When the War Was Over (100 page)

Huot, the French-educated intellectual who returned to Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge victory, was one of the Cambodians who never found peace. He was among the first to leave the country after the invasion. Like Komphot, he volunteered to help other refugees in the camps, serving as an unofficial camp leader and translator. He was accepted as a refugee by France.

In Paris he married and found a job as a chemist. But in a book published in France by a fellow Khmer, Huot was incorrectly portrayed as a member of the Cambodian communist party who betrayed other intellectuals. In March 1985 Huot, his wife, and another couple were slain in Huot's modest Parisian apartment. Whoever murdered them left a message scrawled in French across the apartment door: “Survivors of the genocide in Cambodia!” Huot became the first Cambodian believed to have been killed as retribution for the Khmer Rouge crimes.

Sisopha, the nurse's aide, managed to find two of her sisters and her brother, and together they escaped to Thailand after the Vietnamese invasion. Theirs is the more familiar tale of the immigrant family who makes good in the New World. In May 1980 they contacted me through the poet James Fenton, a friend from our days covering the war in Cambodia. Someth, the brother, had worked as a translator for the
Washington
Post
during the war. The newspaper vouched for the family and I became one of their sponsors.

Initially the sisters stayed in Washington while the brother went to England. One sister, Bopha, had married Ram Thanh in Cambodia, and almost as soon as they arrived here Bopha gave birth to their daughter, Tavy. She recently graduated from high school in the Virginia suburbs of Washington. Although only a farmer when he arrived, Thanh learned to cook and is now a sub-chef at Nora's Restaurant, one of the premier restaurants in Washington.

Sisopha married another war refugee—Francisco Chavez from El Salvador—and they had a son named Sotra. Someth wrote his memoirs during his stay in England with Fenton and then he returned to Washington where he married and runs the family grocery store in the suburbs.

Five years ago the family got news that their mother and sister had escaped from the Khmer Rouge and were living in Vietnam. A few years ago, Sisopha and Bopha were able to bring their mother to the United States, where she joined her children in their large brick rambler in the Virginia suburbs.

Martin and Rogachev have remained in the foreign service. Martin was the French ambassador to China throughout the UN peace mission and the elections. Igor Rogachev later joined him in Beijing as the Russian ambassador to China following the death of the Soviet Union. Martin has since returned to Paris, where he is now the third highest-ranking civil servant at the foreign ministry, with special responsibilities for European affairs and economic policy. Rogachev is still in China.

1 “The villages are burnt . . .” From James Fenton, “In a Notebook,” in
The Memory of War: Poems 1968–1982
(Edinburgh: Salamander Press, 1982).

1 “It is one thing to suffer . . .” Author interview.

1 The Second Indochina War . . . The First Indochina War was fought from 1946 to 1954 between the Vietminh and the French, who attempted to recapture control of their Indochinese colonies following World War II.

1 “the deaths of as many as two million . . .” There may never be a precise tally of the deaths caused by the Cambodian revolution through murder, disease, and malnutrition. Scholars Stephen Hener and Ben Kiernan both use the figure of over one million; David Hawk, who heads a documentation project of the atrocities of the Cambodian revolution, believes a more accurate phrase is “as many as two million” which is what I have used. Nor is there agreement on the 1975 population figure which varies from six to over seven million.

2 Mey Komphot was thirty-seven years old . . . The story of Mey Komphot is based on author's acquaintance with him during the war and on subsequent author interviews in 1982 and 1983.

6 The prince believed that “agricultural pursuits . . .” From International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Development Association, “Report of Economic Mission to Cambodia—1969,” confidential report in three volumes, October 12, 1970, p. 45.

6 To that end . . . Ibid., pp. 45–46.

7 “I soon discovered the bewilderment . . .” Serge Thion, “The Cambodian Idea of Revolution,” in David P. Chandler and Ben Kiernan, eds.,
Revolution and Its Aftermath in Kampuchea: Eight Essays
(New Haven: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, 1983).

7 And they received the largest salaries . . . “Report of Economic Mission,” pp. 46–47.

9 By the time war broke out, Sihanouk was known . . . See Michael Leifer,
Cambodia: The Search for Security
(New York: Praeger, 1967), for complete discussion.

10 “The fate of Vietnam appears to me to be sealed.” Prince Norodom Sihanouk quoted in cable, U.S. embassy, Phnom Penh, to U.S. Department of State, September 12, 1963; retrieved through the Freedom of Information Act.

16 During the seven months of constant . . . Description based on author's reporting at the time.

18 The local currency changed from . . . From International Monetary Fund—Khmer Republic, “Recent Economic Developments,” confidential report, November 27, 1974.

19 “The war is over, we are among brothers.” From François Ponchaud,
Cambodia: Year Zero
(New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1978).

26 “In the whole world . . .”
Tung Padevat
(“Revolutionary Flag”), No. 8, August 1975. All subsequent quotes from the speech are from the same issue.

29 The touchstone of Cambodian history . . . The discussion of early Khmer history is based largely on the works of Georges Coedès, Bernard-Philippe Groslier, and D. G. E. Hall listed in the bibliography.

30 “It is safe to say . . .” Georges Coedès, p. 31.

31 According to a Sanskrit poem . . . Georges Coedès,
Angkor: An Introduction
(Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1963), p. 45.

31 “incomparable for number, size and perfection.” Ibid.

33 “a great sense of Asian politics . . .” Milton Edgeworth Osborne, “Rule and Response: Interaction in Cambodia and Cochinchina (1859–1905)” (Ph.D. thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 1968), p. 358, quoting Resident General de Champeaux in his second trimester report of 1888, Phnom Penh.

33 “The attachment of the Cambodians . . .” Ibid., p. 363, quoting E. Aymonier, former French representative to Phnom Penh.

38 The story of Suzanne Karpelès from Virginia Thompson,
French Indochina
(New York: Octagon Books, 1968; original publication 1937), and from author discussion with Bernard-Philippe Groslier.

40 “The contrast is striking . . .” Thompson, p. 359.

41 “These two adventurers . . .” V. M. Reddi,
A History of the Cambodian Independence Movement 1863–1955
(Tirupati, India: Sri Venkateswara University Press, 1970), p. 33.

45 The account of Son Ngoc Thanh and the Phnom Penh demonstration based on Reddi and Thompson and on Ben Kiernan, “How Pol Pot Came to Power: A History of Communism in Kampuchea, 1930–1975” (Ph.D. thesis, Monash University, Victoria, Australia, 1983).

46 “Sir, you can do everything . . .” Reddi, p. 84.

46
“We must wait. . . ”
Kiernan Ph.D., p. 60.

46 “I will die happy . . .” Reddi, p. 85.

48 “It is a year during which . . .” Reddi, p. 100.

49 “We are too poor . . .” Reddi, p. 11.

51 By his own account . . . “Interview of Comrade Pol Pot, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, Prime Minister of the Government of Democratic Kampuchea to the Delegation of Yugoslav Journalists,” Phnom Penh, March 1978. The early Sar biography based on this interview, French colonial school records, and Stephen Heder interview with Loth Suong, brother of Saloth Sar.

53 “We ask you to understand our profound aspirations . . .” Reddi, p. 125.

53 It was headed by a young man . . . Author interview with Ieng Thirith, Sary's wife. Details of the lycée from schoolmate Kiri Tith in author interview. Name change from
Year Zero.

55 to accept the nomination of a bureaucrat . . . Osborne Ph.D.

56 “The powerful Thiounn family . . .” Norodom Sihanouk,
Souvenirs doux et amers
(Paris: Hachette, 1981). The Thiounn family history completed by Kiri Tith interview, Reddi, and author interviews with Thiounn Mumm and Thiounn Prasith.

56 They arrived in Paris when the political climate . . . Discussion of French politics at the time based on books by David Caute, Annie Kriegel, and Ronald Tiersky listed in the bibliography.

56 Ieng Sary, who claims that no one less than Maurice Thorez . . . Author interview.

57 Shortly a young woman arrived . . . Story of Sary and Thirith's life in Paris based on author interview with Thirith.

59 “with a courage . . .” David Caute,
Communism and the French
Intellectuals
(New York: Macmillan, 1964), p. 179.

60 arrest of André Stil . . . Ibid., p. 195.

60 He was one of the contributors to a Khmer-language review . . . Article in Serge Thion and Ben Kiernan,
Khmer rouges!
(Paris: J.-E. Hallier-Albin Michel, 1981), pp. 357-61.

63 Hou Youn wrote his “The Cambodian . . .” Thesis translated in Ben Kiernan and Chanthou Boua, eds.,
Peasants and Politics in Kampuchea
1942-1981
(London: Zed Press, 1982), pp. 34-67.

63 Khieu Samphan's thesis, “Cambodia's . . .” Khieu Samphan,
Cambodia's Economy and Industrial Development,
translation and introduction by Laura Summers (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University, Department of Asian Studies, 1979).

66 Here is one tale, “The Devious Woman.” Im and Sivone Proum, trans., “Khmer Folk Tales” (typescript, 1976).

68 “big, black people” etc. Georges Coedès,
The Indianized States of Southeast Asia
(Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press, 1968), p. 120.

68 “On the day that a new king is proclaimed . . .” Ibid., p. 120.

68 “Debauchery and gambling are not . . .” Jeannette Mirsky, ed.,
The Great Chinese Travelers: An Anthology
(New York: Pantheon, 1964), pp. 218-19.

71 “It was difficult to know who were the real . . .” Kiernan Ph.D.

71 The Vietnamese describe the KPRP as “not the vanguard . . .” Khmer Peace Committee, “Khmer Armed Resistance,” October 1952, pamphlet held in the Echols Collection, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

72 At most only 5,700 Cambodians fought . . . Kiernan Ph.D.

72 “We must not let our country be invaded . . .” Ibid.

72 “The Vietnamese Party reserves the right to supervise . . .” Captured document, “Instructions on conditions of adherence of the Chinese members of the Party,” June 24, 1952. Official U.S. Telegram No. 749, S.D.C.S., available at the Wasson-Echols Collection, Cornell University.

74 “He didn't run after girls . . .” Heder interview.

75 “It was a very sad experience . . .” Author interview.

75 The Vietnamese remember otherwise . . . Kiernan Ph.D.

75 “I was happy with their propaganda . . .” Vorn Veth confession as quoted in Kiernan Ph.D.

78 Ieng Lim, one of those young . . . Story of Ieng Lim and his quotes based on “Conversations with Khmer Rouge Rallier Ieng Lim,” airgram from the U.S. embassy, Phnom Penh, to the Department of State, November 30, 1971.

79 He was smuggled back into Phnom Penh . . . Kiernan Ph.D.

81 only after “strong prodding” from . . . U.S. embassy, Phnom Penh, to the Department of State, August 8, 1955, released through FOIA to author.

81 By the time Heng openly left the party . . . 90 percent . . . Figure from “Party History.”

82 Sihanouk used the time-honored weapon . . . U.S. embassy, Phnom Penh, to the Department of State, October 8, 1956, released through FOIA.

83 Sihanouk . . . asked if the reason for Pracheachon's applause . . . Ibid.

85 “. . . to respect the national ideal.” U.S. embassy, Phnom Penh, to the Department of State, 1957, released through FOIA.

85 In 1956, workers at the city's power and water . . . U.S. embassy, Phnom Penh, to the Department of State, June 9, 1956, released through FOIA.

85 “Cambodia has never had strikes . . .” Ibid.

87 In fact, as the American embassy . . . U.S. embassy, Phnom Penh, to the Department of State, October 19, 1959, released through FOIA.

87 He wrote in a modern journalistic fashion . . . Laura Summers, introduction to Khieu Samphan.

87 “That the editor of a legally . . .” Ibid.

87 “Their classic technique consists . . .” Ibid.

88 Ieng Thirith, the wife of Ieng Sary . . . This and subsequent quotes from author interview.

89 “revolutionary violence to oppose . . .”
An Outline History of the Viet Nam Workers' Party
(1930-1975). (Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1977), p. 105.

90 One of the students who heeded their call . . . The story of Bu Phat is based on his files retrieved from the Tuol Sleng museum. A detailed description of the file and explanation of Tuol Sleng can be found in the Special Note on Tuol Sleng Sources, following these notes.

91 The city of some 300,000 . . . This is an estimate drawn from the later 1962 census which places the Phnom Penh population at 393,995.