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CHILDREN OF CAMBODIA'S KILLING
FIELDS Photos | Cover page | Sydney | Genocide Page Dith Pran's Home page | Book Review | Children of Cambodia’s Killing Fields, Memoirs by Survivors Children of Cambodia’s Killing Fields contains 29 essays by people who were Children during the Khmer Rouge reign from April 17, 1975 to early January 1979. Their stories are eyewitness accounts to the Khmer Rouge atrocities. The book is compiled by Dith Pran, part of whose account was portrayed in the movie The Killing Fields, edited by Kim DePaul, and with an introduction by Yale University’s Ben Kiernan. All proceeds of the book will go to The Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness Project, Inc. which was founded by Dith Pran. Kim DePaul is the Executive Director of the Project. Yale University Press in association with Yale Southeast Asia Studies comments about the book, "The testimonies related here bear poignant witness to the slaughter the Khmer Rouge inflicted on the Cambodian people...They speak on their bewilderment and pain as Khmer Rouge cadres tore their families apart, subjected them to harsh brainwashing, drove them from their homes to work in forced-labor camps, and executed captives in front of them. Their stories tell of suffering and the loss of innocence, the struggle to survive against all odds, and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit." Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize winner is quoted on the book’s back cover, "Dith Pran’s collection of wartime stories written by children of Cambodia’s killing Fields is filled with outrage and compassion." Sydney H. Schanberg, Pulitzer Prize winner for his coverage of the fall of Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge and to whom Dith Pran was an assistant to during the war writes, "Painful though it may be to contemplate these accounts of young survivors, they desperately need to be passed, whole and without softening, from generation to generation. For it is only by such bearing of witness that the rest of us are rendered unable to pretend that true evil is exceedingly rare in the world, or worse, is but a figment." Dith Pran’s idea for the book came from his persistent belief that it is important to educate others, especially the young about atrocities like the Cambodian genocide in order that they learn from the past. It is through knowledge that we peel away the layers of ignorance and open the doors of compassion and understanding. It is through knowledge that we feel adamant about not allowing such tragedies to occur again. In this way we have the strength of purpose to take a step forward and play our part in making the world a better place. "I hope some day the world community will help to find justice for the Cambodian people. The top echelon of the Khmer Rouge who are responsible for the Cambodian Genocide should be brought to trial," states Dith Pran. Provided By Dith Pran | Go Back | Index | Webmaster
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