When the War Was Over (102 page)

178 So Phim biography based on Vorn Veth confession, Tuol Sleng, Heder translation, and on Kiernan Ph.D.

179 “They made an issue of how proud . . .” Hem Samin interview by Heder.

180 Samlaut triggered the communist decision to launch armed struggle, and January 17, 1968, became the founding date of the revolutionary army. Author interview with Thiounn Prasith.

182 “If we had kept Phnom Penh . . .” Pol Pot,
Tung
Padevat.

183 “The specific traits of private property . . .” From “Sharpen the Consciousness of the Proletarian Class to Be as Keen and Strong as Possible,” September-October 1976 issue of
Tung Padevat
, translation by Kem Sos and Timothy Carney, typescript, forthcoming.

183 “war communism was a tragic travesty . . .” Isaac Deutscher,
The Prophet Armed: Trotsky,
1879-1921
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1970), p. 489.

184 “turn Kampuchea, a backward agricultural country . . .” Pol Pot, “Let Us.”

185 “To achieve this objective . . .” Ibid.

185 “Where can we find capital . . .” Ibid.

185 “When Stalin put his program . . .” Deutscher,
Stalin,
p. 328.

185 “[Russia] was ceaselessly beaten . . .” Ibid., p. 328.

185 Stalin called his program “a socialist offensive . . .” Sir Bernard Pares,
A
History of Russia
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947), P. 507.

186 “In 1968 more than a hundred million people . . .” Schurmann and Schell, pp. 409-10.

187 “the threat to personal safety . . .” Ibid., p. 211. (
Note
: Both the Second Revolution of Stalin and China's Great Leap Forward achieved some success in pushing their economies toward industrialization and changed attitudes in both countries so that each could imagine entering the modern era. The Khmer Rouge failed even in this limited measure.)

187 There were precedents in Cambodian history . . . Hannah Arendt predicted that “the more absolute the ruler, the more absolute the revolution will be which replaces him,” in her
On Revolution
(New York: Viking, 1963). The
deva-raj
of Cambodia was one of the more absolute monarchs and the Khmer Rouge were among the more absolute revolutionaries.

187 “unparalleled alike in its immensity and in the haste . . .” Hall,
History.

187 Coedès,
Angkor:
. . . “megalomaniac whose foolish prodigality . . .”

188 “As we study Cambodian . . .” Phnom Penh radio, June 12, 1975, in the Foreign Broadcast Information Service.

189 “There is no evidence . . .” Coedès,
Angkor,
quoting Louis Finot.

191Pol Pot's official biography closes . . . Pol Pot to the Yugoslav journalists. Edward Conze, in
Buddhism: Its Essence and Development
(New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1959), stresses that the Buddhist goal is “a calm mind, a calm being,” p. 109.

191“I have been a communist most of my life . . .” Author interview with Chinese diplomat who asked for anonymity.

191 “A certain prediction foretold . . .” Pin Yathay,
L'Utopie meurtrière; un rescapé du genocide cambodgien témoigne
(Paris: Robert Laffont, 1979), pp. 97—98.

192 The Kali-yuga . . . “confusion of the classes . . .” A. L. Basham,
The Wonder That Was India
(New York: Grove Press, 1954).

192 broadcast over national radio a request . . . Pin Yathay, p. 35.

193 The very top political figures . . . Author interview with Thiounn Prasith.

193 “I never believed for a moment . . . ”
Washington Post,
April 27,1975.

195 The Vietnamese had barely won their war . . . Stephen R. Heder, “Origins of the Conflict,”
Southeast Asia Chronicle,
September-October 1978.

195 In early May they stopped and searched . . . This reconstruction of the
Mayaguez
crisis based on “Seizure of the
Mayaguez,
” 1975 Congressional Hearings; F.B.I.S., Vietnam, April 7, 1978, K.5; author notes of Ieng Sary lecture on
Mayaguez
in New York, September 6, 1975.

196 The leadership in Phnom Penh, meanwhile . . . Author notes and article,
Washington Post,
September 8, 1975.

197 “It wouldn't be a bad thing if the other side . . .”
Time,
May 26, 1975.

197 Those dead veterans were counted as the last American casualties . . . Vietnam Veterans Memorial brochure, Washington, D.C.

197 “Local commanders apparently have considerable . . .” U.S. embassy, Bangkok, to the Department of State, May 5, 1975, declassified.

200 Son Sen said he studied European battles in Stephen Heder interview, 1979.

201 But the party was preparing for the . . . Description of the bureaucracy and its operation based on author 1978 trip to D.K. and interviews there.

201 Chea, the constant number two . . . Nuon Chea biographical material from Kiernan Ph.D.

204 The first stage of the revolution . . . At this point the army was told to end its policing duties, which included executions, and this has been interpreted by Summers and Kiernan as an order to end executions. It appears, however, that there was not a temporary halt in executions but the handing over of those duties to the state secret police at Tuol Sleng under Duch. Shortly after this order Tuol Sleng opens.

205 “I am so tired my chest burns . . .” This letter is part of Tuol Sleng file of Hout Bophana, which was retrieved by author at Tuol Sleng and translated on the premises by Chhum Borei, official guide. There are twenty-one items in her file beginning with her declaration on the day of capture, her biography, fifteen separate denunciations of people in her alleged network, a confession about the letters she wrote to her husband, a biography of her husband, and lengthy instructions to her interrogator by Duch. The curators at Tuol Sleng said this was the biggest file in the archives.

206 But news of Sihanouk's decision to return inspired . . . Author interviews with Try Meng Huot and Penn Nhal.

206 Its new constitution . . . Discussion based on the constitution published and analyzed by Mean Sangkim in
Southeast Asian Affairs,
1977.

207 The national anthem was published in
Democratic Kampuchea Is Moving Forward,
an official magazine of the regime, undated.

209 Ieng Thirith said the Center never felt it truly controlled . . . Author interview.

209 “To substitute violence for power can bring victory . . .” Hannah Arendt,
On Violence
(New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1969), p. 53.

209 The people must become “atomized . . .” Ibid., p. 55.

210 “. . . terror turns not only against . . .” Ibid., p. 55.

212 The story of Bophana and Deth is based on the Tuol Sleng file of Bophana. The use of that file and corroborating evidence of the period was inspired by Jonathan Spence,
The Death of Woman Wang
(New York: Penguin, 1982).

212 Baray district became the center . . . Sak Sutsakhan.

213 House of Butterflies . . . Author reporting at the time.

215 They patterned themselves . . . See
Ramayana,
as retold by William Buck, for the complete epic.

221 Bophana was probably manacled . . . Description of Tuol Sleng from author visit in 1983. Authenticity of Tuol Sleng confessions confirmed by Ieng Sary in author interview, printed in “The Death Chambers of the Khmer Rouge,”
Washington Post,
August 2, 1981.

223 . . . three indictments by Tuol Sleng victims . . . Author interview with Ieng Sary.

224 . . . special tortures for women . . . Author interviews at Tuol Sleng and discussions with David Hawk.

224 Many women stopped menstruating entirely . . . Author interviews with refugee women who prefer anonymity.

226 “When the people came from Phnom Penh . . .” Author interview with Southwestern Zone cooperative leaders, December 1978.

227 They borrowed the categories . . . See Laura Summers, “Cooperatives in Democratic Kampuchea,” typescript, August 1981, and author interview with Ieng Sary.

230 In Takeo province, in the eastern section of . . . The story of the May family is based on author interviews with the four surviving members: Sisopha, Bopha, Someth, and Orphear.

234 “The circumstance was proletarian dictatorship . . .” Author interview.

236 “Conditions there were queer . . .” Author interview.

236 “Agents had got into our ranks . . .” Ibid.

236 “We were not yet in full control . . .” Author interview.

238 Details of the Khmer Rouge trade and Ren Fung Co., Ltd., from
Far Eastern Economic Review
, May 20, 1977.

238 “In some place, particularly in the northwest . . .” The government's end-of-the-year report cited in David Chandler, “A Revolution in Full Spate” (typescript, presented at the Princeton Conference on Cambodia, November 1982).

239 “Some comrades seem to believe that . . .” Chandler, “Spate.”

240 The construction of the First January Dam . . . Author interview and visit to Democratic Kampuchea, 1978.

240 “Without a spillway there is no effective . . .” Author interview with engineer Rudolfo Juárez, who repaired the country's irrigation system from August 1980 to July 1982.

241 “If we are masters of water, we are masters . . .” Author interview.

243 The Cambodian people are a mixture of racial stocks . . . Discussion with Prof. Frank Huffman illuminated the issue.

243 The Old Market Section . . . The story of Han-Tao based on author interview, July 1979, and augmented by interviews with six other Sino-Khmers.

245 “in conformity with the genuine nature . . .” Pol Pot, “Let Us.”

249 From Tao's zone . . . Description of new purges based on “Liste des Victimes Emprisonnees & Exterminées Au Camp S—21 Dans le Regime Pol Pot/Ieng Sary Ex Lycée Tuol Svay Prey a Phnom Penh” (typescript, Musée du Crime Genocide à Tuol Sleng, no date).

250 The Khmer Rouge persecuted the ethnic Thai . . . Heder interview series.

251 The Cham had always lived apart . . . Author interview with Chhang Song, former minister of information, Khmer Republic.

253 People in these conditions do not react with “rage and violence . . .” Arendt,
On Violence,
p. 63.

255 Quotes from the journal
Revolutionary Young Men and Women
from Carney, “Documents and Discussions.”

256 “the audacity of these virgins . . .” Author, “Who Are the Khmer Rouge?”
Washington
Post
, March 1974.

256 “Some days we didn't eat at all . . . Author interview with Von, 1978.

256 . . . the party demobilized many of the young veterans . . .” Author interview with Commander Pin.

257 On the roads one could glimpse . . . Author observation during 1978 trip.

257 One of these youths was Chhoi Vanna . . . Author interview.

261 “Most Respected and Beloved Party . . .” from the confession of Phat.

261 If a regime can be understood . . . description of Tuol Sleng complex and torture apparatus based on author visit 1983.

262 Duch even set aside specific days . . . David Hawk, “Tuol Sleng extermination centre.” Index on Censorship, London, January 1986.

264 When the Center was faced with . . . Details of the Northern and Northwestern Zone purges gathered from lists in Timothy Carney, “Organization of Power in Democratic Kampuchea” (typescript revised August 1982, forthcoming).

265 Ieng Sary later described . . . Author interview.

265 . . . the secret police moved against Koy Thoun . . . Koy Thoun arrest and execution from “Black Paper” and “Liste.”

265 The army also “cleansed” its ranks and even executed . . . Carney, “Organization.”

266 records at Tuol Sleng . . . from “Liste.”

266 In 1976 the people executed were . . . This tally based on “Liste” and research by Heder and Hawk.

268 . . . the arrest of Keo Meas . . . dated September 30, 1976, entitled “The Responses of X: The First Time—Talking in Overt Form About the Contradiction in Hanoi over Whether to Fix the Party's Foundation Date as 1951 or 1960,” translation by Heder. All subsequent quotes are from this confession.

269 The anniversary issue as debated through the magazines from David Chandler, “Revising the Past in Democratic Kampuchea: When Was the Birthday of the Party?”
Pacific Affairs,
Summer 1983.

270 “In September and October [1976] we were on the point . . .” Chandler, “Spate.”

272 condemned because they had “come back . . .” Ibid.

272 The story of Try Meng Hout based on author interview.

274 According to Ieng Sary . . . Author interview.

275 Nuon Chea refused to give security clearance . . . Ibid.

275 “Our only failing overseas has been . . .” Chandler, “Spate.”

276 Excerpts from Hu Nim's confession published in Anthony Barnett, Ben Kiernan, Chanthou Boua, “The Bureaucracy of Death: Documents from Inside Pol Pot's Torture Machine,”
New Statesman,
May 2, 1980.

276 . . . a Chinese diplomat in Phnom Penh who had been . . . Diplomat's story based on author interview.

278 Frantz Fanon was a Haitian-born psychiatrist who worked in Algeria and became a partisan of the revolution there. His book
The Wretched of the Earth
, favoring peasants and violent revolutions, influenced leftists and revolutionaries during the sixties, particularly in Africa and South America.

279 The story of Komphot continues based on author interviews.