After the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime, Cambodians began their search for relatives from whom they had been separated. While some families reunited, others either lost their loved ones or were left wondering whether they were dead or alive.

In 1977, the father of Srun Sotith, Srun Seng Hot, was arrested by the Khmer Rouge in Battambang province. From then on, Sotith never heard any information about his father until 43 years later when he discovered his father was detained and killed in the notorious prison of Tuol Sleng, codenamed S-21.

At present, Sotith lives in Battambang province, working as an English teacher in the Battambang Language Training Centre and is married with four kids.

“I was born in Battambang province as the eldest in the family. I have five siblings – one female and four males. I and four of my siblings went through the Khmer Rouge regime together. After the disappearance of my father, we never looked for him because we never had the hope that he survived. However, we still wanted to know his place of death. During religious ceremonies, my family and our relatives always pray for his spirit,” said Sotith.

Memories of the Khmer Rouge

I was only five years old when the Khmer Rouge took power, but I can still remember fragments of the events that happened to my family and relatives during that period. At the time, my siblings were very young.

In 1975, the Khmer Rouge evacuated my family from our home to live in a cooperative near Sampov mountain in Battambang province. Once there, they made us live separately from each other. The Khmer Rouge called for my father to be reeducated and later assigned him as the chief of the mobile unit of another cooperative. I was assigned to live in a child unit. I was the youngest person there.

When I was living in the child unit, I missed my mother and my relatives a lot. She lived with my three other siblings so, I always sneaked out of the child unit to see her. One day, the leader of the child unit told my mother that I would be executed if I kept sneaking out. My mother was very afraid. But I did not want to live in the child unit, so I kept sneaking out to wander without any goal in mind. I slept in any empty cottage. I did not dare go meet my mother and relatives because I was afraid that they would scold me. In the morning, I would find food and return to the child unit.

After my mother found out that I was still sneaking out, she asked the child unit leader to have me live with her. I was assigned as a cow herder. After ploughing, I would take the cows to feed and clean them and then took them back for the plough unit. I did that every day.

First and last reunion

After my father left, I did not see him for a long time. It was not until 1977 when he showed up at our doorstep that he was reunited with us. I remember feeling very happy at the time, but I never asked why he didn’t return for a long time. My mother never said anything about it either. Every day, my father went to work just like anyone else in the collective.

One day, at 9pm, my father who had just returned from ploughing went out again to fetch water from a well nearby. I remember how he only had a piece of cloth covering him then. That night, the Khmer Rouge came knocking at our door and called my father, saying they needed help to pick up some things at their warehouse. So, he left.

I did not see the Khmer Rouge take my father. I was sleeping deeply that night because I was tired from herding the cows. But I heard my mother tell the story to my grandparents the next morning. According to my mother, there were two other people that the Khmer Rouge took that evening. They were her uncles.

It happened at the same time that the Khmer Rouge army and cadres from the Southwest Zone entered our region. My mother was pregnant at that time. Before my father’s arrest, he cut down some wood to make coals for the traditional healing ang phloeung (“roasting”).

Later on, my grandparents went to ask the commune chief, Ta Rak of Sampov Mountain, whom they had known a long time, about my father. But Ta Rak said he was unaware of the incident. Some villagers warned my mother to be careful because the Khmer Rouge wanted to take our entire family. We lived in fear and misery.

After his disappearance, my mother struggled to take care of all of us by herself. She never got to rest, even after just having delivered a baby. I always saw her plant seeds, harvest and do many other tasks. When she returned in the evening, she always sneaked in some crabs and snails that she caught in the fields.

My father never returned. We suspected that he was killed in a cave in Sampov Mountain, where the Khmer Rouge took people to be executed.

It was the second and the last time that he left us.