The Lingering Shadow of the Past: A Reflection of the Survivors' next Generation

The Khmer Rouge (KR) regime was in power from 17^th April 1975 to 07^th of January 1979, 3 years, 8 months and 20 days. During this period, approximately two million people perished due to execution, starvation, disease, and forced labor. 

As of 2025, the people who experienced and remember life under the Khmer Rouge regime are likely in their 50s and above. This age group is accounted to 14% of the total population (17.7 million) in 2025. The majority of Cambodians, about 60 percent, are under the age of 34[1]. This generation was born after the Khmer Rouge regime, so they have no or little direct experience of these atrocities committed to their parents and grandparents. 

Encouraging young people to learn about the history of the Khmer Rouge, fosters their understanding about the nature of the regime and prevents repeating mistakes from the history. 

Taken from a millennial’s perspective, this essay provides a short overview of the history, aims to provide knowledge form Cambodian youths to learn about  their own history drawing from research materials that could help them embracing for future. 

Khmer Rouge in power: 17^th April 1975 - 07^th of January 1979

The Khmer Rouge, or “Angkar” (its anonymous ‘organization’) was a radical group that interpreted Maoist communist ideology in a radical way. They sought to establish a society without classes aiming to establish a self-sufficient agriculture based economy. They dismantled existing social structures and eradicated the previous pro American Lon Nol regime that they considered corrupt and dangerous  to start a new society. The period involved the forced relocation of people from cities to the countryside, the abolition of formal education, the suppression of all religious activities, and the severing of family ties to enforce loyalty only to “Angkar”. This extreme ideology led to a brutal and oppressive regime that resulted in widespread human rights abuses. The regime targeted educated individuals, professionals such as lawyers, doctors, and teachers, and anyone perceived as an enemy of their revolutionary goals[2]. The regime came to an end in January 1979 as a result of military intervention by the Vietnamese. However, the country remained in civil war until the late 1990s[3]. 

The Khmer Rouge regime was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.5 to 2.2 million people through a variety of means, including targeted mass executions, starvation resulting from radical agricultural reforms, forced labor, and systematic torture[4]. 

Individuals who have survived the regime often experienced profound trauma, aggravated by the impact of forced labor on physical health of survivors. The deep marks of hurt and trauma left by emotional, physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by Khmer Rouge’s cadres, by forced marriages and pregnancies persist. The psychological impact of these experiences nevertheless persist, affecting survivors and subsequent generations. 

From family’s story-telling to educational program

How has the history of the Khmer Rouge been conveyed to younger generations? What are their perceptions?

From my personal experience, my understanding of Khmer Rouge history has been pieced together from stories shared by older generations and information presented in secondary school textbooks.

My grandparents, survivors of the Khmer Rouge from both my parents' families, are no longer here to share their memories. My remaining grandmother, now in her 90s, is also unable to speak. I now regret my youthful lack of curiosity to ask them more about those years when they could. What I do remember most vividly from their stories is the immense hardship they faced and the recurring, sorrowful detail of their beloved son being killed during the regime.

My father was nine and my mother only five years old when the Khmer Rouge regime began. My father refers to the era as 'Pol Pot's time,' after their leader. Being older, he had a somewhat clearer, though still limited, understanding of the events unfolding around him. He recalls his family, as ordinary farmers, living in Svay Rieng province, in southeastern Cambodia bordering Vietnam. As a young boy, his responsibility was to care for the family’s buffaloes while his parents worked the fields with other villagers. He remembers that the rice fields no longer belonged to individual families but to 'Angkar' (the organization). Though he did not personally witness killings, he learned that being summoned to 'tov rean sot,' or 'going to study or “re-education”,' was for a certain death under Pol Pot's regime.

Discussing this past with my parents was not easy. Their recollections are filtered through the lens of childhood, and their connection to the regime's impact might not be as deeply felt as my grandparents'. I suspect passing on this history to future generations will be a different experience for me altogether. My father, now a high school teacher in Phnom Penh, finds that his students struggle to believe the Khmer Rouge atrocities ever occurred, often dismissing them as unbelievable, like fairy tales.

The Cambodian educational system faced immense challenges in rebuilding after the regime, as approximately 90% of teachers were killed. Education was revived in the early 1980s, and while the surviving teachers were undoubtedly traumatized, the history of the Khmer Rouge was introduced with significant emotional weight[5]. My father recalls his own early schooling in the province, where the focus was on the regime's cruelty, particularly the methods of killing, often conveyed through disturbing drawings in the textbooks (eg. torturing images in Toul Sleng prison). For him, this visually reinforced the fragmented experiences of his childhood and the stories shared by his parents, allowing him to connect the dots of that horrific period.

While formal education later included the history of the Khmer Rouge in secondary schools and university courses, the extent of its acknowledgement may have been limited. Consequently, how this dark history is taught and perceived by the younger generation remains a significant question. A knowledge gap exists regarding the Khmer Rouge era among young people. As research shows they know very little about this history, and many young Cambodians struggle to believe the accounts of hardship and suffering experienced by their families[6]. Understanding this history is frequently influenced by family narratives, which can be fragmented and present conflicting perspectives, notably between the experiences of survivors and perpetrators[7]. In some cases, the magnitude of the atrocities is so immense that many youth find it challenging to comprehend them, which often leads to a state of disbelief and denial[8]. 

For this reason, the education of students on genocide during Khmer Rouge is crucial for establishing and maintaining peace, democracy, respect for human rights, and the rule of law in Cambodia, and for safeguarding against future genocides.

Education beyond school programs

The Khmer Rouge Tribunal, also known as Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), has played a significant role in bringing transnational justice to Cambodians and also promoting public awareness and education about the Khmer Rouge history. 

As a legal process, the court’s objective was to prosecute the Khmer Rouge top leaders, namely “Comrade Duch” who ran the notorious torture centre Tuol Sleng in the capital Phnom Penh, where all but 12 of its 20,000 inmates perished; Nuon Chea, the chief ideologist of the Khmer Rouge, commonly known as “Brother n.2”; Khieu Samphan, President of the “Democratic Kampucha” between 1975 and 79; Ieng Sary, Foreign Minister of the “Democratic Kampuchea” and one of the main architects of the Cambodian genocide, also known as third in command, “Brother n.3”, and finally, his wife Ieng Thirith, who served as minister of Social Affairs during the Khmer Rouge regime. 

The only one not standing trial was Pol Pot himself, who died in April 1998, eight years before the ECCC trials started. These six individuals were those considered most responsible for the mass killings of its own people during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979). They were facing accusation of genocide, crime against humanity and serious war crimes[9]. Over the period of 16 years of trial, the court concluded its juridical mandate in 2022 and started its residual functions in 2023[10].

Beyond its legal duties, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (ECCC) actively engages in outreach to educate younger generations. This includes organizing court visits and delivering lectures in schools nationwide[11]. A recent initiative, the ECCC bus tour, brings Khmer Rouge history directly to rural students across Cambodia. This mobile platform is equipped with digital archives and virtual exhibitions. It also facilitates direct interaction between Khmer Rouge survivors and school students in provinces[12]. 

The work of the ECCC is the testimonial of safeguarding against historical revisionism, securing empowerment of the victims, and supporting future generations in upholding peace and reconciliation. While there is peace in Cambodia, reconciliation on a deeper level will take the next generations to understand the complexities of the tragic past that led to the darkest chapter of our history. 

Intergenerational trauma, healing and memory 

Research suggests that the trauma caused by the Khmer Rouge regime has had long-lasting consequences for those born later. The impact has also been felt by subsequent generations within Cambodian families[13]. The transgenerational transmission of trauma can manifest itself in a variety of psychological and social challenges for young people, even without direct exposure to the atrocities. Despite often having limited explicit knowledge about the specific details of the Khmer Rouge regime, children of both, survivors and those associated with the regime,  can still experience a range of emotions such as fear, anger, disbelief, or denial, often stemming from the unspoken or indirectly communicated trauma within their families[14].

Research has indicated the presence of elevated rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among Cambodian youth, including those who are not told enough to recall the Khmer Rouge era. This phenomenon can be attributed to the concept of collective or historical trauma, which posits that the suffering experienced by past generations can exert an indirect influence on the mental well-being of the present generation or through the medium of parental trauma and its subsequent impact on the upbringing of their children[15].

The Khmer Rouge tribunal is not the only means to contribute to the healing of Cambodian people to bring about justice. Other pathways have been followed, such as religious healing practices, psychological healing through psychotherapeutic counselling and the arts, intergenerational dialogues, the establishment of genocide memorials throughout Cambodia and other forms of peace building and reconciliation processes were provided and backed by local and international organizations in our country[16].

Understanding the past will shape the future for next generations

While directly passing down the stories from my parents and grandparents might not carry the same weight as their original experiences, it is crucial for me to move forward with a memory that meets a deeper understanding of this complex history and equips me with the resilience to navigate its enduring impact. 

The intergenerational transmission of trauma remains a powerful force in the lives of descendants like me. We can feel the psychological and social echoes of our elders' suffering. Therefore, initiatives that foster intergenerational dialogue and create spaces for sharing these narratives are vital for cultivating empathy, breaking the silence that trauma breeds, and promoting collective healing.

We as the following generations hold a critical position in shaping the future memory of the Khmer Rouge regime. Our active participation in educational programs, memorialization efforts, and initiatives focused on reconciliation demonstrates a strong commitment to grappling with the past and ensuring its lessons to endure. 

Having youth-led projects and continuously developing accessible and engaging resources are essential in nurturing a generation that possesses a profound understanding of its history, exhibits resilience in the face of its lasting memories, and remains dedicated to preventing such atrocities from ever recurring.

Edited and reviewed by Dr. Heike Löschmann