Khmer Rouge Modern History

Power & Authority
Understanding Genocide: The Khmer Rouge
Photograph: Meghan Selway, Tuol Sleng Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Meghan Selway Siti Keo

Former Teacher, Acalanes Union High School District Graduate Student, University of California, Berkeley
Find online: http://ucbhssp.berkeley.edu/global-history

2017 © UC Regents
Power & Authority: Understanding Genocide: The Khmer Rouge
Lesson Overview
This lesson was created for the second session of the Power & Authority in Global History series, co-
sponsored by the Institute of East Asian Studies. Through collaboration with a classroom teacher we
endeavored to develop a lesson that could be used to explore the human and conceptual costs of
genocide, utilizing the rise of the Khmer Rouge as a case study. Additionally, the lesson centers oral
history as a specific form of evidence to be evaluated in history classrooms.
After their study of World War II, students investigate modern nation-states shaped by both the Cold
War and internal struggles that more often than not resulted in multiple coup d’etats, civil war,
authoritarian/military rule, economic dependence and human rights violations including genocide. Using
prior knowledge from their study of the Holocaust, students identify the cause and stages of genocide
and apply them to exploration of Cambodia. Using personal accounts of Cambodians who survived the
genocide, they explore the stages of genocide. Students determine the use of and importance of oral
stories as evidence in the history of the genocide and apply their own interviewing skills to uncover
hidden stories of classification, targeting, discrimination, dehumanization and separation in their own
families or communities.
The 2017 global history seminar series aims to provide classroom teachers with background knowledge
to contextualize contemporary issues, model lessons that explore those issues in a distinct historical
context, and provide learning strategies to help students access and analyze primary and secondary
sources as they study the past. This series is supported through a grant from the UC Berkeley
International and Area Studies Programs.
Lesson Overview
Unit Topic: Modern World
Lesson Topic: Understanding Genocide: The Khmer Rouge
Essential Question: How can oral history help us understand/shed light on the lived experience of
broad-scale traumatic events?
Content Question: How did everyday people experience the Khmer Rouge regime and genocide?
Lesson Teaching Thesis: Peasant farmers in the Cambodian countryside were seen by the Khmer
Rouge as model citizens, the epitome of traditional Cambodian life in contrast to city-dwellers and the
wealthy whom the Khmer Rouge believed to be corrupted by capitalism and money. As such, farmers
were given power in villages to rule others in an attempt to create a classless utopian society. In order to
achieve this, city dwellers and the wealthy were targeted by the Khmer Rouge. Oral histories and
memoirs help us understand how people who benefited and were persecuted under the Khmer Rouge
experienced relocation, labor camps, scarcity, and witnessing mass execution.
Note to Teacher: The mere definition of genocide – when one group of people sets out to eliminate
another group of people - can be difficult to address in a classroom setting. To listen to and read
personal accounts of those who went through the atrocity brings the horrors even closer to home. It is
important for teachers to acknowledge these challenges prior to the lesson. What they will read and hear
will be disturbing and emotional but is important to address because genocide and human rights
violations continue today. If something is too upsetting, students should have the right to pass on
discussion or leave the room. The teacher and students should exercise compassion and respect towards
classmates who are especially sensitive to the topic and students that may share similar traumatic
experiences of war and relocation as those that will be studied in the lesson. We encourage you to be
thoughtful in your planning and instruction.
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Lesson Overview
LESSON COMPONENTS
Part 1: Building Conceptual Understanding

● Historical Context on Governance in Cambodia
● Defining Characteristics of Genocide
Part 2: Using Personal Testimony to Understand History

● Memoirs
● Oral History
Part 3: Connections to Today: Oral Stories in Family and Community

● Conducting an Oral History Interview in your Community
APPENDIX
Background Information:
● Map of Cambodia
● Timeline of Cambodian History
Extension Activities:
1. Oral Stories of Post-WWII Genocides and Genocide Today
o Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur, Guatemala
o Syria and Genocide Watchlist
2. Creating a Class/School Oral History Project
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Lesson Overview
10th Grade California History-Social Studies Framework (adopted July 2016)

“Students should understand that genocide is a phenomenon that has continued throughout the twentieth
and into the twenty-first century. Students examine the root causes of the genocides in Cambodia,
Rwanda, and Darfur. They should be able to engage in discussions about how genocides can be
prevented by the international community, and be able to examine arguments and evidence for and
against intervention, the role of public support for the intervention, and the possible consequences of
such interventions. In covering this topic teachers can integrate survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness
oral testimony to students, but should be aware of how images and accounts of genocide can be
traumatic for teenagers. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has published guidelines for
teaching the Holocaust that can be applied to other genocides as well.”
History-Social Science Content Standards

10.10 Students analyze instances of nation-building in the contemporary world in at least two of the
following regions or countries: the Middle East, Africa, Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and
China.
1. Understand the challenges in the regions, including their geopolitical, cultural, military, and
economic significance and the international relationships in which they are involved.
2. Describe the recent history of the regions, including political divisions and systems, key leaders,
religious issues, natural features, resources, and population patterns.
Lesson Connection: As students learn about nation-building in the modern world, they explore
the successes and struggles these new governments encountered. In particular, students
investigate genocides that plagued some of these new nations, examining the role political, social
and economic divisions of the country, and international relationships played in the tragedy.
9-12 Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Research, Evidence, and Point of View
2. Students pose relevant questions about events they encounter in historical documents, eyewitness
accounts, oral histories, letters, diaries, artifacts, photographs, maps, artworks, and architecture.
Common Core Standards: Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 9-10:
RH.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending
such features as the date and origin of the information.
RH.9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
Common Core Standards: Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 9-10:
WHST.9-10.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including
a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate;
synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under
investigation.
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Sources
Keo, Siti. “Changes in Government in Cambodia, 1863-1945,” UC Berkeley (2017).
Stanton, Dr. Gregory. “Eight Stages of Genocide” and “Ten Stages of Genocide.” Genocide Watch
(1998) (2013). Accessed November 8, 2016.
http://www.genocidewatch.org/images/8StagesBriefingpaper.pdf.
Part 2: Using Oral Stories to Understand History
Personal Accounts of Cambodian Genocide

Ashe, Var Hong. Phnom Penh to Paradise: Escape From the Killing Field - A Mother's Traumatic
Story. 1998, Kindle edition.
“Behind the Walls of S-21: Oral Histories from Tuol Sleng Prison Part 1.” You Tube video, 9:00.
Posted by the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), March 3, 2010.
https://youtu.be/g2xmOq_dj8k.
Keat, Nawuth with Martha Kendall. Alive in the Killing Fields. National Geographic Society, 2009.
Accessed January 4, 2017, https://www.overdrive.com/media/268013/alive-in-the-killing-fields.
Um, Khatharya. “My Cambodia.” Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education
(SPICE) video, 17:15. October 2, 2014. http://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/multimedia/my-cambodia.
Ung, Loung. First They Killed My Father. New York: Harper Collins, 2000.
Oral History
Um, Khataryan. From the Land of Shadows. New York: NYU Press, 2015.
Walbert, Kathryn and Jean Sweeney Shawver. “Oral History in the Classroom: 1 The Value of Oral
History.” LEARN NC, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education, 2002. Accessed January 9, 2017.
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/oralhistory2002/762.
Oral Stories of Cambodian Genocide

Archive of Cambodian Holocaust Survivors (DACHS). “Survivor Stories,” 2011. Accessed December
4, 2016. http://www.cybercambodia.com/dachs/stories.html.
Cambodian American Community of Oregon, Portland State University."Interviews: The OH Project,"

Spring 2009. Accessed December 4, 2016. http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/caco_interviews/.
UNC Center for the Study of the American South. “Southern Oral History Program Student Interviewer
Guidelines.” Accessed January 9, 2017. http://sohp.org/files/2014/02/Student-Handbook_not-specific-
to-a-course_2014.pdf.
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Sources
APPENDIX
Timeline: Compiled by Siti Keo, graduate student, UC Berkeley (2017).
Oral Stories of Post-WWII Genocides and Genocide Today
Darfur
University of Southern Florida Libraries. Waging Peace Darfuri Children's Drawings. Accessed
November 8, 2016. http://digital.lib.usf.edu/darfuridrawings/all
Guatemala
http://www.academia.edu/28836035/The_Construction_of_Collectivity_in_Historical_Narratives_of_Ixi
l_Mayan_Women
https://youtu.be/swxPkgt8N1k?list=PLXhuzKSXJ9OSv50WcdLtMKt8e8SIpuRlI
Rwanda
USF Libraries Holocaust and Genocide Studies Center. “Rwandan Youth and Children’s Testimonies
Digital Collection.” Accessed November 8, 2016. http://genocide.lib.usf.edu/taxonomy/term/1435.
Genocide Archive of Rwanda. “Survivors.” Accessed November 8, 2016.

http://genocidearchiverwanda.org.rw/index.php?title=Category:Survivors&gsearch.
Serbia
Remembering Srebrenica. “Survivor Stories.” Accessed November 8, 2016.
http://www.srebrenica.org.uk/category/survivor-stories/.
Syria
International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. “Syrian Oral History Project.” Accessed November 8,
2016. http://www.sitesofconscience.org/2015/06/syrian-oral-history-project/
Current Genocide Watch

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. “Stories.” Accessed November 8, 2016.
http://stories.unhcr.org/refugees.
Creating a Class/School Oral History Project
The Elk Grove Unified School District. “Time of Remembrance Oral Histories Project.” Accessed
December 6, 2016. http://blogs.egusd.net/tor/.
Southern Oral History Program, UNC Center for the Study of the American South. “Mapping Voices of
North Carolina’s Past.” Accessed December 6, 2016. http://sohp.org/k12-resources/.
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Sources
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES
Oral History
 UCBHSSP Oral History Toolkit: http://ucbhssp.berkeley.edu/content/classroom-materials

 Oral History Tips: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/libraries/bancroft-library/oral-history-center/oral-
history-tips
 How to Interview: http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33212.pdf
 Best Practices for Oral history: http://www.oralhistory.org/about/principles-and-practices/#best
 Oral History Questions to Ask: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/oral/summary.html
Genocide
 Guidelines for Teaching about Genocide: https://www.ushmm.org/educators/teaching-about-the-

holocaust/teaching-about-genocide
 United Nations “Adoption of the Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide.”
http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/260(III)&referer=http://www.genoci
descholars.org/&Lang=E
 List of 20th Century Genocides and Mass Atrocities:
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pol116/genocides.htm
 Resources on 20th Century Genocides: http://www.preventgenocide.org/edu/pastgenocides/
Cambodian Genocide
 Cambodian Genocide Program: http://gsp.yale.edu/case-studies/cambodian-genocide-program

 Pol Pot in Cambodia: 1975-79: http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/pol-pot.htm
 Cambodia Tribunal Monitor: http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/history/cambodian-
history/khmer-rouge-history/
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Unit Map
The Bigger Picture

Last Unit Current Unit Next Unit
Cold War Modern World Contemporary World
Int’l Developments in the Post-WW II

How did former colonies respond to the Cold War
Globalization and the Contemporary World
and liberation?
How have international relationships and globalization
influenced domestic struggles?
Regional Challenges  Rise of Extremism
Nation building in the Modern world
How did international relationships  Free Trade
influence domestic struggles?
 Regional Contexts
 International Relationships
 Domestic Struggles
Regional History 20th and 21st Century Genocides
How did specific countries respond to How did genocide emerge as a response to post-colonialism?
the post-colonial world?  Root Causes
 Key Leaders  International Response and Public Opinion
 Political Divisions and Systems of  Survivor, Rescuer, Liberator, and Witness Accounts
Governance
 Religious Conflicts
 Environmental Features, Natural
Resources, and Population Patterns
Focus Question: How did new nations attempt to establish new models of governance in the post- Thinking Skills:
colonial world? Continuity and Change/Cause and Consequence
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Lesson Map
CURRENT LESSON
Understanding Genocide: The Khmer Rouge
Building Conceptual Understanding Using Personal Testimony as Evidence

Key Concepts/Vocabulary:
Cambodia, Khmer Rouge, Ankar, Kampuchea Reading Question: How did the experiences
of everyday people under the Khmer Rouge
The rise of the Khmer
Reading Question: How did control and provide evidence that genocide was
Rouge, their governance, and
governance of Cambodia change between 1863 committed?
the genocide they enacted
and 1995?
Text: Memoirs of Survivors
Building
Text: Secondary TextConceptual Understanding
Key Concepts/Vocabulary: Genocide, Oral
History
Using Personal Testimony as Evidence
Reading Question: How can we make sense of the
Reading Question: How have people in your community experienced
history of Cambodia based on our understanding
immigration and/or forced relocation?
of genocide?
Text: Interviews with Community or Family Members
Text: 10 Stages of Genocide, Prior knowledge of
the Holocaust, My Cambodia (video)
Focus Question: How did everyday people experience the Khmer Rouge regime and genocide? Thinking Skills: Continuity and Change, Consequences,
Evidence
Teaching Thesis: Peasant farmers in the Cambodian countryside were seen by the Khmer Rouge as model citizens, the epitome of traditional Cambodian life in contrast to
city-dwellers and the wealthy whom the Khmer Rouge believed to be corrupted by capitalism and money. As such, farmers were given power in villages to rule others in an
attempt to create a classless utopian society. In order to achieve this, city dwellers and the wealthy were targeted by the Khmer Rouge. Oral histories and memoirs help us
understand how people who benefited and were persecuted under the Khmer Rouge experienced relocation, labor camps, scarcity, and witnessing mass execution.
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Directions: In each paragraph, underline the most significant event (turning point) with regard to a change in government. Then
complete the chart.
French Colonial Rule Cambodian Independence & the

Rise and Fall of Khmer Rouge
& World War II Sangkum Reastr Niyum Government
Start Date: Start Date: Start Date:
End Date: End Date: End Date:
Actors (countries and people): Actors (countries and people): Actors (countries and people):
How would you characterize governance in Cambodia during each historical period?
Reading Question: How did control and governance of Cambodia change between 1863 and 1995?
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KEY
Directions: In each paragraph, underline the most significant event (turning point) with regard to change in government. Then
complete the periodization chart.
French Colonial Rule Cambodian Independence & the
Rise and Fall of Khmer Rouge
&World War II Sangkum Reastr Niyum Government
Start Date: 1863 Start Date: 1953 Start Date: 1970

End Date: 1953 End Date: 1975 End Date: 1995
Actors (countries and people): Actors (countries and people): Actors (countries and people):
France Sangkum Government Pol Pot
Japan King Sihanouk Khmer Rouge
Cambodia Opposition Groups Vietnam
Vietnam US Cambodia
Prince Sihanouk Vietnam
How would you characterize governance in Cambodia during each period?
Cambodia struggled for independence from King Sihanouk led a newly independent Pol Pot gained control, amidst the
French colonial rule a part of Indochine Cambodia and tried to fix the problems destabilization of the Vietnam War, and
francaise. created by colonial rule, but was caused lots of human destruction until
challenged by internal opposition forces Vietnam invaded in 1979.
and international conflict (VN War).
With the end of World War II, Cambodia gained its independence, but it remained caught up in domestic, regional, and
international conflicts, allowing Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge to rise to power and cause much harm to the nation.
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Context: Cambodia had been a colony of France. After independence, Cambodians developed various
forms of government. These efforts were challenged by domestic conflicts as well as international and
regional conflicts, like the Vietnam War.
Source: Siti Keo, “Changes in Government in Cambodia from 1863-1995,” UC Berkeley (2017).
Cambodia, like the rest of Southeast Asia, experienced significant changes as a

result of World War II. After ninety years, and with the support of the Japanese,
Cambodia declared independence on March 12, 1945. Cambodians ended the 1863
agreement that included Cambodia as a colony within the French empire. However, five
months later, when Japan surrendered to American military forces, the French regained
control of Cambodia. France faced significant resistance, particularly from opposition
groups in neighboring Vietnam. This conflict led to the First Indochina War (1945-1954)
to reclaim Indochine française, which had included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, for
France. While Cambodia’s leaders agreed to rejoin Indochine and negotiate for a
peaceful transition to independence, the regional conflict continued. In Phnom Penh,
Cambodia’s capital city, and other major cities, Cambodians encountered another battle:
various political parties sought political control. In 1953, Prince Norodom Sihanouk
gained control and established Sangkum Reastr Niyum, the community of the common
people, as a monarchical [run by royalty] government.
Once Cambodia achieved full independence in November 1953, and Indochina was
dissolved in 1954, Sihanouk, as king, launched a number of government-led projects as a
response to decades of colonial neglect. The Sangkum government built a thousand miles
of roads, improved national infrastructure, and expanded the primary and secondary
education system, resulting in a dramatic increase in the literacy rate. This post-colonial
period also witnessed the rise of new approaches toward architecture, music, and
painting. In addition to these social and cultural transformations, however, was the harsh
treatment of opposition groups and ideas by the Sangkum government. King Sihanouk
harassed, arrested, and executed members of the opposition. In the memories of one
Cambodian, “Sihanouk had become a cruel king with a damaged mind who no longer
knew the difference between right and wrong, and who was now treating his own people
as enemies.” In addition to the internal conflict caused by his policies, Sihanouk
challenged the United States over its military involvement in Vietnam, which led to raids
and bombings of Cambodia. These external factors, combined with internal opposition,
created challenges to the Cambodian government, leading to the overthrow of King
Sihanouk in March 1970.
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Unintended by those who had opposed King Sihanouk, Cambodia soon plunged
into the darkest moment in its history. To protect its borders against the communist
controlled North Vietnam, the new government became involved in the Vietnam War,
allowing American troops and their South Vietnamese allies to enter Cambodia. The
United States, in turn, bombed Cambodia to prevent the North Vietnamese from
entering. The Communist Party of Kampuchea (Cambodia), which had led a movement
against the King since Cambodia’s independence, increased its resistance to US
intervention and the Cambodian government. In 1963, the man who would later be called
Pol Pot fled to the Vietnamese border and began to build the military wing of the party,
the Khmer Rouge. Throughout the next seven years, the Khmer Rouge had led raids
against King Sihanouk and his army. The Vietnam War, as well as the Cambodian
government’s inability to stabilize the country, allowed the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot,
to take control of Cambodia in April 7, 1970 -- one month after King Sihanouk was
removed from office.
The Khmer Rouge sought to establish an agrarian, communist utopia [a rural
classless society] where inequalities were erased, private property did not exist, and
everyone benefited from the country’s wealth -- all to be achieved within five years. The
Khmer Rouge’s goal was to make more equal the class differences that increased during
French colonial rule and the Sangkum period. To reach its goal of a classless society, the
Khmer Rouge evacuated the cities, relocating those who had lived in cities to rural
communes [shared living communities]. Despite its idealistic language, Khmer Rouge
rule led to the death of between 740,000 and 3.3 million Cambodians, who were killed as
a result of execution, illness, forced labor, or starvation. Following an invasion by
Vietnamese troops, in 1979, Pol Pot fled to the Cambodian jungle. Guerrilla warfare
continued until 1995, when many Khmer Rouge accepted amnesty from the Cambodian
government. More recently, Cambodia has begun to document this period of its history in
order to bring reconciliation [repair trust] to the country and justice to the victims of the
Khmer Rouge.
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Directions: As a class, read through and discuss each stage of genocide. Underline any unfamiliar words. Circle
key words in each stage of genocide that help define the stage.
Source: Stages of Genocide, adapted from Genocide Watch (1998, 2013).
Context: Genocide Watch was founded in 1999 by Gregory H. Stanton, a leading scholar of genocide and
professor at George Mason University.
Characteristics/Stages of Genocide
CLASSIFICATION Categorizing or classifying people into different groups usually based on ethnicity,
race, religion, or nationality.
SYMBOLIZATION Names and characterizations given to these classified groups (stereotyping).
DEHUMANIZATION One group denies the humanity of the other group, equating them with animals,
vermin, insects or diseases. The group in power is indoctrinated to believe that
“We are better off without them.” Hate propaganda used to vilify the victim group.
DISCRIMINATION A dominant group uses law, custom, and political power to deny other groups civil
rights, voting rights, or even citizenship basing their actions on exclusionary
ideology. Leaders of the dominant group are often charismatic, expressing
resentments of their followers, and attracting support from the general public.
ORGANIZATION Genocide is always organized, usually by the state, often using trained special
army units or militias. Governments organize secret police to spy on, arrest,
torture, and murder people suspected of opposition.
POLARIZATION This is when the targeted group is separated from others, creating an “us” and
“them” mentality. Often times this means removing the targeted group into a
separate area or space.
PREPARATION This stage is when a group has been targeted and preparations are made to carry
out mass killings.
GENOCIDE This is also known as extermination of the targeted group of people. Most often
this is a mass killing sponsored by the state.
DENIAL The final stage is the perpetrator's denial of their actions. They destroy or hide the
official evidence, burn bodies, leave unmarked graves, or invent a reasonable
rationale for the killing.
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Part 2: Using Personal Testimony as Evidence
Examining Characteristics of Genocide -- Teacher Notes
Reading Question: How did the experiences of everyday people under the Khmer Rouge regime
provide evidence that genocide was committed?
What is genocide?
1. Using prior knowledge of the Holocaust, record examples of each of the stages of
genocide. (You might want to make a copy of the stages of genocide for students.)
2. As a class model, watch the following video, discuss stages of genocide and use evidence
from the video to record the different stages of genocide in Cambodia in the chart below
(http://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/multimedia/my-cambodia).
How can personal testimony be used as evidence?

Historians and history teachers use a wide range of sources as evidence. Newspapers, census data,
diaries, letters, photographs, and government documents all have a place in both the historian’s research
and the classroom. But personal testimony (oral history and memoir) offer several unique benefits.1
Oral history and memoir allow students to:

● Learn about the perspectives of individuals who might not otherwise appear in the
historical record.
● Learn about the hopes, feelings, aspirations, disappointments, family histories, and
personal experiences of the regular people.
● Ask questions they are interested in of people who were present at past events.
● Hear the personal stories, in their own words, of individuals involved in past events.
● Have conversations with individuals who experienced past events.
Jigsaw:
3. Each group will be assigned a personal story to analyze. Student pairs should be assigned
a characteristic (or two) of genocide to look for or asked to look for evidence of any of the
categories.
List of memoirs and corresponding stages of genocide:

● From Phnom Penh to Paradise (Discrimination, Organization, Separation, Preparation)
● First They Killed My Father (Classification, Symbolization, Dehumanization,
Discrimination, Organization)
● Behind the Walls of S-21 - (Organization, Separation, Preparation, Genocide, Denial)
● Alive in the Killing Fields (Dehumanization, Organization, Genocide)
1 Adapted from Khataryan Um, Introduction to From the Land of Shadows (New York: NYU Press, 2015).
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Questions to guide the reading of each memoir (Place on small sheets, PPT, or board):
● What is the name of the narrator?
● What was their background?
● What did they say about their experience?
● Underline the sentence that best provides evidence for genocide.
● What stage does it represent?
4. Building Class Knowledge:

 Student pairs read the assigned memoir and identify evidence for the stages of
genocide.
 Class shares out different examples from their assigned personal accounts on each
stage of genocide.
 Discuss the focus question based on evidence from all of the memoirs.
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Reading Question: How did the experiences of everyday people under the Khmer Rouge regime provide evidence that genocide was committed?
Directions: After a class discussion about the Holocaust, read through your assigned memoir and place evidence for the stages of genocide in the
right column.
Examining Characteristics of Genocide
Holocaust Cambodian
Classification
Symbolization
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Dehumanization
Discrimination
Organization
17
Separation
Preparation
Genocide
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Reading Question: How did the experiences of everyday people under the Khmer Rouge regime provide evidence that genocide was committed?
Directions: After a class discussion about the Holocaust, read through your assigned memoir and place evidence for the stages of genocide in the
right column.
Examining Characteristics of Genocide
Holocaust Cambodian
City dwellers, capitalists, corrupted by the West
Classification Jews, Catholics, disabled, homosexuals, non- “Most of them are illiterate farmers and peasants who supported the revolution. The Angkar
says they are model citizens because they have never ventured out of their village and have not
Ayran
been corrupted by the West. We are the new people, those who have migrated from the city.”
“I cannot comprehend why they hate me or why capitalists must be killed.”
- First They Killed My Father
Symbolization Star of David, passbooks

“Rats, turtles and snakes caught in our traps are not wasted as we cook and eat their brains,
Dehumanization Night of Kristallnacht, ghettos, concentration tails, hides, and blood. When no animals are caught, we roam the fields for grasshoppers,
beetles and crickets.
camps - experiments, starvation
In Phnom Penh, I would have thrown up if someone told me I would have to eat those things.
Now, when the only alternative is to starve, I fight others for a dead animal lying in the road.” -
First They Killed My Father
Our town had no electricity, so the Khmer Rouge tried to light up the street by starting fires
anywhere they could. They threw burning matches into our house but it did not ignite. They
used a trick to fool anyone who was hiding in the shadows. They yelled in no particular
direction, “Hey, you, stand still! If you move, we’ll shoot!” - Alive in the Killing Fields
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Scraps of food; rural people get food;

Discrimination Nuremberg Laws, ghettos “Peasants who have lived in the countryside since before the revolution are rewarded by being
allowed to stay in their village. All others are forced to pick up and move when the soldiers say
so. The base people will train us to be hard workers and teach us to have pride in our country.
Only then will we be worthy to call ourselves Khmer.”
“Though the Angkar says we are all equal in Democratic Kampuchea, we are not. We live and
are treated like slaves. In our garden, the Angkar provides us with seeds and we may plant
anything we choose, but everything we grow belongs not to us but to the community. The base
people eat the berries and vegetables from the community gardens, but the new people are
punished if they do. During the harvest season the crops from the fields are turned over to the
village chief, who then rations the food to the fifty families. As always, no matter how plentiful
the crops, there is never enough food for the new people.”
Khmer Rouge soldiers/guards, chiefs of villages, Cambodian Communist Party, Pol Pot
Organization SS units, Gestapo, Hitler Youth “the Khmer Rouge were clearing out one section of the city at a time.”
- From Phnom Penh to Paradise
“During the harvest season the crops from the fields are turned over to the village chief, who
then rations the food to the fifty families. As always, no matter how plentiful the crops, there is
never enough food for the new people.”
“My mother had always told us, ‘The Khmer Rouge might come at any time to raid our village.
Their leader, a man named Pol Pot, says he and the Communists want to make everyone in
Cambodia equal, but that’s just talk. It is an excuse they use to help them gain power. Banding
together in big gangs, they kill people and steal money, gold jewelry, and guns.’ Now they had
come: the Khmer Rouge, the Red People.” - Alive in the Killing Fields
“ … I was a guard. I only guarded outside with a messenger group. After the groups were
created, I was promoted to group chief.” - Behind the Walls of S-21
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Evacuated from Phnom Penh, sent to rural villages - labor camps
“During the KR, the entire city was evacuated, it was depopulated, 2 million people being forced out at
Separation Ghettos, concentration camps gunpoint to leave the city. It was April, so we are talking about at the height of the hot season. Many of
the streets were asphault and children with barefeet are walking on there. In some parts of the city you
were told to leave immediately you were also told you don’t need to take anything with you because
Angkar will provide. And you would only be relocated a short distance and a short period of time while
they clean up the city. And instead they never returned” - My Cambodia
“with the original 600,000 residents swollen with refugees from the countryside to an estimated three
million people, each highway must have been clogged with its human traffic jam for miles.”
“In the history of the whole world, we had never heard of a revolution which had emptied the capital and
which had not allowed the population to return. Why should they keep us away from our homes? Surely
they needed the skilled city people to help rebuild the country into a strong independent power? We found
it difficult to accept that we were not going back.”
Seven months after the Khmer Rouge forcefully evacuated us from our home in Phnom Penh we arrive in
the village of Ro Leap … This is our third relocation in seven months. - First They Killed My Father
“… Yes, I took them [the prisoners] to Choeung Ek but I don’t remember the number of times I took
prisoners there. Those who took prisoners to the site were taught to tell them that they were being taken to
stay in a new house. If we didn’t tell them this, they would know they were going to be executed. They
might protest in the truck.” - Behind the Walls of S-21
Village labor camps, prisons
17,000 prisoners were imprisoned, tortured, and killed in Tuol Sleng prison
Preparation Concentration camps, tests, starvation Brought in, blindfolded,have photos taken, process of torture and extraction of confessions, made to
confess to subversive activities, anti-regime activities, plotting to overthrow the regime
- My Cambodia
“In the early hours of the third day after our departure from the city centre, the Khmer Rouge arrived and
told each group in the villa to keep moving along the highway. They didn’t say where we should go, but
just told us to keep moving.”
“During the harvest season the crops from the fields are turned over to the village chief, who then rations
the food to the fifty families. As always, no matter how plentiful the crops, there is never enough food for
the new people.” - First They Killed My Father
“When I arrived there, I reversed the engine and took prisoners off the truck. I opened the back door,
walked them off, and put them into the room of the house at Choeung Ek, one by one, until no one was
left in the truck … They were blindfolded and they were handcuffed or their hands were tied behind their
backs with a rope.” - Behind the Walls of S-21
21
Starvation, raids on villages, prison executions
Bou Meng, one of 7 survivors of Tuol Sleng prison: “They beat me and scarred my back. This is my
Genocide Gas chamber deaths in concentration camps wife. They slit her throat. They said I was CIA, KGB, but I didn’t know anything.” - My Cambodia
Many people have died, mostly from starvation, some from eating poisonous food, others killed by
soldiers. Our family is slowly starving to death and yet, each day, the government reduces our food
ration. - First They Killed My Father
My grandmother screamed. “Don’t kill us,” she begged. The killer sprayed her with bullets, and the
rest of my family, too.
I was shot three times. I lay limp in the ditch ... They must have thought I was dead so they didn’t
waste another bullet on me. A few minutes later, they were gone. - Alive in the Killing Fields
“ One by one, each was taken out of the room and executed. The henchmen were already waiting by
the pits. The prisoners were clubbed to death with metal bars at first, and then their throats were cut
with machetes. Then, they took the handcuffs and other stuff off the prisoners and pushed them into
the pits. After everything was done, they filled the pit with earth.” - Behind the Walls of S-21
22
Reading Question: How did the experiences of everyday people under the Khmer Rouge regime provide evidence
that genocide was committed?
Directions: Read the excerpt below individually. Then, go back and look at the keywords you identified for your
assigned stage of genocide. Underline words, phrases or passages provide evidence for the stages of genocide.
Source: Excerpted from Var Hong Ashe, From Phnom Penh to Paradise: Escape From the Killing Field - A
Mother's Traumatic Story (1998).
Context: Var Hong was born and raised in the town of Takeo, south of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Her
family lived a privileged life in the city. Her husband worked for an international aid organization, and she was an
English teacher at a college. When Khmer Rouge forces seized Phnom Penh, Var and her family evacuated the city.
Memoir Excerpt:
. . . we soon came across small groups of people who were also in the process of hurriedly leaving the city
under the threats from the Khmer Rouge. Obviously the Khmer Rouge were clearing out one section of the
city at a time.
. . . There were four of five major highways leading out of Phnom Penh, but with the original 600,000
residents swollen with refugees from the countryside to an estimated three million people, each highway
must have been clogged with its human traffic jam for miles . . . At times it seemed almost as if we were in
the middle of a whirlpool with people going round and round in circles. Those from behind pushed
forwards, urged on by the guns of the Khmer Rouge, while those in front dragged their heels, unwilling to
go west into a poor part of Cambodia and still hoping for a quick return to the city.
By late afternoon, we arrived at a spot on the outskirts of Phnom Penh where the main highway to the west
began . . . . It was here that I witnessed some of the most terrible scenes which remain imprinted on my mind
to this day . . . One man was in a wheelchair with blood still oozing from the bandages which covered the
stumps of his amputated legs. A number of families carried their ageing parents in hammocks slung over
their shoulders. Some of the old people could be heard telling their children: “I’m old now, and you’ll only
exhaust yourselves carrying me. Leave me to die.” . . . In contrast to this, an old woman pleaded amidst
floods of tears with her children to keep on carrying her and to not leave her to die along the road. . . . On
the side of the road, a woman was giving birth to her baby, and relatives scurried to and fro in the crow
searching for a midwife to help.
. . . . In the early hours of the third day after our departure from the city centre, the Khmer Rouge arrived
and told each group in the village to keep moving along the highway. They didn’t say where we should go,
but just told us to keep moving . . . In the history of the whole world, we had never heard of a revolution
which had emptied the capital and which had not allowed the population to return. Why should they keep
us away from our homes? Surely they needed the skilled city people to help rebuild the country into a
strong independent power? We found it difficult to accept that we were not going back.
23
Source: Excerpted from Loung Ung, First They Killed My Father (2000).
Context: Loung Ung was the child of a military police captain in the new republican government of Cambodia
living a middle class life in its capital city, Phnom Penh. When the Khmer Rouge invaded the city, toppling the
republican government, Loung and her family were forced out and sent to work camps. They lived in fear of the
Khmer Rouge finding out about their class background.
Memoir Excerpt:
December 1975
Seven months after the Khmer Rouge forcefully evacuated us from our home in Phnom Penh we arrive in
the village of Ro Leap. . . . This is our third relocation in seven months.
. . . “Capitalists should be shot and killed,” someone yells from the crowd, glaring at us. Another villager
walks over and spits at Pa’s feet . . . .
There are five hundred base people already living in Ro Leap. They are called “base people” because they
have lived in the village since before the revolution. Most of them are illiterate farmers and peasants who
supported the revolution. The Angkar [the term the Khmer Rouge called themselves] says they are model
citizens because they have never ventured out of their village and have not been corrupted by the West. We
are the new people, those who have migrated from the city. Peasants who have lived in the countryside
since before the revolution are rewarded by being allowed to stay in their village. All others are forced to
pick up and move when the soldiers say so. The base people will train us to be hard workers and teach us to
have pride in our country. Only then will we be worthy to call ourselves Khmer. I cannot comprehend why
they hate me or why capitalists must be killed. . . .
Though the Angkar says we are all equal in Democratic Kampuchea [the Khmer Rouge name given to the
new country], we are not.
April 1976
The population in the village is growing smaller by the day. Many people have died, mostly from starvation,
some from eating poisonous food, others killed by soldiers. Our family is slowly starving to death and yet,
each day, the government reduces our food ration. Hunger, always there is hunger. We have eaten
everything that is edible, from rotten leaves on the ground to the roots we dig up rats, turtles and snakes
caught in our traps are not wasted as we cook and eat their brains, tails, hides, and blood. When no
animals are caught, we roam the fields for grasshoppers, beetles and crickets.
In Phnom Penh, I would have thrown up if someone told me I would have to eat those things. Now, when
the only alternative is to starve, I fight others for a dead animal lying in the road.
24
Reading Question: How did the experiences of everyday people under the Khmer Rouge regime provide
evidence that genocide was committed?
Directions: Read the excerpt below individually. Then, go back and look at the keywords you identified
for your assigned stage of genocide. Underline words, phrases or passages that illustrate your assigned
stage of genocide.
Source: Excerpted from Documentation Center of Cambodia, Behind the Walls of S-21 (2010).
Context: Him Huy was raised in a farming family and was recruited by the Khmer Rouge to serve as a
guard at Tuol Sleng prison. He testified against his superiors at a tribunal for genocide and did not invoke
his right to remain silent. Survivors and colleagues identifying him as “seasoned killer.” He, however,
stated he killed no more than five people and did so only to demonstrate his loyalty to Khmer Rouge. He
was interviewed after his testimony in front of the tribunal.
Memoir Excerpt:
Every boy in the district was drafted. No one wanted to go far from their parents. But you could
not escape it forever because there was a second recruitment and then another. Until finally, the
village became empty. They told us to join the soldiers to fight the Lon Nol regime . . . at the time
there was no mention of the Communist Party. . . . I was a guard. I only guarded outside with a
messenger group. After the groups were created, I was promoted to group chief. . . .
Yes, I took them [the prisoners] to Choeung Ek but I don’t remember the number of times I took
prisoners there. Those who took prisoners to the site were taught to tell them that they were being
taken to stay in a new house. If we didn’t tell them this, they would know they were going to be
executed. They might protest in the truck. When I arrived there, I reversed the engine and took
prisoners off the truck. I opened the back door, walked them off, and put them into the room of the
house at Choeung Ek, one by one, until no one was left in the truck . . . . They were blindfolded and
they were handcuffed or their hands were tied behind their backs with a rope. One by one, each
was taken out of the room and executed. The henchmen were already waiting by the pits. The
prisoners were clubbed to death with metal bars at first, and then their throats were cut with
machetes. Then, they took the handcuffs and other stuff off the prisoners and pushed them into the
pits. After everything was done, they filled the pit with earth.
. . . . Sometimes Hor or Duch was there and if there was a prisoner left, they would ask for me.
When I arrived at the pit, I was asked, “Do you dare to execute people? Are you absolute?” I
answered, “Yes I am absolute, Brother.” We could not say we were not absolute. He continued,
“If you are absolute, execute this one.” The prisoner was put on his knees and I clubbed him with
a metal bar. After the hit, I threw down the metal bar and left the spot.
25
Source: Excerpted from Nawuth Keat with Martha Kendall, Alive in the Killing Fields (2009).
Context: Nawuth Keat was born in 1964 in a small village in Cambodia. His father was a wealthy rice farmer. He
was nine when the Khmer Rouge took power in 1973 and raided his village.
Memoir Excerpt:
. . . we dove into a ditch -- my mother, the baby, my grandmother, my younger brothers, my aunt and uncle,
our babysitter, and me. I was nine years old . . . . My mother had always told us, “The Khmer Rouge might
come at any time to raid our village. . . . Now they had come: the Khmer Rouge, the Red People.
. . . They used a trick to fool anyone who was hiding in the shadows. They yelled in no particular direction,
“Hey, you, stand still! If you move, we’ll shoot!”
My grandmother fell for it. Terrified, afraid the family had been seen, she cried out, “Please don’t shoot.
We have done nothing. These are innocent children.”
A Khmer Rouge ran to the ditch where we huddled. My grandmother begged, “Take our gold and money.
Please just leave us alone.”
Then my uncle stood up. The Khmer Rouge demanded, “Where’s the gun you bought last week?”
My uncle told him the truth, “I didn’t buy any gun.”
The Khmer Rouge raised his M-16 rifle and shot my uncle in the chest. Fired from that close range, the
bullet careened through my uncle’s body, and blood spewed out behind him. He fell dead on the ground.
My grandmother screamed. “Don’t kill us,” she begged. The killer sprayed her with bullets, and the rest of
my family, too.
An M-16 bullet makes a small hole when it enters a human body. After it tears its way through the flesh, it
exits, leaving a gaping hole the size of a fist. I was shot three times. I lay limp in the ditch . . . . They must
have thought I was dead so they didn’t waste another bullet on me. A few minutes later, they were gone . . .
. My mother was dead. My baby sister was dead. My grandmother was dead. My aunt and uncle were
dead. My babysitter was dead.
26
Oral History - Simulation
Directions:
1. Visit one of the following sites and select one person who survived the Khmer Rouge massacre.
● http://www.cybercambodia.com/dachs/stories.html
● http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/caco_interviews/
2. Act as if you are the interviewer, and use the questions below to conduct a simulated oral history.
Interviewer Name: Date of Interview:
Name of Interviewee:
Questions for the Interviewee2
1. What is your age, gender, ethnicity, religion, job, etc.?

2. Where are you originally from? Country, region of the world, city or village,
Ethnic community?
3. When did you come to the United States?
4. What was the event that made you leave your country?
5. Who was involved in the event? What were they trying to do?
6. What happened?
7. What allowed for this event to happen?
8. What was your life like before the event? How old were you? What was your job?
What was your political affiliation?
9. How did the event impact you? Your family? Your country?
10. How can a person/nation heal from a massive tragedy?
Interview Reflection
● What does this individual’s story tell us about the past?

● How does this person’s story help us learn about other people, like this person,
and their experiences?
● What concerns do you have about relying on this person’s story as evidence?
● What other questions would you want to ask the person interviewed?
2Adapted from Khataryan Um, Introduction to From the Land of Shadows (New York: NYU Press, 2015). Teacher Note:
During the viewing of the videos, students will not be able to answer all of the questions. But this list will help them articulate
what questions they think would be important to ask.
27
Oral History – Simulation KEY

Directions:
3. Visit one of the following sites and select one person who survived the Khmer Rouge massacre.
● http://www.cybercambodia.com/dachs/stories.html
● http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/caco_interviews/
4. Act as if you are the interviewer, and use the questions below to conduct a simulated oral history.
Questions for the Interviewee3
Students will not be able to find answers to all of the questions, but it will help them discern what
questions they would want to ask, if provided the opportunity.
The teacher can go through each question asking for volunteers from the class to share what they
learned.
Interview Reflection
● What does this individual’s story tell us about the past?

Opportunity to reinforce how oral histories provide evidence of everyday experiences.
● How does this person’s story help us learn about other people, like this person,
and their experiences?
Discuss how an individual’s story can help us draw generalizations about the
experience of groups of people but that evidence needs to be corroborated.
● What concerns do you have about relying on this person’s story as evidence?
Discuss perspective, distance from event, etc. Oral histories can be corroborated with
other types of sources.
● What other questions would you want to ask the person interviewed?
Begin generating a list of specific questions.
3Adapted from Khataryan Um, Introduction to From the Land of Shadows (New York: NYU Press, 2015). Teacher Note:
During the viewing of the videos, students will not be able to answer all of the questions. But this list will help them articulate
what questions they think would be important to ask.
28
Interview Planning Worksheet4
Option 1: Interview someone in your family or community who immigrated to the United States. Use the
Oral History Source Analysis to prepare. Create at least 5 additional questions.
Option 2: Interview someone in your family or community about an adversity they faced.
What to Consider when Conducting an Oral History Interview ( Class Brainstorm)
BEFORE - Interview:
DURING - Interview:
AFTER - Interview:
Name of Interviewee: Topic:
Why did you choose this person to interview about this topic?
Questions for Interview:

1. What is your age, gender, ethnicity, religion, job, etc.?
2. Where are you originally from? Country, region of the world, city or village,
ethnic community?
3. When did you come to the United States?
4. What was the event that made you leave your country?
5. Who was involved in the event? What were they trying to do?
6. What happened?
7. What allowed for this event to happen?
8. What was your life like before the event? How old were you?
What was your job? What was your political affiliation?
9. How did the event impact you? Your family? Your country?
10. How can a person/nation heal from a massive tragedy?
Brainstorm at least 5 additional questions.

What do you want to know about the person you are interviewing with regard to the topic?
4 Questions adapted from Khataryan Um, Introduction to From the Land of Shadows (New York: NYU Press, 2015).
29
Interview Planning Worksheet KEY

What to Consider when Conducting an Oral History Interview ( Class Brainstorm)
BEFORE - Interview:
 Background research on the person, topic, and larger context in both primary and
secondary sources
 Setting up time, location and length of interview
 Setting appropriate tone for project
 Technical Equipment
DURING - Interview:
 Open-Ended and Specific Questions
 Chronology of the Interview
 Providing Historical Context
 Allocation of Time in the Interview - outline
 Respecting the rights of interviewees to refuse to discuss certain subjects
 Non-Verbal Responses and body language
 Interjecting vs. Interrupting
AFTER - Interview:
 Thank yous
 Follow up communication (questions, copies of notes/transcript/recording, final
project)
Name of Interviewee: Topic:
Why did you choose this person to interview about this topic?
Brainstorm at least 5 additional questions.

What do you want to know about the person you are interviewing with regard to the topic?
Student questions will vary. But based, on their own interests, experience during the
simulation interview, and personal history, they should develop questions that they are
particularly interested in learning more about.
30
Appendix
Directions: Use the maps to answer the questions.

1. In what region of the world is Cambodia located (map 1)?
2. What countries surround Cambodia (map 2)?
3. Where is Phnom Penh located within Cambodia (map 2)?
Map 1 Map 2
Map 1: http://www.impact.org.uk/assets/world-map-cambodia.png
Map 2: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/ec/83/e0/ec83e08e2c8637b7bb70153832c17b82.jp
31
Appendix
Timeline of Significant Events in Postcolonial Cambodia

1863 – 1953 French Colonial Rule. France governed Cambodia as one of the five countries of French
Indochina.
1939 – 1945 Second World War. France surrendered to Germany in 1940, their territory in
IndoChina was occupied by the Japanese.
1945 – 1954 First Indochina War. After WWII, France sought to regain its colonies. Cambodia and
Laos agreed to temporarily rejoin the empire, Vietnamese anti-colonial forces refused
resulting in Ho Chi Minh-led Vietnamese vs. the French army.
July 1954 End of French Rule in Cambodia. Cambodia declared a new nation.
1955 – 1970 Sangkum Reastr Niyum Period. King Norodom Sihanouk rules. Cambodia experienced
golden age of art, culture and modernization, but the government threatened and
imprisoned opposition groups.
1963 Khmer Rouge formed. Pol Pot, secretary, Communist Party of Kampuchea (Cambodia)
formed Khmer Rouge, military wing of the Party and anti-Sihanouk.
1969 Vietnam War in Cambodia. American and South Vietnamese troops bombed eastern
Cambodia fighting Communists North Vietnamese forces.
March 1970 King Sihanouk overthrown. Cambodian legislature voted to depose King Sihanouk and
abolished the monarchy.
1970 – 1975 Republican Period. The government tried to protect its borders against North
Vietnamese forces by allying Cambodia with the United States.
Civil War. Cambodian Communists and Khmer Rouge allied with King Sihounauk;
conducted guerilla warfare against Republican government.
1973 Vietnam War cease-fire. The United States and the North Vietnamese negotiated a
cease-fire. Khmer Rouge refuse to accept terms.
1973 - 1975 U.S. bombing of Cambodia. The U.S. bombed eastern and northern to stop Cambodian
Communism. North Vietnam distanced from Khmer Rouge.
April 1975 Phnom Penh Falls. Republican government surrendered and the Khmer Rouge asserted
total control over Cambodia.
1975 – 1979 Khmer Rouge Period. Cambodians in cities were moved to rural areas to become
agrarian farmers in forced labor camps. Between 740,000 to 3.3 million Cambodians
died of either illness, starvation or execution.
1979 – 1988 Vietnamese Invasion and Occupation of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge scatters in the
Third Indochina War. A Vietnamese supported-government was created in Phnom
Penh; civil war continued throughout the country.
32
Appendix
1991 Paris Peace Accords. These accords marked the end of civil war in Cambodia, although
sporadic violence continued.
1992 – 1993 United Nations Transitional Authority for Cambodia (UNTAC) Period. Cambodians
began to rebuild their country after genocide and decades of civil war. 1993 National
Elections monitored and endorsed by the UN.
2003 Memorandum of Understanding between UN and Cambodian Government to form the
Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia for the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.
2010 - Present Trials of Khmer Rouge leaders.
Teacher Note: You could decide to use the timeline, rather than the secondary text, to provide
background, adapting the processing chart included in the lesson.
33
Appendix
Extension Activities
Oral Stories of Post WWII Genocide & Genocide Watch Today
Students research background of another modern genocide on a library database such as ABC-Clio and
write a nutshell summary of the genocide – who, what, when, where, why, how. Then, individual
students use the following links to oral stories of survivors of the genocides and pick one survivor using
the Oral Story Source Analysis to document the survivor’s story. Class share out or Jigsaw.
Darfur
http://digital.lib.usf.edu/darfuridrawings/all (Children’s Drawings)
Guatemala
http://www.academia.edu/28836035/The_Construction_of_Collectivity_in_Historical_Narratives_of_Ixi
l_Mayan_Women (Poems)
https://youtu.be/swxPkgt8N1k?list=PLXhuzKSXJ9OSv50WcdLtMKt8e8SIpuRlI (Videos)
Serbia
http://www.srebrenica.org.uk/category/survivor-stories/ (Written Texts)
Rwanda
http://genocide.lib.usf.edu/taxonomy/term/1435 (High School Student Writing)
http://genocidearchiverwanda.org.rw/index.php?title=Category:Survivors&gsearch= (video)
Syria
http://www.sitesofconscience.org/2015/06/syrian-oral-history-project/
Genocide Watch
http://stories.unhcr.org/refugees
Creating a Class/School Oral History Project (Examples)

 Elk Grove Unified School District’s Oral History Project interviews: http://blogs.egusd.net/tor/
 Interactive Map with short oral history clips developed for K-12 North Carolina classes:
http://sohp.org/k12-resources/
34

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Power & Authority

Understanding Genocide: The Khmer Rouge

Photograph: Meghan Selway, Tuol Sleng Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Meghan Selway Siti Keo

Find online: http://ucbhssp.berkeley.edu/global-history

Unit Topic: Modern World

Lesson Topic: Understanding Genocide: The Khmer Rouge

Part 1: Building Conceptual Understanding

Part 2: Using Personal Testimony to Understand History

Part 3: Connections to Today: Oral Stories in Family and Community

2. Creating a Class/School Oral History Project

10th Grade California History-Social Studies Framework (adopted July 2016)

History-Social Science Content Standards

9-12 Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Part 1: Building Conceptual Understanding

Keo, Siti. “Changes in Government in Cambodia, 1863-1945,” UC Berkeley (2017).

Part 2: Using Oral Stories to Understand History

Personal Accounts of Cambodian Genocide

Oral Stories of Cambodian Genocide

Cambodian American Community of Oregon, Portland State University."Interviews: The OH Project,"

Part 3: Connections to Today: Oral Stories in Family and Community

Timeline: Compiled by Siti Keo, graduate student, UC Berkeley (2017).

Oral Stories of Post-WWII Genocides and Genocide Today

Genocide Archive of Rwanda. “Survivors.” Accessed November 8, 2016.

Current Genocide Watch

Creating a Class/School Oral History Project

 UCBHSSP Oral History Toolkit: http://ucbhssp.berkeley.edu/content/classroom-materials

 Guidelines for Teaching about Genocide: https://www.ushmm.org/educators/teaching-about-the-

 Cambodian Genocide Program: http://gsp.yale.edu/case-studies/cambodian-genocide-program

The Bigger Picture

Int’l Developments in the Post-WW II

Building Conceptual Understanding Using Personal Testimony as Evidence

French Colonial Rule Cambodian Independence & the

Start Date: Start Date: Start Date:

End Date: End Date: End Date:

Start Date: 1863 Start Date: 1953 Start Date: 1970

How would you characterize governance in Cambodia during each period?

Cambodia, like the rest of Southeast Asia, experienced significant changes as a

Source: Stages of Genocide, adapted from Genocide Watch (1998, 2013).

SYMBOLIZATION Names and characterizations given to these classified groups (stereotyping).

Examining Characteristics of Genocide -- Teacher Notes

How can personal testimony be used as evidence?

Oral history and memoir allow students to:

List of memoirs and corresponding stages of genocide:

4. Building Class Knowledge:

Symbolization Star of David, passbooks

Scraps of food; rural people get food;

My uncle told him the truth, “I didn’t buy any gun.”

Oral History - Simulation

Interviewer Name: Date of Interview:

Questions for the Interviewee2

1. What is your age, gender, ethnicity, religion, job, etc.?

● What does this individual’s story tell us about the past?

Oral History – Simulation KEY

Questions for the Interviewee3

● What does this individual’s story tell us about the past?

What to Consider when Conducting an Oral History Interview ( Class Brainstorm)

Name of Interviewee: Topic:

Questions for Interview:

Brainstorm at least 5 additional questions.

Interview Planning Worksheet KEY

Name of Interviewee: Topic:

Brainstorm at least 5 additional questions.

Directions: Use the maps to answer the questions.