On the longer cruises there is often a book club sponsored by the ship. The book or books selected are often located in the countries to be visited. This was one of the books selected for this cruise. Not only was the book well written, but the story was both fascinating and saddening. Although I knew some of this tragic story, I was blissfully ignorant of the specifics. I learned a lot.
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| Vaddey Ratner |
Background: 1970 brought an end to the monarch and established the Khmer Republic. The existing royalty thought this would bring a bright new era with democratic rule. Unfortunately it failed to bring stability to a country engulfed by the war spreading from Vietnam. A marginal guerilla warfare group called the Khmer Rouge gained strength. Leaders were from same intellectual class as the Prince Sisowath but were steeled with a radicalism that even the most politically astute could not gauge.
From 1975-1979 atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia cost the lives of an estimated one to two million people.
The story is told through the eyes of 7 year old Raami whose fairy tale childhood ends with the footsteps of her father known as Mechas Klah or the “Tiger Prince(who was the prince, a great grandson of King Sisowath) returning home in the early dawn hours with details of the civil war spreading through the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Soon the family’s world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in chaos and forced exodus.
Armed young militia forced the city people at gunpoint to abandon their homes claiming that the Americans were going to bomb the city. They attempted to strip every person of their individual identity and their connections with other people, and got rid of all things motorized - cars etc. returning individuals to back breaking manual labor from dawn to nightfall in exchange for one can of rice. Children under a certain age were not considered persons and got no food. Families were split up and sent to different parts of the country. Colorful clothes had to be dyed black or brown.
Raami’s father who was a poet as well as a prince was identified by Raami when she was questioned by a member of the Khmer Rouge. She was too young to know the effect of telling the truth. It is presumed he was executed. Raami’s Big Uncle, aunt, their twin nephews, her father’s sister and the Queen Grandmother tottering on the edge of senility were left together. Later the grandmother was asked who belonged to her and did not identify Raami, her mother and sister, so they were sent away separately. We find out later that when her uncle was sent to be reeducated the rest of the family, except for Queen Grandmother were hung.
Somehow despite the harsh conditions mother and children survived the harsh conditions. Then Sister Radana contracted malaria and died. Heartbreakingly, she was dressed for her funeral, taken by the new Khmer leadership known as Democratic Kampuchea. The leader’s wife known as Fat One takes the child and says she will be returned to the rice fields to fertilize the rice. Later they see Fat One’s child wearing Radona’s beautiful dress. .
Mother and daughter escaped to Thailand and were rescued by a UN helicopter. They eventually found a new home in the United States.
The regime was finally overthrown by Vietnamese military in January 1979 bringing the revolutionary experiment to an end.
The story was based on the author’s experiences. She arrived in the US in 1981, graduated in 1990 as high school class valedictorian. Summa cum laude graduate of Cornell where she specialized in Southwest Asian history and literature. Website www.vaddeyratner.com
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