After about a month we stopped at a temporary camp. Some people who left their homes with large supplies of food opened shops. They still accepted the national currency but charged prices that were inflated by several thousand percent. But in reality the money had no value.
One morning an announcement was made over the radio asking for people with any skills to return to Phnom Penh and help the new government. They were looking for doctors, mechanics, engineers and others who could do the jobs needed to operate a city. These people were to teach the Khmer Rouge how to do their jobs.
A government office was set up at the camp and some people signed up. Earlier we met a man who decided to return and work for the Khmer Rouge. He was very happy and thought this would be a great opportunity since he was told that his wife and two children could join him after a year. We were suspicious, though, and never revealed the fact that our family was educated or that we were half Chinese or could speak Vietnamese.
The next morning a truck came to the camp and the man, Samreut, who was a mechanic, got on with other volunteers. That was the last time we saw him alive. About a year later we learned from a sympathetic Khmer Rouge, who was our group supervisor, that everyone who participated in the program was eventually tortured and executed.
Throughout our years of captivity we were kept informed by communists who did not support the Khmer Rouge. This knowledge was helpful, especially later, when were losing hope.
After a few more weeks on the road, we were told to find a place to live. Our family chose to go to Kampong Cham since we had an uncle living near there. Other people continued walking across the country. They were city people and had no idea where to go. Kampong Cham is located on the Mekong River, not too far from the Vietnamese border. Because we were from the city, the soldiers assigned us to a camp with others who had lived in towns.
The land is flat in this area and contains a lot of vegetation. Banana, coconut and palm trees are numerous. The camp was outside of Kampong Cham near a village called Prey Tutang.
When we arrived, Khmer Rouge officials received us at a temple. Every new resident was given food by the government and spent the night there. All refugees were registered and an inventory of their possessions was made. If you had an automobile, medicine, or a lot of clothes, the officials would confiscate them. Each person was issued two or three items of clothing.
Every family was assigned a house in a camp near the village and were told that they would be working for the government. When we reached our house the soldiers took another inventory. They seized more of our possessions, like medicine and soap, which would be used by the Khmer Rouge.
The camp was divided into sections with several hundred people in each section. The population totaled about a thousand. Our first house was small and made of straw and palm leaves with a palm leaf roof. The floor was dirt. Later on the men and women were separated and placed in long buildings.
That first day and for about a week we did nothing but get settled in and wonder what would happen next. Since we were out of rice and I had some extra clothes, I would trade with those who had spare rice.
The first few weeks at the camp we often talked about our situation and what we could do to make life better. We wanted to return to Phnom Penh but had no idea what it was like there. With the soldiers on the roads, escape seemed impossible so we decided to stay at the camp and help each other survive.
Faith in our religion also helped us during these times. Although the communists destroyed the temples and killed the monks, in our minds we still believed. We prayed secretly, even when members of our family died or were killed.
Once the Khmer Rouge got everything organized, the camp supervisor announced that everyone over twelve would have to work. Most of us had to work in the fields. The elderly were assigned easier tasks, such as caring for the water buffalo and cows.
Next: Part 3. Forced labor begins.
Filed under: Kampuchea
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