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A Shattered Youth
Sathavy kim
Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders of
material reproduced in this text. In cases where these efforts have been
unsuccessful, the copyright holders are asked to contact the publishers
directly.
ISBN: 978-1-905379-70-5
The paper used in this book comes from wood pulp of managed forests.
For every tree felled, at least one tree is planted, thereby renewing
natural resources.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
and the Irish Copyright libraries.
Photographs reproduced with kind permission of DCCam
(Documentation Centre of Cambodia)
Contents
Acknowledgements 11
Preface 15
1: Return to the Light 25
2: En route to a Shattered Youth 32
3: Deportation, 17 April 1975 42
4: The Exodus Over, the Tragedy Begins 67
5: Pooling Everything 80
6: The Angkar ploughs the Land and Reaps its Living Souls 92
7: Khmer Costume in this New Theatre 116
8: Rabbit Droppings Cure All 128
9: Neither Mothers nor Wives, Women don’t exist anymore 135
10: Union by Couple under the Angkar 146
11: The Education of Children 155
12: The Sombre destiny of Buddhism
and the Khmer-Islam or cham minorities 161
13: Angkar Festivals and the
Mutilation of the Khmer language 169
14: The Big Works Projects of Democratic Kampuchea 177
15: The Destruction of Human Dignity 190
16: The Joy of Seeing my Family and Being Free Again 195
17: Return to the Village 211
18: 28 Years later 225
Glossary of Vocabulary used by the Khmer Rouge,
and everyday words 243
Overview of the Administrative Organisation
of Democratic Kampuchea in the Provinces 251
Bibliography 257
Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea;
5 January 1976 259
Acknowledgements
A
Shattered Youth is the result of a labour that
has been buried within me for almost thirty
years. Digging it up was made possible by the
encouragement of my close friends and relatives.
My first thoughts are for Vanny, korngchalat survivor,
for her friendly and constant availability to talk with me
about our memories. Without my fortuitous meeting
with her in 2000, this story would have remained a family
document only.
My thanks also go to Marie, my colleague and faithful
friend, who, eleven years ago, encouraged me to make my
first pilgrimage to Phum Thmey. That visit allowed me to
resume contact with the villagers of Phum Thmey, and by
means of dialogue, to rediscover the traces of my youth.
My gratitude and affection also go to Ta Chourp and
Yeay Pheap, who took me in, to their children, and to the
villagers of Phum Thmey. I owe them all my life; they
supported me and warmed my heart during those four
black years without my family.
I wish to express my gratitude to the Cambodian
Documentation Centre, which gave me access to the
11
archived documents from this period and allowed me to
reproduce them.
I especially thank my husband Borng Do, for his affection,
advice, and constant support. This book wouldn’t have seen the
light of day without his constant presence. I wrote A Shattered
Youth by projecting myself into his eyes: putting his soul beside
mine made writing this personal narrative easier.
Preface
M
y name is Sathavy and I am the eldest of seven
children. My father was a teacher but his real
passion was for the land, and from the time I
was small he taught me how to grow rice and traditional
crops, such as salad and tomatoes.
Ours was a very united family, and both my parents
were hard workers. They wanted to make sure my
siblings and I would one day go to college, in spite of
our provincial isolation. My mother was a seamstress
and worked ceaselessly because she couldn’t bear the
idea of any of us ever being in need. I spent much of
my childhood watching her work, and from an early age
it was clear to me that she dreamed of a better life for
my sisters and me. So, to prepare me for an improved
city life, I was sent to secondary school in Battambang,
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S at h av y K i m
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S h at t e r e d Yo u t h
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S at h av y K i m
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S h at t e r e d Yo u t h
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S at h av y K i m
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S h at t e r e d Yo u t h
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