Poems
(Victim)
Not a day goes by
I don't fear that I will die
They don't just kill you
They like to torture you too
Into labor camps you go
We where forced to leave
And we had to say goodbye,
Forced to do labor
But the saddest of them all
Forced to leave our families
I don't fear that I will die
They don't just kill you
They like to torture you too
Into labor camps you go
We where forced to leave
And we had to say goodbye,
Forced to do labor
But the saddest of them all
Forced to leave our families
(Aggressor)
Just another day at work
Watching the slaves getting dirty doing fieldwork
Killing people is just an ordinary day
I'm telling you if i could i wouldn't stay
See so many people laying there dead
Now all i see is red
I don't want to be here
I'm hoping that the end is near
I'm feeling so guilty
Why everyone else is carefree
I wish it would all stop,
But for now I stand here watching people drop
Watching the slaves getting dirty doing fieldwork
Killing people is just an ordinary day
I'm telling you if i could i wouldn't stay
See so many people laying there dead
Now all i see is red
I don't want to be here
I'm hoping that the end is near
I'm feeling so guilty
Why everyone else is carefree
I wish it would all stop,
But for now I stand here watching people drop
Journals
(Aggressor)
Every day days get longer. We have gotten rid of so many Cambodians were reminded every day that anyone that works as a lawyer, doctor, teacher, engineer, scientist, and professional people in any field must be killed. If they know anything they must be killed or they might be a threat to over throw what we’re doing. If we see them practicing any type of religion they must be killed. Music also banned. If you escaped the murder of being smart or anything else banned you became a slave on minimum rations and for really long hours that was what I could not take it was so inhuman even for me…. We also targeted minority groups which include Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai and we have killed about 3,000 of them so far in the genocide. But every day I am forced to take photos of who I killed so we had records of each that we killed after torturing them. But I must always remember what our leader khmer said. “To spare you is no profit, to destroy you is no lost.” This is my story but there is many more that must be told.
(Victim)
When I was eight years old, I witnessed my father being taken away from me and my family. Scary, violent men broke into our hut. My mom, brother, father, and myself were sitting, trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to attract attention to ourselves. Even though we were being as quiet as possible, the frightening men still came into our hut, and pulled away my father. I saw my father being pulled away, in chains, while being beaten by these terrible men. He was kicked and beaten along with three other victims. I wanted to run after him, but my mother held me back. She was sobbing, yet she still made me and my brother stay in the hut. Later, I learned that my father was dragged into a basement, and was tortured before the Khmer Rouge cadre executed him along with the three other men I had seen earlier. My father was stolen from me, and I didn’t even get to say goodbye.
Every day days get longer. We have gotten rid of so many Cambodians were reminded every day that anyone that works as a lawyer, doctor, teacher, engineer, scientist, and professional people in any field must be killed. If they know anything they must be killed or they might be a threat to over throw what we’re doing. If we see them practicing any type of religion they must be killed. Music also banned. If you escaped the murder of being smart or anything else banned you became a slave on minimum rations and for really long hours that was what I could not take it was so inhuman even for me…. We also targeted minority groups which include Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai and we have killed about 3,000 of them so far in the genocide. But every day I am forced to take photos of who I killed so we had records of each that we killed after torturing them. But I must always remember what our leader khmer said. “To spare you is no profit, to destroy you is no lost.” This is my story but there is many more that must be told.
(Victim)
When I was eight years old, I witnessed my father being taken away from me and my family. Scary, violent men broke into our hut. My mom, brother, father, and myself were sitting, trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to attract attention to ourselves. Even though we were being as quiet as possible, the frightening men still came into our hut, and pulled away my father. I saw my father being pulled away, in chains, while being beaten by these terrible men. He was kicked and beaten along with three other victims. I wanted to run after him, but my mother held me back. She was sobbing, yet she still made me and my brother stay in the hut. Later, I learned that my father was dragged into a basement, and was tortured before the Khmer Rouge cadre executed him along with the three other men I had seen earlier. My father was stolen from me, and I didn’t even get to say goodbye.