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On Saturday, Cambodian-Americans in Southern California are celebrating
their new year festival with cultural dances, day-long picnics and
visits to local Buddhist temples. But one group is also using the
occasion to educate a new generation about the Khmer Rouge genocide.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Today in Long Beach, California,
Cambodian-Americans are celebrating their new year with traditional
foods, dance and songs. But the festivities also coincide with the
anniversary of the Cambodian genocide. During the Khmer Rouge's reign of
terror between 1975 and 1979, cities were emptied and nearly one-fourth
of the population was executed, starved or worked to death. Doualy
Xaykaothao reports.
DOUALY XAYKAOTHAO, BYLINE: The Communist
Party of Kampuchea officially took control of Cambodia 38 years ago
during Khmer New Year. The Pol Pot regime eventually killed
approximately 1.7 million people. Bryant Ben is president of the Killing
Fields Memorial Center in Long Beach.
BRYANT BEN: A lot of
survivors here - a thousand people, a thousand story, and each story,
it's very, very personal to each family. And I urge any survivor to
share that experience.
XAYKAOTHAO: A conversation with his son is especially hard.
BEN:
He said I never see my grandpa on your side, on his mommy's side.
Simple answer is pass away, but then they question is how he pass away.
That very difficult for me how he died.
XAYKAOTHAO: The Khmer Rouge killed Ben's father, his three brothers and two sisters.
BEN: I remember everything. I can see the picture when I'm talking to you.
XAYKAOTHAO:
For Ben and other survivors in his group, New Year is about helping one
another cope but also it's about not forgetting those who died and
teaching younger Khmer Americans about their history.
(SOUNDBITE OF BUDDHIST BLESSING)
XAYKAOTHAO:
Over at Long Beach City College, a Buddhist monk offers a New Year
blessing for both the living and the dead. It's an event called Courage
to Remember, organized by Sara Pol-Lim of the United Cambodian
Community.
SARA POL-LIM: Whatever happened, happened. We have
to bring people together to talk about healing, to talk about grief, to
find closure.
XAYKAOTHAO: She points out that a high number of
first-generation survivors of the Khmer Rouge still suffer from
post-traumatic stress disorder. That's why many avoid the topic.
POL-LIM:
When I ask second generation to ask their parents, some would say, my
parents say don't ever ask me to tell you what happened. Just be
grateful you have food.
XAYKAOTHAO: To help bridge the
generation gap, Pol-Lim turned to Judy Green of nearby Temple Israel.
Green told the audience it took her late mother three decades before she
ever talked about the Holocaust. Green says what happened in the Jewish
community is repeating itself in the Cambodian community.
JUDY
GREEN: The way to begin to heal some of the pain between and among
generations and community is to be able to talk about some of the things
that are painful in a gentle, gentle way with one another, slowly, over
time.
XAYKAOTHAO: Still, even when older people are finally
willing to talk about traumatic events, some young people don't want to
have that conversation. At a Long Beach Cambodian restaurant,
18-year-old Ratana Kim, says she just doesn't want to learn about the
Khmer Rouge.
RATANA KIM: Sometime it painful, and I don't want to hear about it.
XAYKAOTHAO: Kim's sister, 17-year-old Sophea says Khmer history is so sad.
RATANA SOPHEA: I'm not going to go live there anymore, you know, just for visiting, and then come back again.
XAYKAOTHAO:
Both sisters say they don't even have time for Khmer New Year. Instead,
they plan to work through the weekend and focus only on their studies.
For NPR News, I'm Doualy Xaykaothao in Long Beach.
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