SHARE THIS SHOW:
RELATED CONVERSATIONS:
RECENTLY ON TOL:
TOL Our Town
- A tumblr site dedicated to the people and places that make up Oregon and Southwest Washington.
TAGS:
In 1975, the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia. An estimated twenty percent of the population died in the next four years. It was one of the 20th century's worst genocides, perhaps made known most widely through the film The Killing Fields.
Many refugees escaped Cambodia during that time and soon after. Those who came to Oregon recently finished a community oral history project, an effort to help survivors tell their experiences with their children. Some are also sharing their stories as testimony in the UN tribunal set up two years ago to bring a few Khmer Rouge leaders to trial. We'll hear those stories, and explore the debate among Cambodians about whether to testify.
Do you have any connection to Cambodia? Did the Khmer Rouge period touch your life in any way? Or has another genocide, in another time and place?
GUESTS:
- Chhunny Sok, survivor of the Khmer Rogue, mother of two, volunteer with the Cambodian American Community of Oregon
- Kimberly Im, eldest daughter of Chhunny Sok
- Chanty Chut, survivor of the Khmer Rogue, father of four.
- Leakhena Nou, Assistant professor of sociology, California State University Long Beach. Founding directof of the Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia, which is collecting testimony from Cambodian immigrants in the trial of Khmer Rogue leaders.
Tagged as: cambodia · genocide · oral history
Photo credit: Frederic Poirot / Creative Commons
-
I remember walking in the middle of the night w/ my family as bullets tear thru the dark & murky sky.
No place was safe. Everyone had to keep a low profile. Executions were on the rise. If you were a nurse, doctor, teacher, business owner, engineers-you are pretty much dead. It wasn't just the educated - practically everyone/anyone
Always be on the move (usually in the middle of the night) w/ no flashlight. With little to eat everyone thirst for survival as families head over to safe haven-Thai border where concentration camps were setup. There behind fences awaiting relocation...hopes/dreams/life on the minds of everyone - Free at last!
Waiting to get a refugee status was the best thing for any family going thru the ordeal.
In my humble opinion - The killing of millions of Khmer by the Khmer Rouge stem from (in part) the Vietnam War. Let's go back further - It is the cause of Prince Sihanok's action. Triggering the conflicts between the high ranking officers at the time instead of securing the borders as the Vietnamese kept on crossing over. Now thanks to the Vietnamese - they helped in getting rid the Khmer Rouge. This is a result of Hunsen making some sort of a deal w/ the Vietnamese. What ever the deal was - Cambodia is no longer Khmer (slowly). Cambodia is in debt w/ the Vietnamese
Sure the war plagued Cambodia but on top of that the governments are all corrupted.
Just look at the present leader(Hunsen) and his high ranking officers...all spoiled. Rich get richer...exploiting the poor
Every election - Hunsen wins. Sure the EU is monitoring it but useless. This would make another great story. Shrinking Borders "The wealthy exploiting the poor"
Borders are being shrinked by the wicked Vietnamese/Thai as they edge over to Cambodia. And to Top it all - the current situation w/ the Thai wanting to claim a sacred temple? which is (going back to its origin) Cambodia's.
-
"The wealthy exploiting the poor"
It is my understanding that the US supported Pol Pot during that genocide. I would like for that to be untrue.
-
The US did support Pol Pot - That was the mistake I think
A BIG mistake - US got tricked into aiding them while under their nose - genocide occurs
-
"A BIG mistake - US got tricked into aiding them while under their nose - genocide occurs"
If I recall correctly that was Henry Kissingers doing, wasn't it? Kissinger did not get tricked, he did the tricking, he is a man without morals or decency.
-
The Vietnamese government doesn't generally get enough credit for what they did to get rid of the khmer rouge....though I am not familiar with the earlier history you are speaking of...
-
Can you address the US and Chinese support of the Khmer Rouge in the 70's; as a pawn in their wars with Vietnam, as a legitimate government, the funneling of aid and weapons to them in Thailand, and after the KR were overthrown continuing their support in their representation of Cambodia in the UN.
the history and how does this effect their feelings toward the US, Vietnamese, and China now? -
I am the daughter of a Dresden fire-bombing survivor; my mother was nine and an innocent German girl when she lost everything except for her life. She survived the following Russian invasion, and I know she has so many stories to tell. I need to know these stories but I've lacked the courage to ask. Your show is pushing me to ask and I need to do it before it is too late. Thank you!!!
-
Please ask your mother to talk about everything while you and she still can.
I wonder about what my mother was like, what her dreams were, and her childhood and it it no longer possible as she has passed away.
I hope that I can help to en-Courage you.
-
America is made of so-so many wounded families. And this sorrow, this anger, our fears spread from neighbor to neighbor as fast as the most frightening virus. I am so sorry for your family's losses, still so much in your bones. We are so proud of our Khmer cousins, for stopping their running away from their grief, for not stopping with a PTSD diagnosis and a numbing prescription, and most of all for teaching the rest of us about healing from inside our families and our communities of nurture. Not waiting for medical professionals and populist leaders to understand or acknowledge or rescue.
We should all be grateful to Emily and David and TOL crew for doing what public radio at its best does: talk sincerely, meaningfully, make us a bigger us.
Terima kasih,
Ronault LS (polo) Catalani
-
Please ask your guest(s)
Who do you think is responsible? Will the trial resolve anything?
Will the truth surface? What is the underlining reason that led to the Khmer Rouge.
IMHO - Prince Sihanok was 1 of the culprit/ the instagator - What is your guest's opinion(s)?
-
Thankyou for telling your stories - I know it is difficult - but it is essential for "average" people like yourself to tell these stories. This courage to do so leads to more awareness of how these things can happen (to the average person). Awareness needs to happen before action can take place. We musn"t sweep these things under the rug!
-
this edition of TOL is very compelling radio. My heart goes out to your guests. Their stories are moving.
In the corniest and most sincere way, the stories make me very grateful for having lived a relatively care-free life in America. Any possible gripe or complaint I could have is dwarfed by these stories.
-
Why isn't this being tried in the Hague?
-
I think that The Hague is used as the last resort, only if the Nation in question does not try their own Criminals.
-
Could your guests please comment on what role the U.S. war in Indochina had in creating the circumstances that lead to the rise of the Khmer Rouge. Ultimately the Khmer Rouge is responsible for their action, however I think it is important for people to understand that war can have unintended consequences, and those consequences can be very grave.
-
Leakhena Nou, I hope that you will file FOIA requests about Kissingers involvement and hopefully get an indictment against him and get him included in that trial.
-
My Grandmother grew up in Nazi concentration camps and experienced a lot of trauma as a girl and young adult. The guest talked about trans-generational, or inter-generational trauma. My mother was raised by my grandmother, and in turn raised me. I never understood why my mother was so tough and sometimes unfeeling in the way she treated me as I was growing up until I learned about intergenerational trauma and how it is passed down through the generations. Learning about this really helped me understand my own mother, and the secondary trauma she must have experienced, and subsequently passed on to me, which all stemmed from my Grandmothers horrific experiences in WW2. This helped me in the process in trying to heal my familial relationships. I think intergenerational trauma is an important subject for everyone to understand.
-
We recently recorded 14 oral histories from members of our community in the northern part of Beaverton and NW Portland for the Cedar Mill Community Library Oral History Project. The participants included Chann Noun, a Cambodian refugee and two stories related to the Holocaust, including one by Alice Kern, a survivor of Auschwitz. Feel free to listen to them on our website. http://www.cedarmill.plinkit.org/news-events/programs-cedar-mill/oral-history-project.html
-
Thank you for sharing Guybrarianmark. Chann Noun is a part of our community and he has shared his stories to hundreds of high school students around town. His story is both powerful and informing.
I'd like to share a synopsis of the Oral History documentary film that was talked about on this show:
The “OH” Project is a moving, beautiful, and historically informed documentary film highlighting the experiences of survivors of the Cambodian genocide of 1975-79. The film features intergenerational interviews of survivors by their children and grandchildren, all now living in the state of Oregon. The survivors’ narratives of familial disruption, dislocation, and military violence are interwoven with equally powerful stories of strength, resourcefulness, and love. Historical footage and photographs frame the narratives with a cogent re-telling of the history of the Pol Pot regime, giving a vivid social and political context for the suffering and loss endured by millions of Cambodians at the time. By telling their stories and grieving their losses together, the narrators and their interviewers move through a powerful process of healing and regeneration. Viewers, in turn, are educated, challenged, and left with a profound message about hope and survival that has universal resonance in a world still torn by militarism and genocide. This film is suitable for classrooms and libraries, community groups and government agencies who are interested in Cambodian culture, the history of genocide, immigration and community building, and the human survival of war and related trauma.
We are in the process of screening the film at schools, universities, health care institutions, neighborhood associations and to local community members.
For more info or showing to your group, please contact:
Mardine Mao 503-645-5390 or
Sophorn Cheang 503-998-2939
Thank you Emily, David and the rest of Think Out Loud crews for giving voice to our community. Like Chhunny said, we hope to educate and bring awareness to the next generation and the generation we influence by sharing our stories collectively.
-
Thank you Emily and OPB Think Out Loud for bringing this touchy topic to the public.
The Killing Fields was one of the most tragic event that ever take place in history but yet not many people know anything about it. I'm happy to hear this story is being shared to educate and hope to stop this kind of atrocity from ever happening again any where in the world.
2 million genocide and only 5 people are being prosecuted. I'm trying to think out loud and I can't seem to come up with why there aren't more being trial? Also, how do you find justice by trialing the killers in their own house?
I hope the International Community will help us Khmer people find real justice and not just a show trial. Thanks again for talking about the Killing Field.
Saron
-
Comments are now closed.
My personal connection to Cambodia and specifically to the auto-genocide of the Khmer people runs deep, and as a university student it has compelled me to read and to seek answers and understanding in why something like this could occur.
I have discovered that a solution, a remedy to reconcile survivor's experience cannot come in one form, it comes in many.
And I am happy to see that the first step and the most important step is listening. I look forward to hearing the stories of these brave, strong individuals and commend them for their courage to retouch and unfortunately relive in memory the torment they went through, all to enlighten others... others who have not had to go through hardship like theirs.
Thank you.