I normally teach courses on how to rebuild states after war. But today I've got a personal story to share with you. This is a picture of my family, my four siblings -- my mom and I -- taken in 1977. And we're actually Cambodians. And this picture is taken in Vietnam. So how did a Cambodian family end up in Vietnam in 1977? Well to explain that, I've got a short video clip to explain the Khmer Rouge regime during 1975 and 1979.
Normalno držim predavanja na temu ponovne izgradnje država nakon rata. Ali danas bih s vama podijelio osobnu priču. Ovo je slika moje obitelji, četvero mojih rođaka, mama i ja, fotografirana 1977. Mi smo Kambodžanci. A fotografija je slikana u Vijetnamu. Pa kako je obitelj iz Kambodže završila u Vijetnamu 1977.? Da bih to objasnio, imam kratak video isječak koji će objasniti režim Crvenih Kmera tijekom 1975. i 1979.
Video: April 17th, 1975. The communist Khmer Rouge enters Phnom Penh to liberate their people from the encroaching conflict in Vietnam, and American bombing campaigns. Led by peasant-born Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge evacuates people to the countryside in order to create a rural communist utopia, much like Mao Tse-tung's Cultural Revolution in China. The Khmer Rouge closes the doors to the outside world. But after four years the grim truth seeps out. In a country of only seven million people, one and a half million were murdered by their own leaders, their bodies piled in the mass graves of the killing fields.
Video: 17. travnja 1975. Komunistički Crveni Kmeri ulaze u Phnom Penh da oslobode svoje ljude od širećeg sukoba u Vijetnamu, i od američkih akcija bombardiranja. Pod vodstvom seljačkog djeteta Pola Pota, Crveni Kmeri evakuiraju ljude na selo kako bi stvorili ruralnu komunističku utopiju, vrlo sličnu Kulturnoj revoluciji Mao Ce Tunga u Kini. Crveni Kmeri zatvaraju vrata vanjskom svijetu. Ali nakon četiri godine, mračna istina se probija van. U zemlji od samo sedam milijuna ljudi, jedan i pol milijun su pobili njihove vlastite vođe, a tijela su ima nagomilana u masovnim grobnicama na stratištima.
Sophal Ear: So, notwithstanding the 1970s narration, on April 17th 1975 we lived in Phnom Penh. And my parents were told by the Khmer Rouge to evacuate the city because of impending American bombing for three days. And here is a picture of the Khmer Rouge. They were young soldiers, typically child soldiers. And this is very normal now, of modern day conflict, because they're easy to bring into wars.
Sophal Ear: No, usprkos ovoj priči iz 1970. godine, 17. travnja 1975. mi smo živjeli u Phnom Penhu. I mojim roditeljima su Crveni Kmeri rekli da evakuiraju grad zbog predstojećeg trodnevnog američkog bombardiranja. Ovo je slika Crvenih Kmera. Bili su to mladi vojnici. Tipično, djeca vojnici. A to je danas sasvim normalno, u modernim sukobima. Zato što ih je lako povući u rat.
The reason that they gave about American bombing wasn't all that far off. I mean, from 1965 to 1973 there were more munitions that fell on Cambodia than in all of World War II Japan, including the two nuclear bombs of August 1945. The Khmer Rouge didn't believe in money. So the equivalent of the Federal Reserve Bank in Cambodia was bombed. But not just that, they actually banned money. I think it's the only precedent in which money has ever been stopped from being used. And we know money is the root of all evil, but it didn't actually stop evil from happening in Cambodia, in fact.
Razlog koji su naveli za američko bombardiranje i nije bio tako daleko od istine. Mislim, od 1965. do 1973. više je municije palo na Kambodžu nego na cijeli Japan u drugom svjetskom ratu, uključujući i dvije nuklearne bombe iz kolovoza 1945. Crveni Kmeri nisu vjerovali u novac. Pa je kambodžanski ekvivalent središnjoj narodnoj banci bio bombardiran. I ne samo to, oni su doista zabranili novac. Mislim da je to jedini presedan da je ikada bila spriječena uporaba novca. Znamo da je novac korijen svega zla, ali ovo nije zaista spriječila zlo u Kambodži.
My family was moved from Phnom Penh to Pursat province. This is a picture of what Pursat looks like. It's actually a very pretty area of Cambodia, where rice growing takes place. And in fact they were forced to work the fields. So my father and mother ended up in a sort of concentration camp, labor camp.
Moja je obitelj preseljena iz Phnom Penha u provinciju Pursat. Ovo je slika koja prikazuje kako Pursat izgleda. To je zapravo vrlo lijep dio Kambodže, gdje se uzgaja riža. Oni su zapravo prisiljeni raditi na poljima. Pa su moji otac i majka završili u svojevrsnom koncentracijskom logoru, radnom logoru.
And it was at that time that my mother got word from the commune chief that the Vietnamese were actually asking for their citizens to go back to Vietnam. And she spoke some Vietnamese, as a child having grown up with Vietnamese friends. And she decided, despite the advice of her neighbors, that she would take the chance and claim to be Vietnamese so that we could have a chance to survive, because at this point they're forcing everybody to work. And they're giving about -- in a modern-day, caloric-restriction diet, I guess -- they're giving porridge, with a few grains of rice.
I u to je vrijeme moja mati čula od šefa komune da Vijetnamci zapravo pozivaju svoje građane da se vrate u Vijetnam. Ona je malo govorila vijetnamski, jer je kao dijete rasla s prijateljima Vijetnamcima. I odlučila je, usprkos savjeta svojih susjeda, da će iskoristiti priliku i tvrditi da je Vijetnamka kako bismo dobili priliku za preživljavanje. Jer u to vrijeme, svakoga su tjerali na rad. A pritom su davali oko -- u moderno doba, dijeta s kalorijskom restrikcijom, pretpostavljam -- davali zelje, s nekoliko zrna riže.
And at about this time actually my father got very sick. And he didn't speak Vietnamese. So he died actually, in January 1976. And it made it possible, in fact, for us to take on this plan. So the Khmer Rouge took us from a place called Pursat to Kaoh Tiev, which is across from the border from Vietnam. And there they had a detention camp where alleged Vietnamese would be tested, language tested.
I nekako u to vrijeme moj se otac ozbiljno razbolio. A on nije govorio vijetnamski. Pa je i umro, u siječnju 1976. I to je nama omogućilo, u stvari, da izvršimo taj plan. Crveni Kmeri su nas odveli iz mjesta zvanog Pursat u Koh Tiev. Koji je uz vijetnamsku granicu. Ondje su imali zatvorenički logor gdje su navodni Vijetnamci bili testirani na znanje jezika.
And my mother's Vietnamese was so bad that to make our story more credible, she'd given all the boys and girls new Vietnamese names. But she'd given the boys girls' names, and the girls boys' names. And it wasn't until she met a Vietnamese lady who told her this, and then tutored her for two days intensively, that she was able to go into her exam and -- you know, this was a moment of truth. If she fails, we're all headed to the gallows; if she passes, we can leave to Vietnam. And she actually, of course -- I'm here, she passes. And we end up in Hong Ngu on the Vietnamese side. And then onwards to Chau Doc. And this is a picture of Hong Ngu, Vietnam today. A pretty idyllic place on the Mekong Delta. But for us it meant freedom. And freedom from persecution from the Khmer Rouge.
A Vijetnamski moje majke je bio tako loš da je ona, da priču učini uvjerljivijom, svim dječacima i djevojčicama nadjenula nova Vijetnamska imena. Ali je dječacima dala ženska imena, a djevojčicama muška. I sve dok nije upoznala vijetnamsku gospođu koja joj je to rekla i potom je dva dana intenzivno obučavala, kako bi ona bila u stanju pristupiti ispitu i znate, to je bio trenutak istine. Ako ne prođe, svi ćemo na stratište. Ako prođe, možemo otići u Vijetnam. I ona, naravno, ovdje sam, prolazi. I završavamo u mjestu Hong Ngu na vijetnamskoj strani. A sad dalje, na Chau Doc. Evo slike Hong Ngua, današnjeg Vijetnama. Prilično idilično mjesto na delti Mekonga. Ali za nas je ono značilo slobodu. I slobodu od progona Crvenih Kmera.
Last year, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, which the U.N. is helping Cambodia take on, started, and I decided that as a matter of record I should file a Civil Complaint with the Tribunal about my father's passing away. And I got word last month that the complaint was officially accepted by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. And it's for me a matter of justice for history, and accountability for the future, because Cambodia remains a pretty lawless place, at times.
Prošle godine je Sud za Crvene Kmere, koji UN pomaže uspostaviti u Kambodži, započeo s radom i odlučio sam, da ostane zabilježeno, podnijeti građansku pritužbu na Sudu, u vezi sa smrću moga oca. Prošli mjesec sam dobio informaciju da je žalba službeno prihvaćena od strane Suda za Crvene Kmere. Za mene je to stvar pravde pred poviješću i odgovornosti za budućnost. Zato što je Kambodža i dalje povremeno mjesto bezakonja.
Five years ago my mother and I went back to Chau Doc. And she was able to return to a place that for her meant freedom, but also fear, because we had just come out of Cambodia. I'm happy, actually, today, to present her. She's here today with us in the audience. Thank you mother.
Prije pet godina, moja majka i ja smo se vratili Chau Doc. I mogla se vratiti na mjesto koje je za nju značilo slobodu, ali i strah, jer smo bili upravo izišli iz Kambodže. Sretan sam što vam je danas mogu predstaviti. Ona je danas s nama, u publici. Hvala ti, majko.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)