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BITTER MEMORIES I REMEMBER THROUGH MY
GRANDFATHER
Dany Long
My grandfather
often talks about the events that passed in 1970-1975. During the Khmer Rouge regime from
1975-1979, I was a young boy. Until
I completed primary school, I always lived with my grandparents. I never really lived with my mother and
father. At that time, I usually sat
and listened to the stories of my grandfather. Since the beginning, especially,
I learned about his history and the history of my family. I sat and listened to him and I also
questioned him about this and that, because I wondered a lot. During that time my aunt, my uncle, and
my grandparents frequently mocked me and told me that I was young but why did I
talk so much? The one time I
listened and took greatest care to remember was of one event that occurred
within my family.
It was probably
1974 during that time. My mother
was pregnant and I was probably six or seven months old. They seized my mother and imprisoned her
in a kiln for steaming tobacco (in this kiln it was so hot and
unendurable). At this time, they
accused my mother and our family of selling their farm products to merchants
outside of the village, without their permission. My grandfather told me that between
1973-74, along the base areas and the countryside, there was extreme anarchic
chaos. Many people living in the
rural areas were forced to demonstrate and challenge the regime of the Khmer
Republic. Their people only had
knives, axes, and wooden rods to fight with the Lon Nol soldiers who had guns in
each hand. Therefore, the Lon Nol
soldiers shot many of the people who joined in the demonstration, especially in
Kompong Cham province. My
grandfather also said that during that time the people and the families that did
not join in the demonstration were admonished and criticized and the crowd of
demonstrators just marched on. If
we did not join the demonstration and we ran away, the demonstrators would ax
and kill us.
On the event of
17 April 1975 I was only nine months old. But according to my grandfather, 17
April 1975, was the day in which the Liberation Army gained victory over the Lon
Nol army. At that time people
throughout the country, especially the people in the rural areas and countryside
had many reason to be happy and joyous, believing our country had gained peace
and the Royalist regime and King Sihanouk would return to lead the country.
According to my grandfather, the people in the countryside were very satisfied
with King Sihanouk and loved and respected him tremendously. However, after victory was achieved only
a few hours earlier, this state of happiness and joy was slowly deteriorated,
when they forced the people to flee from the city, the provinces, and from the
crowds of people that gathered.
Deceptively, they said that they were clearing out all the Lon Nol
soldiers.
My family was
living in Dey Dos Village, Peam Koh Snar Sub-district, Stung Trong District,
Kampong Cham Province. They were not yet evacuated immediately. I don’t remember or know exactly, but
some days later they forced everyone in my village to flee to the forests near
the base of the mountain and the fields, where it was easier to clear the
forests for more planting. When
they evacuated us my family did not take anything with them outside of two or
three outfits. When they evacuated us, everyone in my family separated. I lived with my grandmother and I only
saw my mother at night. And when I
entered school, I usually remembered that on the 17th of April, they
would let us rest for one day so that we would remember this was the day we
achieved victory over the Americans.
This was also the day in which the Khmer Rouge entered and gained power
and forced the people of Cambodia to suffer and nearly 2 million people to
die.
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