On April 17, 1975, after years of brutal fighting, the Khmer Rouge (Red Khmers) marched into Phnom Penh, Cambodia ( renamed Democratic Kampuchea by the victors). A guerilla army of about 55,000, lightly armed, with many of its troops in their early teens, captured a nation of eight million people.
The leadership of this draconian group of communists, headed by Pol Pot, then ordered the evacuation of all cities. The population was sent into the countryside, forced into hard labor and fed a starvation diet.
The new Kampuchea was starting over at year zero, free from modern technology. Religion was banned and everyone worked for the state. A system of genocide was put into place-designed to rid the country of foreigners, anyone associated with the former government, educated citizens and others who did not conform to the new society.
The following report is the result of several interviews which I conducted in 1982. The interviewee, a young woman named Hun, was about to graduate from high school when her pleasant life in the capital city of Phnom Penh ended.
In the interview, she describes the life of her family during nearly four years of slave labor, daily propaganda, threats and executions for even the smallest infraction.
I finally put the information together in August of 2000. Unfortunately, some of the material was lost-in particular, names of relatives which I received after the sessions were completed.
However, her account gives an accurate picture of a labor camp near Kompong Cham during a period in which the Khmer Rouge displayed behavior toward their fellow human beings that took barbarity to another level, attacking the mind and the body as you suffered over time, never knowing when they would call you up for a talk. (Ray Kania)
The Interview
The mood had changed in that last month and the people were in a depressed state. I planned to graduate from high school but the schools closed and never opened again. My father stilll had his job as a ticket agent but nothing ran because the Khmer Rouge had destroyed the tracks.
We did not expect the change to be unbearable but our family had prepared for the takeover. Each family member helped out to make sure we survived any problems that followed. We had meetings to plan our strategy.
Things began to fall apart quickly. First, the Americans closed their embassy and left the country. Then our leaders left shortly before the Khmer Rouge entered and the people had to take care of themselves. Everyone tried to get as much food as possible and store it for the communist takeover.
The Khmer Rouge seized the radio stations and began broadcasting. They said that they had a better way to govern Kampuchea, that they would enter the city soon and all the people should obey the new government so they could build a new Kampuchea.
They told us that there would be no more money. The people would work for the nation and be paid in rations-food and supplies. Goods could be traded but no business would involve money. It would have no value. They did not want to kill the people, only make peace.
The communists continued to close in on Phnom Penh. They captured the airport and using one of the captured planes, dropped two bombs on the government’s military headquarters. A number of people were killed.
When the Khmer Rouge entered the city, someone on the radio issued orders for all the people living in the city to leave for three days so they could clean out the resistance. Soldiers were stationed at intersections while others marched down each street, firing their weapons in the air and yelling for the people in each house to get out of the city. They gave the people a few minutes to gather up whatever they wanted to take.
My older brother, Sombo, was visiting my aunt in Phnom Penh when the soldiers came in. They made us leave quickly and we never saw him again. I found out later that he and my aunt’s family were evacuated on another road. They escaped to Vietnam during the march but my brother died soon after. I never found out why.
When the soldiers came to our house we packed a lot of food, clothes and other supplies on a motorcycle and two bicycles, then joined the others leaving the city. Some people had cars but many just walked.
Soldiers were stationed at different points along the road and a few escorted the long line of people leaving the city. We left on National Road #1 heading east toward Vietnam.
The soldiers were very polite to the people. They told us “just stay out two or three days and then you can come back.” Some of the people left unprepared. All they took with them was some money; no food, no extra clothes.
They even told the people in the hospitals, including patients, to leave. The patients had to take care of themselves. Those who could not walk remained in the hospital. After two or three days, with no one to care for them, they probably all died.
Some people hid in their houseswhen the communists came. A few days later the soldiers went by the houses again, shouting for those inside to come out. Those who did were evacuated from the town. Those who did not, were shot. I found out later that my cousin was one of those executed. His neighbor, who had come out when the soldiers ordered, saw them do this.
Shortly after we began our journey we came to some buildings that were used to prepare and store food products like rice, beans, meat, canned goods. I saw hundreds of people converging on the warehouses, fighting for food. They had not thought that the Khmer Rouge would order the city to be emptied and were unprepared when the announcement came.
They were in a frenzy, without a thought for safety, only in getting as much food as possible. At one warehouse a crowd was at the base of a mountain of rice. The rice was packed into one hundred- kilo bags and stacked very high. The people were so anxious to get at the rice that they started pulling on the bags near the bottom. This resulted in an avalanche of rice-filled bags that fell on the crowd, killing five or six.
But it only slowed the others for a moment. They surged onto the rice, dragging away bags whilr fighting off competitors. My brothers had thought about trying their luck but decidednot to, after observing the crowds behavior. Besides, we had enough food to last for weeks.
After the first day of traveling we were very tired. We stopped beside the road for the night and cooked some rice to eat with our 
dried fish. The next day and for many days after, the soldiers told us to “keep going, just a little farther.” If anyone decided to stop, more soldiers would come by later and make them move on. Some of the people who had lived in small towns and on farms before the war thought that they would be returning home after the fighting was over. But they found out differently when the soldiers, who had blocked off the side roads, turned them back.
A few people, who knew certain shortcuts, escaped from our column and made their way to Vietnam. City people, like ourselves, had no idea what might be planned for us. We were afraid to try and escape because of our lack of knowledge of the countryside and we thought it would be safer for the family if we stayed together.
The weather was clear that day but very hot. Many people became ill from the heat and also food poisoning. No one was particular about whether the food was safe to eat or not.
The water also. As we got out into the countryside, a lot of people began to drop out. When they died or passed out on the bridges, the soldiers would come by and throw the bodies into the river. Even when we saw this, we went down to the water and filled our containers while the bodies floated by. We were very thirsty and did not know if we would be able to get more soon.
Out from Phnom Penh there were many bodies in the fields and beside the road. Government soldiers lay next to those of the Khmer Rouge. I saw the civilians, in grotesque poses, on the porches and in the yards around the battered and blood-spattered houses. Some of the houses were large and very fancy.
The communists announced over the radio that many people who were rich became disheartened when they learned that their money was worthless. It was announced that one man loaded his family into their car, which he then drove into the river.
Whenever we stopped, people would set up markets, selling food, clothes and other goods. The strange thing was that some people still sold items for money. Even though they charged extremely high prices, all the money they received was worthless. I guess it was difficult to understand the drastic overnight change in our society. Gold and barter were the most common means of conducting business at these roadside markets.
We had been on the road for over a week and were not far from the Vietnamese border. Our family wanted to cross over but we decided against this. The told all the refugees that the Vietnamese would shoot us if we did.
Although we could speak Vietnamese, we were careful not to let the Khmer Rouge know. They would kill anyone who spoke it or any other language. I remember the soldiers escorting people down a road with their arms bound behind them-Chinese, Vietnamese, Indians, French.
People from our column, as well as those from other towns along the way, continued to drop out. I saw young women and children who had died. There was one pregnant woman lying in a field, uncovered and with no one around to bury her. Some family members dug shallow graves for their loved ones while other victims were left in the sun, covered only by their clothing. No ceremonies were performed and the relatives rejoined the march.
Next: Part 2. Finding a new home.
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