: 49’02
Year: 2019
Place: Preah Vihear
During the Khmer Rouge era, Mr. It Vot was ordered by the Khmer Rouge to cut down Siam weed trees to make fertilizer. During that time, he learned little while taking break from work. The Khmer Rouge taught him about communist ideology and cultivated hatred for the Vietnamese. After January 7, he joined the Khmer Rouge army on the Thai border. But after the integration, he resigned as a soldier and returned to his hometown for farming.
Length: 35’14
Year: 2019
Place: Preah Vihear
When the Khmer Rouge arrived, Mr. It Sam Oeun’s family and all the villagers were evacuated from Prey Veng village to Kantuot Char village, Choam Ksan district, Preah Vihear province. In 1983, he enlisted in the Khmer Rouge army and took up arms to join the fight against the Vietnamese invasion. In 1989, a negotiation between Khieu Samphan and Hun Sen took place in Paris and the war ended. He retired from the military in 1998 and returned to his hometown in 1999.
Length: 37’23
Year: 2019
Place: Svay Rieng
When the Japanese army came to Cambodia, Mr. Ken Chhorn was about 10 years old. During the Khmer Rouge regime, he was assigned to be a pharmacist who mixed Khmer medicines. His family did not live together, as he worked in a pharmacy and his wife and children worked elsewhere. After the Khmer Rouge regime, he and his wife worked hard in the fields to raise their children.
Length: 24’18
Year: 2019
Place: Kampong Speu
After the coup d’état overthrew Sihanouk, the people were caught and forced to become soldiers. In 1970, Mr. Kong Yoeun joined the Lon Nol army. After the Khmer Rouge won, he laid down his arms and joined the Khmer Rouge army. During his military work, he often went to the front lines, injuring his knee and leaving scars to this day.
Length: 39’23
Year: 2019
Place: Svay Rieng
When the Khmer Rouge came to rule the country, Mrs. Hai Kim was assigned by the Khmer Rouge to be the chief of a village women’s corps. She also said that the people at her corps ate rice and did not eat much porridge, not only that, but also grew vegetables to eat on their own. Also, marriage was not difficult, and men could even propose to the women they love.
Length: 00:49:22
Year: 2019
Place: Svay Rieng
Mrs. Chan Phally is the fifth child of seven siblings and completed 12th grade at school. Before the Khmer Rouge era, she and her family fled to Svay Rieng town for safety. After the Khmer Rouge victory, the Khmer Rouge evacuated them to the countryside and treated them as New People. She worked in a mobile unit and lived apart from her parents. The Khmer Rouge repeatedly intended to kill her but never achieved. She was later forced to marry, but was rescued by the head of her unit.
Length: 22’55
Year: 2019
Place: Prey Veng
Mr. Chap Chheuy was born in Khleng Kong village, Boeung Dol commune, Preah Sdach district, Prey Veng province and has nine siblings. He was a monk for two years and used to be the village youth leader. In 1972, he joined the Khmer Rouge army against Lon Nol, but did not know that he was working for the Khmer Rouge, assuming that he would serve Samdech Ta. In 1976, he was wounded after the war and married in 1977.
Length: 38’41
Year: 2019
Place: Takeo
Mrs. Mey Sary married at the end of the Lon Nol period. During the Khmer Rouge era, she was forced by the Khmer Rouge to do many things, such as carrying soil, building dams, digging ponds, making fertilizer, removing seedlings, transplanting rice, etc. Even though she had just given birth, she could not rest. The Khmer Rouge killed her brothers-in-law, accusing them of being Lon Nol soldiers. After the end of the Khmer Rouge era, she was mobilized by the Khmer Rouge to go up the mountain, then she was released and returned to her hometown.
Length: 22’01
Year: 2019
Place: Kampong Speu
Before the Khmer Rouge era, Mrs. Bun Nath lived in Tbong Khmum district. She has 11 siblings. Due to her family’s poor living conditions, her parents moved frequently. By the time of the Khmer Rouge, she had been working in the mobile unit, building dams day and night, and she had little rest. On the other hand, eating never got full. At the end of the Khmer Rouge regime, she did not return to her hometown, and she lived in Oudong district, Kampong Speu province.
Length: 36’14
Year: 2019
Place: Kampong Chhnang
Mr. Chhour Nim was a Lon Nol-era soldier who went to Vietnam for training. After the Khmer Rouge victory, he stopped being a soldier and became ordinary. He was considered a New People by the Khmer Rouge and was ordered to climb palm trees, plow fields and cut leaves. He was also mobilized by the Khmer Rouge when the Vietnamese army came to liberate the country, but he refused to go so he could survive. He later joined the K5 in 1985.
Length: 48’41
Year: 2019
Place: Phnom Penh
At the beginning of the Khmer Rouge era, Mr. Mech Chandy’s family was evacuated from Phnom Penh to his parents’ hometown. In the Khmer Rouge era, he was involved in building dams and digging canals. There, he did not eat enough. Moreover, his father and cousins were killed by the Khmer Rouge.
Length: 49’46
Year: 2019
Place: Phnom Penh
Mrs. Chea Sokun is 63 years old. During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum era, she lived in Battambang province and studied until the 8th grade. In 1975, when the Khmer Rouge ruled the country, he was evacuated to Siem Reap. She was forced to work a lot with starvation, and she could eat only porridge.
