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.
Obično držim kurseve o tome kako da izgradite države nakon rata. Ali danas imam ličnu priču koju želim da podelim sa vama. Ovo je fotografija moje porodice, četvoro braće i sestara -- moje majke i mene -- slikana 1977. mi smo zapravo iz Kambodže. A ova fotografija je slikana u Vijetnamu. Kako je kambodžanska porodica završila u Vijetnamu 1977. godine? Da bih vam to objasnio, imam kratak video klip koji će objasniti režim Crvenih Kmera tokom 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. april 1975. Komunistički Crveni Kmeri ulaze u Pnom Pen da oslobode njihov narod od širećeg sukoba u Vijetnamu i američkih bombaških kampanja. Pod vođstvom seljaka Pola Pota, Crveni Kmeri su evakuisali ljude na selo da bi stvorili ruralnu komunističku utopiju, nalik kulturnoj revoluciji Mao Ce Tunga u Kini. Crveni Kmeri su zatvorili vrata spoljnom svetu. Ali nakon 4 godine sumorna istina curi napolje. U državi od svega 7 miliona ljudi jedan i po milion su ubile njihove vođe, njihova tela su nabacana u masovne grobnice na bojnim poljima.
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.
Sofal Er: Dakle, uprkos ovoj priči iz sedamdesetih, 17. aprila 1975. živeli smo u Pnom Penu. Crveni Kmeri su rekli mojim roditeljima da evakuišu grad zbog predstojećeg trodnevnog američkog bombardovanja. A ovo su slike Crvenih Kmera. To su bili mladi vojnici, tipična deca vojnici. Ovo je prilično normalno danas u savremenim sukobima, jer ih je lako uvući 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 dali o američkom bombardovanju nije bio daleko od istine. Hoću da kažem, od 1965. do 1973. više municije je palo na Kambodžu nego na Japan tokom celog Drugog svetskog rata uključujući dve nuklearne bombe avgusta 1945. Crveni Kmeri nisu verovali u novac. Tako da je ekvivalent Banke federalnih rezervi u Kambodži bombardovan. I ne samo to, oni su zapravo zabranili novac. Mislim da je ovo jedini presedan u kom je novac bio povučen iz upotrebe. A znamo da je novac uzrok sveg zla, ali nije stvarno sprečio zlo u Kambodži, u stvari.
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 porodica je bila preseljena iz Pnom Pena u provinciju Pursat. Ovo je slika kako Pursat izgleda. To je zapravo jedna lepa oblast u Kambodži, gde se uzgaja pirinač. U suštini, bili su primorani da rade u poljima. Tako da su moji otac i majka završili u nekoj vrsti koncentracionog logora, radnog logora.
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.
To je bilo u ono vreme kada je moja majka čula od načelnika komune da je Vijetnam tražio da se njegovi građani vrate u Vijetnam. Ona je govorila nešto vijetnamskog jezika jer je kao dete rasla sa vijetnamskim prijateljima. Odlučila je, uprkos savetima njenih komšija, da će ugrabiti priliku i reći da je Vijetnamka da bi imala šansu da preživi jer su u to vreme sve terali da rade. A davali su oko -- u današnje vreme, dijetu zasnovanu na smanjenom unosu kalorija, pretpostavljam -- davali su kašu sa nekoliko zrna pirinča.
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.
Otprilike u ovo vreme moj otac se ozbiljno razboleo. A nije govorio vijetnamski. Tako da je preminuo u januaru 1976. To je omogućilo, zapravo, da mi pokušamo sa ovim planom. Zato su nas Crveni Kmeri odveli iz mesta zvanog Pursat u Kaoh Tiev, koji je preko vijetnamske granice. Tamo su imali kazneni kamp gde su navodni Vijetnamci testirani o znanju 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 toliko loš da je, da bi priča bila uverljivija, dala svim dečacima i devojčicama vijetnamska imena. Ali je dala dečacima ženska imena, a devojčicama muška imena. I sve dok nije upoznala vijetnamsku gospođu, koja joj je ovo rekla, a zatim je učila 2 dana bez prekida, nije mogla da ode na ispit i -- znate, ovo je bio trenutak istine. Ako ne uspe, svi ćemo biti upućeni na gubilište; ako položi, možemo da idemo u Vijetnam. I ona je, naravno -- ja sam ovde, položila. Tako smo završili u Hong Ngu na vijetnamskoj strani. Zatim u Čau Dok. Ovo je slika Hong Ngua, Vijetnam danas. Prilično idilično mesto u delti Mekonga. Ali za nas je značilo slobodu. Slobodu od proganjanja 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, Sud za Crvene Kmere, koji su UN pomogle Kambodži da uspostavi, počeo je sa radom i ja sam rešio da ostane zabeleženo da treba da podnesem građansku tužbu Sudu o tome kako je moj otac preminuo. Dobio sam odgovor prošlog meseca da je tužbu zvanično prihvatio Sud za Crvene Kmere. Za mene je ovo stvar pravde pred istorijom i odgovornosti za budućnost, jer je Kambodža ostala mesto bezakonja, s vremena na vreme.
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.
Pre 5 godina moja majka i ja smo se vratili u Čau Dok. Ona je mogla da se vrati na mesto koje za nju označava slobodu, ali istovremeno i strah, jer smo tek izašli iz Kambodže. Srećan sam, zapravo, danas što mogu da je predstavim. Ona je ovde danas sa nama u publici. Hvala ti majko.
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