|
Foreword
Chinese diplomat Chou Ta-kuan gave the world his account of
life at Angkor Wat eight hundred years ago. Since that time,
others have been writing our history for us. Countless
scholars have examined our most prized cultural treasure and
more recently, the Cambodian genocide of 1975-1979. But with
Khamboly Dy’s A History of Democratic Kampuchea,
Cambodians are at last beginning to investigate and record
their country’s past. This new volume represents two years
of research and marks the first such text written by a
Cambodian.
Writing about this bleak period of history for a new
generation may run the risk of re-opening old wounds for the
survivors of Democratic Kampuchea. Many Cambodians have
tried to put their memories of the regime behind them and
move on. But we cannot progress -- much less reconcile with
ourselves and others -- until we have confronted the past
and understand both what happened and why it happened. Only
with this understanding can we truly begin to heal.
Intended for high school students, this book is equally
relevant for adults. All of us can draw lessons from our
history. By facing this dark period of our past, we can
learn from it and move toward becoming a nation of people
who are invested in preventing future occurrences of
genocide, both at home and in the myriad countries that are
today facing massive human rights abuses. And by taking
responsibility for teaching our children through texts such
as this one, Cambodia can go forward and mold future
generations who work to ensure that the seeds of genocide
never again take root in our country.
Youk Chhang
Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
The text was submitted to the Government Working Commission
to Review the Draft of the History of Democratic Kampuchea.
On January 3, 2007, the Commission decided that, "the text
can be used as a supplementary discussion material (for
teachers) and as base to write a history lesson for (high
school) students.
Funding for this project was generously provided by the
Soros Foundation’s Open Society Institute (OSI) and the
National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Support for DC-Cam’s
operations is provided by the US Agency for International
Development (USAID) and Swedish International Development
Agency (Sida).
|
