Norng Chen Kimty, 15, and Huy Senghul, 20, are volunteers at the Documentation Center of Cambodia. There, they transcribe interviews of Khmer Rouge survivors and former cadres and read primary documents to record the names of those who died during that terrible period. The two, who sometimes sit at the same table in the office, are linked by the experiences of their fathers. Kimty is the daughter of Norng Chanphal, a child victim of Khmer Rouge prison S-21 where approximately 14,000 prisoners were processed for execution. Senghul is the daughter of Him Huy, a former security guard of S-21 responsible for transporting the prisoners to the execution site—Choeung Ek “killing fields.”

Both of Norng Chanphal’s parents were killed at S-21 while he and his younger brother were rescued by Vietnamese soldiers several days before the capture of Phnom Penh on January 7, 1979. He still remembers the image of his mother behind a prison window looking at him as her hands clutched the metal window bars. He was playing outside in the courtyard of the prison then. Him Huy also lost a family member at the prison; his brother was killed by S-21 deputy chief Khim Vat as they escaped advancing Vietnamese soldiers.

In these photos taken on September 13, 2011, Kimty and Senghul are participating in the first day ceremony of the Pchum Benn festival, a time when Cambodians pay respect to their dead relatives. It is traditionally believed that spirits are allowed to return to the human world for a period of two weeks starting on the first day of the holiday. These spirits travel to nearby pagodas to look for their relatives. As such, Cambodians bring food to the monks at the pagodas so that their dead relatives can receive the food. Kimty and Senghul were celebrating the ceremony together for the first time at Phnom Penh’s Wat Langka (Langka pagoda) in order to pay respect to their deceased relatives.