Interview with Iep Keav

Sopheak

What is your name?

Iep Keav

Iep Keav

Sopheak

How old are you?

Iep Keav

69

Sopheak

Where were you born?

 Iep Keav

Tapaunt village, Taing Krasao subdistrict, Prasat Sambo district, Kampong Cham Province

Sopheak

How many siblings do you have?

 Iep Keav

Three.

Sopheak

What is your position in your family?

 Iep Keav

Second

Sopheak

And what is the name of the eldest?

 Iep Keav

Iep Ieng.

Sopheak

Man or woman?

 Iep Keav

Woman

Sopheak

And what about the third?

 Iep Keav

Iep Tanchung (male).

Sopheak

What is your husband’s name?

 Iep Keav

Peang Voir.

Sopheak

And how many children do you have?

 Iep Keav

12.

Sopheak

How many boys and how many girls?

 Iep Keav

7 girls and 5 boys.

Sopheak

In this picture, what is the name of the boy on the left?

 Iep Keav

Ing Vannak

Sopheak

And what was his position in the family?

 Iep Keav

The eldest.

Sopheak

Who was the second?

 Iep Keav

Ing Chanthou. She is dead. I have six children who are still alive.

Sopheak

I would like you to tell me about Vannak

 Iep Keav

First, Ing Vannak studied at Kampong Thom until grade 5. When the coup d’etat happened, he gave up studying. But he still graduated from school. I don’t know what grade he finished. He was nearly finished when the coup occurred.

Sopheak

When he gave up his studies, where did he go?

 Iep Keav

He didn’t go anywhere because of the coup.

Sopheak

So, did he come back home?

 Iep Keav

Yes. He went with his father.

Sopheak

Where did he go with his father?

 Iep Keav

He joined the revolution with his father.

Sopheak

When?

 Iep Keav

I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it. When I think about it, I cry.

Sopheak

You said that he went with his father. Where did they go?

 Iep Keav

To join the revolution. They joined at Tasou [struggle] Market.

Sopheak

Where is this place?

 Iep Keav

At Tapreach village, Taing Krasaing subdistrict.

Sopheak

After Vannak joined the revolution, did he visit home?

 Iep Keav

Yes, in 1976.  After that, he disappeared

Sopheak

When he visited, what did he say to you?

 Iep Keav

No, he went to Phnom Penh. I was there too, so we visited home together. The first time we left the village (with Vannak and my mother) during the revolution, we went to Chamka O Russei plantation in Kampong Cham.  After that, we went to 0-2, then to Sre Veal.

Sopheak

Why did Vannak go to 0-2 with his father?

 Iep Keav

To plant vegetables and take photos over there.

Sopheak

How did he take the photos?

 Iep Keav

He took them for his unit. He took photos of the plantation, too.

Sopheak

When did he go to 0-2?

 Iep Keav

I don’t know. I forgot. After 0-2, he went to Phnom Penh. He lived in Central Market.  He took photos there and many other places. Angkar sent him to take photos in many places.

Sopheak

When he went to Phnom Penh, did he visit home?

 Iep Keav

No.

Sopheak

And how do you know that he went to Phnom Penh?

 Iep Keav

I went there too. I stayed at Tuol Kork. They assigned me to take care of children. Then they sent me to Chak Ang Re in Ta Kmau. When I stayed there, I nearly died.

Sopheak

Why did you nearly die?

 Iep Keav

The Khmer Rouge put prisoners that they wanted to kill to a truck. They almost put me in the truck as well, but friends in my unit helped me. I had a fishing pole in my hand, and they tried to catch me. My unit said, “Don’t catch her.” So, they pulled the fishing pole out of my hands and threw it into the water. And then they sent me to the reeducation center.

Sopheak

When she went to Phnom Penh, how did you know that Vannak was taking photos?

 Iep Keav

Yes, they took photos in the office. His father took them, too.

Sopheak

Where did he take photos?

Iep Keav

I don’t know.

Sopheak

When you were in Phnom Penh, did anyone take a photo of you and Vannak?

Iep Keav

No.

Sopheak

Where did they take this photo?

Iep Keav

In Phnom Penh?

Sopheak

Where?

Iep Keav

Wat Phnom.

Sopheak

Which one is your son?

Iep Keav

He’s the one on the left.

Sopheak

Who is the man on the right?

Iep Keav

His name was Leang.

Sopheak

Do you know where he was from?

Iep Keav

He was from Kampong Thom. At first, he took photos at Long Market in Kampong Thom.

Sopheak

Did Leang work with your son?

Iep Keav

Yes. He worked with my son in O-5.

Sopheak

When was this photo taken?

Iep Keav

I don’t know.

Sopheak

Was this taken after the Lon Nol regime collapsed?

 Iep Keav

He took this photo after he left the village, around 1975 or 1976. Then he came back.

Sopheak

You said that you went to Ta Kamau. What did you do there?

Iep Keav

I planted chilies and eggplant, and longen fruit.

Sopheak

Did Vannak stay with you at Ta Kamau?

Iep Keav

No.

Sopheak

So, where was Vannak at that time?

Iep Keav

He was in Phnom Penh.

Sopheak

Why did you go to Ta Kamau?

Iep Keav

They sent me there because they caught my husband.

Sopheak

Why did they arrest him?

Iep Keav

They put my husband into a truck. I don’t know where. Then they sent me from Tuol Kork to Ta Kamau

Sopheak

What did you do when you stayed at Tuol Kork?

Iep Keav

I took care of small children.

Sopheak

What was that work like?

Iep Keav

When the mothers went out to work, I took care of them at the children’s center.

Sopheak

Is Leang still alive?

Iep Keav

He disappeared.

Sopheak

Did he disappear with your son?

Iep Keav

No. With his friend. He disappeared in Sihanoukville, but my son disappeared in Phnom Penh.

Sopheak

How do you know what happened to Leang?

Iep Keav

Because at first we worked together and a man I knew (the husband of Don) took a photo there, too. Don asked Leang to work with him in Sihanoukville. He said Leang could learn how to develop film and become the best photographer. After that, they took them away and they disappeared. There was a man named Pan who told me that they [the Khmer Rouge] killed them.

Sopheak

Did you know Pan?

Iep Keav

Yes, because he joined the revolution too.

Sopheak

Was he a photographer, too?

Iep Keav

No. He volunteered to join the revolution and when he came back he said Leang had been killed. I thought Pan had been killed, too, and I was surprised to see him.

Sopheak

When did you leave the village?

Iep Keav

I don’t know. The Khmer Rouge took over Kampong Thom maybe around 1975.

Sopheak

Were you evacuated or did you choose to leave?

Iep Keav

They said anyone who had a husband was a Khmer Rouge cadre must go live with their husband.

Sopheak

When you left, had the Khmer Rouge already taken over Phnom Penh?

Iep Keav

Yes. And they sent me to live with my husband. I said I didn’t want to go there. They said because you are the wife of a soldier, you have to go. I asked the people who came for me what I should bring. “It’s up to you,” they said. I gave a sewing machine, cloth, a Philips radio, a motorbike and my house to Angkar. After I left, my house was destroyed.  As I was leaving the house, I cried because I knew I would miss it.

Sopheak

You said Vannak was a photographer in Phnom Penh. Where was his office?

Iep Keav

I don’t know. They did not allow me to visit my son.

Sopheak

So, you weren’t living together with your family in Phnom Penh.

Iep Keav