The national anthem of Democratic Kampuchea, 1976-1979:
The red, red blood splatters the cities and plains of the Cambodian fatherland,
The sublime blood of the workers and peasants,
The blood of revolutionary combatants of both sexes,
The bloods spills out into great indignation and a resolute urge to fight,
17 April, that day under the revolutionary flag,
The blood certainly liberates us from slavery.
I was ten years old when the Khmer Rouge fell. I grew up hearing a lot about the Killing Fields. Here are the things that I did not expect:
The brightly painted classrooms. The prison that the Khmer Rouge called S-21 used to be a school. The last fourteen inmates of S-21 were beaten and shot to death in these sunlit rooms, still chained to their iron beds.
The palm tree. It is a source of oil, sugar, wood, and roofing material for the Cambodians, a symbol of the country. The leaf stems are surprisingly stiff and sharp-edged. The Khmer Rouge used them to cut the throats of prisoners, to save money on bullets.
The record-keeping.
The smell of the skulls.
Choeung Ek: N11°29.037′ E104°54.126′