Interview with Kim

Pivoine

I would like you to tell me about your life during the Khmer Rouge regime. How did you suffer? Please tell me what you remember.

 Kim

I worked very hard.

Pivoine

Please tell me step by step what you remember.

 Kim

In the Khmer Rouge regime, Hoy arrested me and punished me. After the Khmer Rouge collapsed, I ran away. They tried to shoot me. I worked very hard and suffered greatly.

Pivoine

I want to ask you, what is your name?

 Kim

Kim.

Pivoine

Kim what?

 Kim

Srun Kim.

Pivoine

How old are you now?

 Kim

I’m 36 years old.

Pivoine

Are you married?

 Kim

Yes

Pivoine

What is your wife’s name?

 Kim

My wife is Mach.

Pivoine

Where is she now?

 Kim

She has gone to the forest.

Pivoine

How many children do you have?

 Kim

One boy and one girl.

Pivoine

How did you join the revolution?

 Kim

I was young.

Pivoine

Did you work in your village or were you sent to another place?

 Kim

I worked in my village.

Pivoine

What did you do before the Khmer Rouge regime?

 Kim

I looked after cows and farmed.

Pivoine

What did you do during the Khmer Rouge regime?

 Kim

I worked at a security center.

Pivoine

You told me someone tried to shoot you.

 Kim

When I worked in the center, someone punished me. I was still young; I don’t know much. I only remember a little bit.

Pivoine

Do you remember when the photograph was taken?

 Kim

It was taken during the Khmer Rouge regime, but I don’t remember where.

Pivoine

What did you do during the regime?

 Kim

I carried earth and worked in a cooperative.

Pivoine

Where?

Kim

At Prek Samraong village.

Pivoine

What is the subdistrict?

Kim

Koh Thom subdistrict.

Pivoine

Did you live with your parents during the regime?

Kim

No, I lived apart from them.

Pivoine

In addition to your work in the village, what else did you do?

Kim

I was not able to do any other kinds of work because I had problems with my hand.

Pivoine

When did you have the problem with your hand?

Kim

Since I was young.

Kaorn

Before the Khmer Rouge regime, my house was destroyed by fire and I ran to Phnom Phen. I had only the clothes on my back. I couldn’t bring any property. Because my house was destroyed, my children only also had what they were wearing. And then I came back to live in Prek Samraong village. Someone there gave me a house.

Pivoine

I want you to tell me about the time someone shot you and put your head in the water.

Kim

Oh, this happened in 1979. The Khmer Rouge took me far away from home.

Pivoine

Where did they take you?

Kim

[answer not clear]

Pivoine

When did they take you?

Kim

When the Vietnamese invaded. They took me far away.

Kaorn

When the Vietnamese came to my village, the Khmer Rouge took my family.

Pivoine

Did the Khmer Rouge shoot you?

 Kim

The Khmer Rouge took me when they fought with the Vietnamese. Some of the people died during the fighting.

Pivoine

After that, where did you go?

 Kim

I went to Kandal Steung district.

Kaorn

The Khmer Rouge told me that if I ran away, don’t turn back because I will die in a second.

Pivoine

Please tell me your story step by step because Kim was still young and doesn’t remember well.

Interview with Kaorn

 Kaorn

My son was young. He doesn’t remember.

Pivoine

So please tell me because you are his mother.

 Kaorn

Oh, I worked very hard and suffered a lot. I ran away from my village. I worked very hard on the farm. When I came back to my house, there wasn’t enough food to eat. My son experienced the same thing. Someone blamed me. They said I acted like a dog. So, I took my son and we ran away to find food to eat. I stole some rice and put it in my skirt for my son. I did this every day. If I hadn’t done this, my son would have died.

Pivoine

So, I want to ask some more questions. I still don’t understand. I’m sorry, what’s your name?

 Kaorn

Try Kaorn.

Pivoine

What is your husband’s name?

Kaorn

Srun Lork.

Pivoine

How old are you?

Kaorn

69

Pivoine

What is your husband’s age?

Kaorn

He is 76.

Pivoine

What work did you do and what was your life like before the regime?

Kaorn

I worked day and night. There was no time to relax.

Pivoine

I want to ask you about the Lon Nol regime.

Kaorn

Yes, in the Lon Nol regime, I worked on the farm, then my house was destroyed by fire.

Pivoine

When was your house destroyed?

Kaorn

During the Khmer Rouge regime.

Pivoine

Which regime?

Kaorn

Khmer Rouge. [actually, it appears to be around 1972] I had only the clothes on my body. When I took the bus, I had only those clothes. Everything else was destroyed by the fire. The fire was caused by gasoline.

Pivoine

Who burned your house?

Kaorn

The Vietnamese.  Their troops came to my village They came in a ship along the Mekong River. They burned my house down using gasoline.

Pivoine

Did they burn your house down?

Kaorn

No, my house was in Prey Ke village in Kah Thom B subdistrict, Kah Thom district. It was far from my present house.

Pivoine

How far is it?

Kaorn

It is nearly 1 kilometer.

Pivoine

After your house was destroyed, where did you go?

Kaorn

My brother in law called me to meet him in Phnom Phen near Bung Korng Market. My husband didn’t know how to find any work there. He worked as a cyclo [pedicab] driver so he could earn money to support my son and me. Then he decided to live in this village.

Pivoine

In addition to driving a cyclo, what did he do?

Kaorn

He worked only as a cyclo driver with his brother.

Pivoine

Why did he want to live in this village?

Kaorn

My husband said it’s not easy to live in Phnom Penh. I wanted to live in Battambang province, but my husband disagreed. He wanted to live in this village because there was a lot of fruit to eat, like mangos, and they were easy to find.

Pivoine

When did you come back to live at this village?

Kaorn

We left the village in 1972 and came to Prey Pe in 1974.

Pivoine

When you came back to your village, what was the situation like?

Kaorn

When the bombs were dropping from the airplanes, we ran to a small shelter on the farm.

Pivoine

Did they drop the bombs after you returned to your village?

Kaorn

Yes, I was very scared and I nearly died. When I came back to my village, I asked someone to give me a house at Prey Saom village. But after six months in Prey Saom, the Khmer Rouge sent me to Por Tunle prison. It was across the river from my village. [It appears that they were sent to prison early in the regime, around 1975]

Lork

I was also sent to Por Tunle and they wanted to kill me there.

Kaorn

I was sent to Por Tunle because they wanted to kill me. But my son Song came to help me. He told me that if someone asked me to run to Vietnam, please don’t go.

Pivoine

Why were you sent to Por Tunle?

Kaorn

I didn’t do anything wrong, but they wanted to kill me.

Pivoine

When you were sent to Por Tunle, did Song join the revolution?

Kaorn

Yes, he joined the revolution in 1972.

Pivoine

Did he go to Phnom Penh with you?

Kaorn

He went with me. Then my relatives in Phnom Penh asked him to go with them to Battambong province to live.

Pivoine

Did your relatives want him to live with them?

Kaorn

Yes, but my mother in law didn’t agree because she was scared that the family would be separated. She wanted all of us to live together. My relatives in Phnom Penh wanted him [Song] to look after their house and then would provide some money for him to study. But I took him to my village with me. In 1972, someone took my son to join the revolution while we were having lunch at home. I told them, please let him finish lunch because he hasn’t eaten yet. They said they would have a lot of food for him after he joined the revolution,

Pivoine

Who recruited your son?

Kaorn

She lived at Memut in Kampong Cham province.

Pivoine

What was her name?

Kaorn

Her name was Chiv Ly.

Pivoine

How did she recruit him?

Kaorn

She worked as a chief.

Pivoine

Did she work as a village chief?

Kaorn