December 26, 2024
PHNOM PENH – For Lim Hech, now 63, the memories of the Khmer Rouge regime remain etched in her mind like scars that will never heal.
Born in Kbal Sleng village, in Kampong Cham province’s Choam Kravien commune, Hech’s story is one of unimaginable grief, loss and survival.
Among the many tragedies she endured during the darkest chapter in Cambodia’s history, one moment haunts her above all others: the death of her mother and the inhumane fate of her body.
As a young woman, Hech witnessed the early days of upheaval in her peaceful village, where villagers initially lived in relative harmony.
“Her father, Lim, was an active participant in protests against the Lon Nol government. However, life changed drastically when the Khmer Rouge rose to power,” she explained to Vy Sitha of DC-Cam’s Koh Thma Documentation Center.
Sitha, who interviewed Hech, noted that families were torn apart, private property was confiscated, and individuals were conscripted into labour units and forced to do gruelling work.
For Hech, this meant being separated from her loved ones and joining a unit which dug canals and built dams.
In 1978, while toiling far from home, Hech received devastating news: her mother had fallen gravely ill and had been taken to a makeshift treatment centre at Wat Sorsor 100.
By the time Hech was granted permission to visit her, it was too late. Her mother had succumbed to illness after waiting endlessly for medical care in an overcrowded pagoda.
Hech arrived just in time to embrace her mother’s lifeless body.
“I cried and hugged her body,” Hech recalled, her voice breaking.
“But the next morning, the doctor woke me and coldly instructed me to place her on a cart to be thrown into the river,” she added.
The brutal finality of this act shattered Hech. For the Khmer Rouge, even in death, there was no dignity.
Bodies were discarded in rivers or shallow graves, treated as mere refuse in the regime’s pursuit of absolute control.
Hech could only whisper a tearful apology to her mother as the cart driver confirmed her worst fear.
“I felt an overwhelming sorrow,” she said.
“She had suffered so much in life, and even in death, she was denied peace,” she continued.
This was just one of many horrors Hech endured under the Khmer Rouge. She recounts seeing human bones in wells, witnessing comrades die of exhaustion and starvation, and surviving on scraps of stolen food.
Despite the relentless hardship, Hech persisted, driven by an instinct to survive and the hope of being reunited with her family.
When the regime collapsed in 1979, Hech made the long journey back to her home in Memot district.
Along the way, she encountered the aftermath of the genocide: roads littered with bodies and villages emptied of life.
Yet, amidst the devastation, she found a semblance of hope. Her resilience allowed her to rebuild her life, marry and raise eight children.
Today, Hech lives quietly in Pong Teuk village, farming the land that has sustained her family for generations. Yet, the past still casts a dark shadow over her life.
She shared her story with the documentation centre to ensure that future generations understand the horrors of the Khmer Rouge and honour the memories of those who perished.
“The pain never leaves you,” Hech said, “But sharing my story is my way of preserving the truth and honouring my mother.”
Lim Hech’s testimony is a stark reminder of the human cost of the Khmer Rouge era – a chapter in Cambodia’s history that must never be forgotten.