Prek Sbov was one of the 12 killing fields in Kampong Thom province during Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge era. Today, residents old enough to remember that period still feel much shame about their native son. They have gone to great lengths to keep those memories a secret from children and new villagers. (Terry McCoy | For the Tribune-Review)
Prek Sbov, a small community of about 300 families, is situated along the River Sen in Cambodia. It is the birthplace of Pol Pot, the dictator who ruled the country in the 1970s and orchestrated the mass killing of an estimated 2 million Cambodians. (Terry McCoy | For the Tribune-Review)Sunday, March 14, 2010
By Terry McCoy
FOR THE PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
KAMPONG THOM PROVINCE, Cambodia -- The most striking thing about the village is that there's nothing striking about it.
There's nothing that belies the heavy history straddling this community of roughly 300 families set along the serpentine River Sen.
This farming village named Prek Sbov is the birthplace of Pol Pot, the dictator who ruled Cambodia in the 1970s and contributed to the deaths of perhaps 2 million Cambodians, or about one in five people at the time.
He lived here the first six years of his life, before moving to Phnom Penh and then to Paris, Vietnam and China. He returned to orchestrate a mass, egalitarian killing of his people between 1976 and 1979.
Up and down these dirt roads, anyone old enough to know this truth isn't telling. The history and shame that Pol Pot came from their community is too great, villagers in roughly 20 interviews said. The past is their secret: The children don't know; new villagers don't know. It's a village purposely ignorant of its own notoriety.
Then on Feb. 4, one of the last hints of the past disappeared when Pol Pot's younger brother, Saloth Nhep, 84, died. Some villagers breathed quiet relief.
"We were hoping for his death," said Ak Ourn, 72. "We were waiting for his death."
Now, an almost systematic erasing of the past is nearly complete. The village chief, area monks, respected elders and common villagers agree the name Pol Pot eventually will hold no relation to Prek Sbov, a community that doesn't yet have electricity.
"All the memories will run out," said Kit Choen, the village chief. "No one will remember."
It's the Khmer way.
Here, Pol Pot, the fourth of six children, is Saloth Sar -- his birth name, which means "white" in Khmer, given for his pale complexion. Pol Pot was his revolutionary name.
This community offers contrast to the birthplaces of other such infamous leaders: A statue of Stalin looms over his birthplace in Gori, Georgia. Mao's hometown is a tourist attraction. In Braunau am Inn, Austria, a plaque outside Hitler's birthplace reads: "For peace, freedom and democracy, never again fascism, millions of dead warn."
The few with remaining memories of Saloth Sar here describe an affable and precocious boy wearing white. These memories are hardest to rationalize, villagers said. How could little Sar become Pol Pot?
Another question villagers face: Why Prek Sbov? In an overwhelmingly rural nation, 783 villages exist in Kampong Thom province alone. Few possess distinguishing factors. Each village melts into the next.
"We're embarrassed," said Mom Pot, 74, her head shaven and teeth black. "We're ashamed. He came from here."
Others express dismay that while Pol Pot controlled Cambodia, he neglected Prek Sbov. The village was one of the 12 killing fields in Kampong Thom, according to the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which documents crimes from the Khmer Rouge era. Two of Pol Pot's nephews from here were killed.
To this humiliation, most say, there seemed simple recourse: Forget. Even Pol Pot's dozens of extended relatives here say they don't think about the past and haven't experienced discrimination.
When the Vietnamese overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979 after four years of agrarian slavery, Prek Sbov was awash in new villagers. No one told them Pol Pot came from the village.
"I don't want to know," said Suin Sokun, 48. "I don't know why I don't want to know."
Ask children if they recognize the name Pol Pot or Saloth Sar or the Khmer Rouge and unknowing eyes answer the question.
In Cambodia, Prek Sbov's relative anonymity embodies this culture, scholars say. Historically, Khmer have selective memories.
There aren't any Khmer-produced chronicles before World War II. Even the Angkor Empire and its decline was forgotten during France's colonization. Anything perceived as shameful people quickly erase.
"Pol Pot was Khmer Rouge," said Youk Chhaang, director of the documentation center. "There is no other word for it that can modify or clean it. It is black forever. No one wants to associate with that. They forget out of fear of being associated with the darkness. A selective memory will help them be restored. It becomes a denial of fact and history."
Among the simplicity of life in Prek Sbov, denial seems as natural as the river's flow. The day's work, tending to cattle or fishing, continues as it has for generations.
Still, for some, the four years this lifestyle was halted remain vivid. Mom Pot said she can't forget the murder of her husband and son.
"I have to remember," she said. "I will remember until I die. But I'm alone because I know this history. I'm alone because I live longer."
There's nothing that belies the heavy history straddling this community of roughly 300 families set along the serpentine River Sen.
This farming village named Prek Sbov is the birthplace of Pol Pot, the dictator who ruled Cambodia in the 1970s and contributed to the deaths of perhaps 2 million Cambodians, or about one in five people at the time.
He lived here the first six years of his life, before moving to Phnom Penh and then to Paris, Vietnam and China. He returned to orchestrate a mass, egalitarian killing of his people between 1976 and 1979.
Up and down these dirt roads, anyone old enough to know this truth isn't telling. The history and shame that Pol Pot came from their community is too great, villagers in roughly 20 interviews said. The past is their secret: The children don't know; new villagers don't know. It's a village purposely ignorant of its own notoriety.
Then on Feb. 4, one of the last hints of the past disappeared when Pol Pot's younger brother, Saloth Nhep, 84, died. Some villagers breathed quiet relief.
"We were hoping for his death," said Ak Ourn, 72. "We were waiting for his death."
Now, an almost systematic erasing of the past is nearly complete. The village chief, area monks, respected elders and common villagers agree the name Pol Pot eventually will hold no relation to Prek Sbov, a community that doesn't yet have electricity.
"All the memories will run out," said Kit Choen, the village chief. "No one will remember."
It's the Khmer way.
Here, Pol Pot, the fourth of six children, is Saloth Sar -- his birth name, which means "white" in Khmer, given for his pale complexion. Pol Pot was his revolutionary name.
This community offers contrast to the birthplaces of other such infamous leaders: A statue of Stalin looms over his birthplace in Gori, Georgia. Mao's hometown is a tourist attraction. In Braunau am Inn, Austria, a plaque outside Hitler's birthplace reads: "For peace, freedom and democracy, never again fascism, millions of dead warn."
The few with remaining memories of Saloth Sar here describe an affable and precocious boy wearing white. These memories are hardest to rationalize, villagers said. How could little Sar become Pol Pot?
Another question villagers face: Why Prek Sbov? In an overwhelmingly rural nation, 783 villages exist in Kampong Thom province alone. Few possess distinguishing factors. Each village melts into the next.
"We're embarrassed," said Mom Pot, 74, her head shaven and teeth black. "We're ashamed. He came from here."
Others express dismay that while Pol Pot controlled Cambodia, he neglected Prek Sbov. The village was one of the 12 killing fields in Kampong Thom, according to the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which documents crimes from the Khmer Rouge era. Two of Pol Pot's nephews from here were killed.
To this humiliation, most say, there seemed simple recourse: Forget. Even Pol Pot's dozens of extended relatives here say they don't think about the past and haven't experienced discrimination.
When the Vietnamese overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979 after four years of agrarian slavery, Prek Sbov was awash in new villagers. No one told them Pol Pot came from the village.
"I don't want to know," said Suin Sokun, 48. "I don't know why I don't want to know."
Ask children if they recognize the name Pol Pot or Saloth Sar or the Khmer Rouge and unknowing eyes answer the question.
In Cambodia, Prek Sbov's relative anonymity embodies this culture, scholars say. Historically, Khmer have selective memories.
There aren't any Khmer-produced chronicles before World War II. Even the Angkor Empire and its decline was forgotten during France's colonization. Anything perceived as shameful people quickly erase.
"Pol Pot was Khmer Rouge," said Youk Chhaang, director of the documentation center. "There is no other word for it that can modify or clean it. It is black forever. No one wants to associate with that. They forget out of fear of being associated with the darkness. A selective memory will help them be restored. It becomes a denial of fact and history."
Among the simplicity of life in Prek Sbov, denial seems as natural as the river's flow. The day's work, tending to cattle or fishing, continues as it has for generations.
Still, for some, the four years this lifestyle was halted remain vivid. Mom Pot said she can't forget the murder of her husband and son.
"I have to remember," she said. "I will remember until I die. But I'm alone because I know this history. I'm alone because I live longer."
10 comments:
It is Youns who plan this slaughter and some stupid idiot Khmers leaders just follow Hanoi's order. I don't think that Khmers can kill their own people this much numbers.
fuken your ass yuon crony journalist, it is easy to write and accuse a died man who is not anymore here to defend what you fuken ass crony wrote about this man
You don't do your job of journalist my friend, you are wrong, Pol Pot killed Khmers from 1975 to 1979 and Vietminhs alias CPP members killed also Khmers in 1975, specially Heng Samrin, he killed Khmers in Kg Cham in 1975.
That doesn't mean, it will change the fact that Pol Pot was born at Prek Sbov. So look out at what you do today that will effect tomorrow!
i think it is time for cambodia to call for paradigm shift, meaning educate the nation to think like the rest of the world. it is good to have selective memories, what to keep and and passed on and what to bury and move forward. i think when it come to important information like that chronological history of the nation, it is important to ignore selective memories and write everything down for the sake of keeping history alive. believe it or not cambodian history is also world history, it is important to study history so we can help shape a better future. all over the world, history was recorded and taught in schools. khmer people should not be ashame to learn or know about our history, whether it is good or bad. i think it tatooed in our culture that when something in history was bad, people don't want to associate with it. that is so true in any culture, however, we have to think in terms of its importance. this kind of thinking can be changed as nothing is absolute anymore. we have to embrace what is important i. e. history of the nation, a particular place, etc... in the future not only these historical places or things serves us well in the studies, they also could be used as tourist attraction because imagine if other people in the world find it interesting to learn about us cambodia, shouldn't we preserve and conserve such places, etc? i think we should. it's all in the way we are taught to think, really! of course, as a human being, we all tend to forget things we did that are ashamed to us and country, etc, however, this is where being selective is beneficial, especially if it is the history of our nation, and so forth, we should record this history and not be ashamed of it for it was the truth. history is very important to record and keep alive, there is nothing to be ashamed of about history. if anything, it is fascinating, interesting and amazing and feed our human curiosity, etc... please think smartly about it. god bless cambodia.
don't be ashamed of history, that is so outdated thinking, really!
Khmers learn nothing from their past error, from 1975 to 1979 Khmers said CHEYO Pol Pot allowing this man kill 2M Khmers, now Hun Sen, that is the same error, this man is etablishing dictatorship in Cambodia, Cambodia will bleed..
These blood would come also from CPP members and supporters descendants bodies ..
1:46 am
At least with Hun Sen's regime, the country is more peaceful. Let's put the politic aside! Are we better today than 30 years ago? We have come a long way. As a normal citizen, let's just celebrate that! If PM Hun Sen continues to rule Cambodia another 20 more years? I wonder what will happen to Cambodia? My point is, Cambodia is more advanced in technology and people are more educated than ever before. All in all, let's celebrate what we have accomplished! Forget abut the past, and focus on the future!
If Hun Sen is healthy enough to rule Cambodia for another 20 years, he will give more Khmer land to Youns and let more and more Youns live in Cambodia, he also kill any Khmers who against him so let's celebrate this too.
10:02 & 10:08
Both of you misunderstood my point!
So you don't think our country right now is better off than 30 years ago? Don't get me wrong! PM Hun Sen is evil and a crooked man. Everybody knows it, and still Cambodian people continue to vote for him years after years. Why? Is he that evil, why is he still in power for all these years? We started from year ZERO, and to me that is something to be proud of! If you have problems with this, maybe you better off with Khmer rouge regime. Let's all work together! After all, we all want the best for our country.
Khmer rules!!!!
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