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.
În mod normal predau un curs despre reconstrucţia statelor dupǎ rǎzboi. Însǎ azi am o poveste personalǎ de împǎrtǎşit. Asta-i o pozǎ cu familia mea, cei patru fraţi ai mei, mama şi cu mine, fǎcutǎ în 1977. Noi suntem cambodgieni, iar aceastǎ pozǎ e fǎcutǎ în Vietnam. Totuşi cum a ajuns o familie din Cambodgia, în 1977, în Vietnam? Pentru a vǎ explica, am un scurt filmuleţ menit sǎ explice regimul Khmerilor Roşii între anii 1975 - 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.
Filmul: 17 Aprilie 1975. Khmerii Roşii comunişti intrǎ în Phnom Penh sǎ elibereze poporul de conflictul ameninţǎtor din Vietnam şi campaniile de bombardament americane. Conduşi de Pol Pot, țăran la origine, Khmeri Roşii au evacuat populaţia din oraşe pentru a creea o utopie ruralǎ comunistǎ asemeni Revoluţiei Culturale din China lui Mao Tse-tsung. Khmerii Roşii au închis porţile spre lumea externǎ. Însǎ dupǎ patru ani, adevǎrul sinistru a ieşit la ivealǎ. Într-o ţarǎ de şapte milioane de locuitori un milion jumate au fost ucişi de proprii conducǎtori, corpurile lor ajungând în gropi comune pe câmpiile morţii.
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: Ignorând povestea din anii '70, pe 17 aprilie 1975 locuiam în Phnomm Penh. Iar pǎrinţii mei au primit ordine de la Khmerii Roşii sǎ evacueze oraşul pentru cǎ vor fi bombardamente americane timp de 3 zile. Asta e o imagine cu Khmerii Roşii. Erau soldaţi tineri. De obicei copii-soldaţi. Iar asta e ceva obişnuit acum, în conflictele moderne. Pentru cǎ sunt uşor de bǎgat în rǎzboi.
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.
Motivul dat, acela legat de bombardamentele americane, nu erau chiar poveşti. Vreau sǎ zic, cǎ între 1965 şi 1973 a cazut mai multǎ muniţie peste Cambodgia decât în Al II-lea Rǎzboi Mondial peste Japonia, incluzând ambele bombe nucleare din august 1945. Khmerii Roşii nu credeau în bani. Aşa cǎ echivalentul Bǎncii Federale din Cambodgia a fost bombardat. Nu doar atât, ci au interzis chiar banii. Cred cǎ este singural caz în care banii au fost complet scoşi din circulaţie. Şi ştim cǎ banii sunt sursa tuturor relelor, însǎ asta nu a împiedicat rǎspîndirea rǎului în Cambodgia.
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.
Familia mea s-a mutat din Phnom Penh în provincia Pursat. Asta-i o pozǎ despre cum aratǎ Pursat. E o zonǎ chiar frumoasǎ din Cambodgia, unde se cultivǎ orez. De fapt, erau forţaţi sǎ munceascǎ pe câmp. Aşa cǎ tatǎl şi mama mea au ajuns într-un fel de lagǎr de concentrare, de muncǎ.
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.
Şi atunci a aflat maicǎ-mea vestea, de la şeful comunei, cǎ vietnamezii ceruserǎ de fapt ca cetǎţenii lor sǎ se întoarcǎ în Vietnam şi ea vorbea un pic de vietnamezǎ, fiindcǎ a copilǎrit cu prieteni vietnamezi Şi a decis, în ciuda sfaturilor date de vecini, cǎ îşi va asuma acest risc şi va declara cǎ e vietnamezǎ, pentru ca noi sǎ avem o şansǎ de supravieţuire. Pentru cǎ deja toţi erau forţaţi sǎ munceascǎ şi li se dǎdea cam-- în termeni moderni, era o dietǎ restricţionatǎ caloric, cred-- primeau terci de ovǎz, cu câteva boabe de orez.
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.
Şi tot cam atunci tatǎl meu s-a îmbolnǎt foarte rǎu. Şi el nu vorbea vietnamezǎ. Aşa c-a murit în ianuarie 1976. Şi a fost posibil ca noi sǎ ne punem în aplicare planul Şi Khmerii Roşii ne-au dus dintr-un loc numit Pursat la Koh Tiev. Care era aproape de graniţa cu Vietnamul. Şi aveau acolo o tabǎrǎ de detenţie unde presupuşi vietnamezi erau testaţi, dacǎ ştiu limba.
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.
Şi vietnameza vorbitǎ de mama era aşa rea, încât pentru a fi mai credibilǎ povestea noastrǎ, a dat nume vietnameze copiilor ei. Numai cǎ a dat bǎieţilor nume de fete, iar fetelor nume de bǎieţi. Doar dupǎ ce a întâlnit o doamnǎ vietnamezǎ, care i-a spus asta, şi apoi i-a dat lecţii intensive timp de douǎ zile, a putut sǎ meargǎ sǎ-şi dea examenul iar ǎsta era momentul adevǎrului. Dacǎ eşua, ajungeam sǎ fim executaţi. Dacǎ trecea, puteam pleca în Vietnam Şi ea, normal, doar sunt aici, a trecut examenul, Şi ajungem în Hong Ngu, pe partea vietnamezǎ, şi de acolo la Chau Doc. Asta este o pozǎ din Hong Ngu, Vietnamul de azi. Un loc destul de idilic, pe Delta Mekongului. Dar pentru noi a însemnat libertate. Libertate faţǎ de persecuţiile Khmerilor Roşii
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.
Anul trecut, Tribunalul Khmerilor Roşii creat în Cambodgia, cu sprijin ONU, a început, şi am decis sǎ depun o plângere civilă la Tribunal, legată de moartea tatǎlui meu. Şi acum o lunǎ am aflat cǎ plângerea mea a fost acceptatǎ de Tribunalul Khmerilor Roşii. Iar pentru mine este vorba de dreptate istoricǎ, şi de reglare a conturilor pentru viitor. Deoarece Camdodgia a rǎmas un loc cu multe fǎrǎdelegi.
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.
Acum cinci ani, eu şi mama mea ne-am întors la Chau Doc. Şi a avut posibilitatea sǎ se întoarcǎ într-un loc ce pentru ea a însemnat libertate, dar şi fricǎ pentru cǎ tocmai ieşisem din Cambodgia. Mǎ bucur chiar sǎ v-o prezint astǎzi. Este aici alǎturi de noi în public. Îţi mulţumesc, mamǎ.
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