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EmailHolocaust Survivors and Survivors of the Cambodian Tragedy: Similarities and Differences
Dan Savin, M.D.1 and Shalom Robinson, M.D.2, 3
http://www.holocaustechoes.com/
Introduction
After the Second World War, when names such asAuschwitz, Sobibor, Treblinka and the dimensions of the destruction of the Jewish people became known to the world, many wrote and said that after the Shoah there could be no other genocides. The nations, it was claimed, would not allow such a thing to happen again.
Since then, however, international conflicts between rival ideologies have caused many wars with millions of victims. The Cambodian conflict and the Khmer Rouge regime headed by Pol Pot caused a catastrophe forCambodia and a shocking number of victims.
The idea of comparing Holocaust survivors to other ethnic groups who suffered severe persecution, with a different history and a different social, religious, and cultural background, has intrigued me for some time (S.R.). The opportunity to carry out such a comparison arose when I met Dr. Dan Savin, who already had research experience inCambodia and planned to return there.
The first author (D.S.) feels that the suffering of his grandparents inEurope before the Holocaust motivated his wish to help survivors in Cambodia, where he accepted a job as psychiatrist, then as a general physician, from 1991 till 1994. Such motivation can be understood through Flora Hogman's article.11
In June 1996 during a trip toCambodia, D.S. interviewed 14 subjects, mainly young adults who had been children or teenagers during the Pol Pot regime. Some were from the city, but most, better reflecting the demography ofCambodia, were from the countryside. About half of the interviewees had been refugees who returned to the country from camps at the Thai-Cambodian border in 1993 during the UN-sponsored repatriation; the other half had never leftCambodia. Interviews were carried out in Khmer, a language in which D.S. was conversant. An attempt was made to summarize some of the experiences these people went through before, during, and after the Pol Pot regime. Questions were asked pertaining to current psychiatric symptoms, especially those necessary to make a DSM-IV diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression.
In this paper, we describe the histories of six fairly typical survivors of the Cambodian tragedy. We compare the psychosocial effects in these survivors almost 20 years later to those of Holocaust survivors 50 years after the Shoah. We also attempt to suggest how each society has been influenced by and reacted to the trauma.
Interviews
Paula
Paula is a 34-year-old female who lives in a resettlement center inWestern Cambodia. She repatriated from Site II refugee camp in Thailand in 1993 along with her husband and five children. She and her husband have a small business selling rice porridge every morning several miles away in Battambang city. Two of her children are attending school, and the others have not yet started.
Before Pol Pot came to power, her father was a mid-ranking officer with the Lon Nol government. She was living with her grandmother who had taken a special liking to her. Grandmother lived in western Cambodia, while her mother and six siblings lived in the east. She recalls that the family was well-off enough that every two or three months she was able to fly to visit the rest of them. She remembers that for several months before the Khmer Rouge came to power there was much shooting and shelling, and that shortly after they assumed power many people were taken off to be killed.
The first year of the regime was not as bad for her as later on because she was still allowed to live and eat with her grandmother. After one year, she was transferred to a work group with other teenagers and soon everyone ate together in one large room. She worked very hard in the rice fields, and was hungry most of the time. On one occasion she was caught stealing some raw corn from the field. Her punishment was a severe beating, including being hit on the head with a stick. She was warned that if she was caught again she would be killed, and remembers that a number of children were actually killed because they took extra food.
On one occasion, she recalls going to the hospital when she was sick with diarrhea. She observed that the Khmer Rouge cadres were giving injections that killed the patients. She pleaded with one of the hospital staff, who pitied her and gave her an injection of coconut milk rather than poison.
Paula said that anybody who had gone to school and appeared educated was beaten or killed. She witnessed many people being hanged or beaten to death during the Khmer Rouge regime. As the 1979 Vietnamese invasion progressed and it became evident that the Khmer Rouge were going to be ousted, they slaughtered many more people.
After the Vietnamese won the war, she went back to her grandmother's village and she and her grandmother were reunited. She learned that her mother and father as well as her five brothers had been executed because their father had served in the Lon Nol army. Because she had no way of making a living in the village and because she had heard that foreigners were giving out food in the refugee camps at the border with Thailand, she decided to go there. She spent ten years in the camps, where she says that though she did not go hungry, it was very difficult for her to operate a business because of the restrictions imposed by the Thai authorities. She remembers many occasions when Thai soldiers beat Khmer people.
Paula says that for the most part life now is better for her than it was in the refugee camp, because she has the freedom to go wherever she wants and is able to make a meager living from her and her husband's small business. She reports, however, that she feels sad most of the day almost every day. She says that she does not really enjoy doing anything and thinks daily about her family members who were killed; that her appetite is poor and she has difficulty sleeping at night. She denies feeling excessive guilt over anything that happened to her and does not have difficulty concentrating or making decisions. She complains of being constantly tired but is able to run her business and take care of her home. She has frequently thought that she would rather be dead, but would never do anything to harm herself because of her children. The author was able to observe her interact with her children in a cheerful manner.
Paula continues to think frequently about the time of Pol Pot and has difficulty putting these thoughts out of her mind. She has recurrent nightmares of bodies hanging from trees and of the time she was beaten for taking extra food. She becomes upset when she hears or sees things which remind her of Pol Pot times, such as hearing news about the Khmer Rouge on the radio or the sound of shelling in the distance. She does not think the future holds anything special for her, but hopes that her children will be able to study and to have a good future. She denies having any difficulty getting close to people, as evidenced by her relationships with her children. Paula is easily startled by loud noises such as dogs barking and reports that she is easily angered by unimportant matters.
Mop
Mop is a 33-year-old male who lives with his wife and six children in a resettlement site near Battambang city. When he has work, he earns about $1.50 per day hauling dirt to repair the single road near his house. Unfortunately, he has been jobless for the past three months. The family had been living off the small savings they amassed from the time Mop worked for several months as a carpenter; now those savings are gone.
Mop was born in Takeo province near Phnom Penh, but the family moved to western Cambodia in 1971 because there was too much fighting near his home town. He recalls that his father was a very learned man who had his own barber shop, and could speak French and Thai. Mop remembers taking care of the family's cows while his father was at work.
Mop remembers much gunfire and shelling when Pol Pot took over the country in 1975. He was separated from his mother and father, and forced to work in a youth gang along with a number of other children his age. He was starving, and got caught "stealing" some grains of rice from the fields by Khmer Rouge leaders. He was severely beaten, and afterward heard a rumor that he was on a list to be killed. He ran away to another village where he hoped the leader would be more lenient, but this leader sent him back to be killed. During a moment when his captors were off guard, he was able to escape into the woods and finally made it to another town, where the Khmer Rouge leader actually took pity on him. This leader, who had no sons of his own, let Mop stay with him, feeding him well for several months and, in effect, saving his life.
Subsequently, Mop was required to join another youth gang for the remainder of the Khmer Rouge regime. Mop saw many of his compatriots beaten to death or hanged by the Khmer Rouge cadres; many others died of starvation.
After the Vietnamese invasion he was reunited with his mother and older brother, but found out that his father had been executed two years earlier for allegedly serving in the army during the previous regime-though actually he had not served. Hearing this, he decided to join one of the resistance factions, the US-supported Khmer People's National Liberation Front. From 1979 to 1993 Mop was a soldier and was involved in many fierce battles with both the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese. Many of his comrades were killed or severely wounded, and he sustained minor injuries on several occasions. While he was a soldier he met the woman he married in Site II camp. Although he was usually away on military operations, he was able to start a family.
The family repatriated in 1993, and has been living in the resettlement site ever since.
Unemployed, and without farmland, he has been quite depressed for the past several months, though he says that he cannot imagine times ever being worse than they were during the Khmer Rouge rule. His appetite is good, though he complains that his family does not have enough to eat. He denies having any difficulty concentrating or making decisions. He has often thought that life is not worth living, but would never kill himself because he must raise his children. He says that on occasion, he enjoys talking and socializing with friends and family. He reports a decreased energy level and thinks that he is moving slower than usual, but he thinks this is due to a viral illness. Mop does not think he has done anything to deserve his current fate, though he says that perhaps he did something wrong in a past life.
Mop continues to think frequently about Pol Pot times, though not so much as he used to several years ago. When he listens to news about Pol Pot times he has recurrent intrusive images of people being beaten to death. He has nightmares about people being beaten to death or hanged, though not as frequently as he used to. When he hears gunfire or shelling in the distance, he often feels as though Pol Pot times are going to happen all over again. He is easily startled by loud noises. Mop tries to avoid thoughts or feelings associated with Pol Pot times, but is often unable to do so.
Mop worries a lot about his future and does not think that things will get much better for him, though he continues to cope as best he can for the sake of his children.
Bou
Bou is a 34-year-old man who lives in a small village in western Cambodia with his wife, and four children ranging in age from 18 months to 10 years. He was born in this village, and has lived in it his entire life. Both of his parents as well as four brothers and sisters also live there. He has a rice farm, a small vegetable garden, a few chickens, and some banana trees. When he is not too busy on his own farm, he hires out as a laborer on a farm nearby.
Bou's mother and father are also farmers, and were born in this same village. He remembers how peaceful the village when he was a small child. He went to school up to grade five and learned to read and write. He says that things became difficult in the village even before the Pol Pot regime began because there were many battles between the Khmer Rouge and government troops. He and his family had to leave their house on several occasions as alternating factions took over his village. The family, which was previously fairly well off, was reduced to poverty as they lost many of their belongings, including farm animals, when they were forced to flee.
When the Pol Pot regime began, he was sent with a group of youths to work in another district many kilometers away. He was separated from his mother and father and was only allowed to see them once a month at the most. The Khmer Rouge leader of this youth group was actually from the same village as the youths, so he knew them and was not as cruel as most of the other group leaders. He does not remember anyone from his group being executed and though they were all extremely emaciated, he does not think anyone died of starvation. He worked very hard, but was never beaten. Only four or five people from his village were executed.
Bou remembers a great deal of shooting and shelling when the Vietnamese conquered the area. The Khmer Rouge soldiers fled to the Thai border, while he and the rest of his youth gang returned to their village. He found the rest of his immediate family alive, and they were able to return to their old house. The family gradually began to work the land as they did before the war.
In 1983 Bou was drafted into the government army, and he participated in numerous battles. After about one year, he was shot in his right arm and had to have it amputated below the elbow. He says it is difficult to work with his handicap, but he is able to plough the field and harvest the rice. His work is made easier by an artificial limb he obtained from a voluntary agency.
There are times when Bou has difficulty putting the war out of his mind, for example, when he sees armed soldiers at a checkpoint along the road. He has a permanent reminder of the war whenever he looks at his arm. He has occasional disturbing dreams, including one recurrent nightmare of the enemy capturing him and taking him away to be killed. The disturbing dreams seem to be related more to the time he spent as a soldier than to the Pol Pot era. Whenever there is shelling or gunfire in the distance (and there still is occasionally), he is afraid that the Pol Pot regime will reoccur. Bou tries to avoid thinking about the war, but sometimes he cannot get it out of his mind.
Bou notes that he is more irritable and easily angered than he would like to be, especially when he is reminded of his handicap. He thinks that his neighbors who are not handicapped have a much easier time of it. He is, however, able to control his anger, and rarely gets into conflicts with others. He is able to concentrate well on tasks, has no difficulty sleeping at night, and has a good appetite. He does not feel depressed very often.
Despite his difficult experiences, Bou is able to enjoy life at times. He enjoys getting together with friends, family, and neighbors and has enough energy to do everything he needs to around the farm. In the future, he hopes that he will continue to farm, and that his financial situation will improve.
Tavi
Tavi is a 24-year-old single female, currently employed as a receptionist at a hotel in Phnom Penh. She has been working at this job for a year and a half, and lives with her 23-year-old brother and her mother.
Tavi remembers very little before the Khmer Rouge came to power except for going on leisure outings with her mother and father. She was only three or four years old when Phnom Penh fell, but can remember vividly the gunfire and the explosions. When all the residents of Phnom Penh were expelled from the city, she remembers traveling for many days, mostly on her father's shoulders until they reached the town of Pousat. In Pousat, she remembers her father being separated from the rest of the family. This was the saddest moment of her life. Later, she learned that he was murdered by Khmer Rouge soldiers.
From Pousat, Tavi went with her mother and younger brother to the province of Battambang. She was then separated from her family and sent to live with a group of other children her age. Tavi's mother was prohibited from visiting her, but would come secretly about once a week. Tavi saw her mother being severely beaten by soldiers when she got caught, and remembers feeling very guilty about this. Yet, her mother persisted, and the visits continued.
One of Tavi's jobs during the Khmer Rouge reign was to look for cow manure that could be used for fertilizer. She often went hungry, and remembers very vividly being beaten and threatened with death for eating food which was secretly given her by her mother or by some other kind soul.
Although the Khmer Rouge attempted to perform their murder secretly, Tavi remembers sneaking out at night to observe mass executions of men, women, and children. In addition to her father, nine of Tavi's aunts and uncles were killed.
There was very heavy fighting and many explosions when the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia. She and the rest of her work group were forced to follow the Khmer Rouge soldiers to the Thai border. Eventually, their camp was overrun by Vietnamese soldiers who were kind to her and told her to go back to Phnom Penh with her aunt, whom she had met in the camp. The two of them trekked for several weeks to Phnom Penh, where her aunt left her in an orphanage. She remembers being hungry there, but not to the point of starvation.
Fortuitously, after about three months in the orphanage, she was reunited with her mother at a temple in Phnom Penh. This was perhaps the happiest moment of her life. Unfortunately, her mother did not have the means to support her at that time and so she stayed at the orphanage one more year. Eventually her mother found a job in a factory, and the family moved into an apartment. They did not move back into the house they lived in before the war because another family had taken it. Tavi was a good student and eventually graduated from high school. She wanted to continue her education after high school but has been unable to, because she has to help support the family since her mother is sick with heart disease.
If Tavi watches anything concerning war on television, or reads anything about what happened during Pol Pot times, she is saddened as she recalls having seen people killed or her mother beaten. If she hears loud noises, she is reminded of explosions she heard during the war. She has occasional nightmares, especially around times when the family holds ceremonies to remember her deceased father. She tries not to think about what happened, but once the thoughts start entering her mind it is hard to get them out. For this reason she avoids watching violent movies. Usually, when the political situation is particularly unstable, Tavi is afraid that something like the Pol Pot regime will reoccur.
Tavi often feels depressed, but can overcome this by talking with two or three of her good friends. She works more than sixty hours a week and wishes she had more free time, but is glad she has the opportunity to practice her English on the job. She sleeps well at night, and her appetite is good. She denies feeling irritable or having any difficulty concentrating
Rin
Rin is a 32-year-old old female, a housewife and mother of three. The family has been living in the city of Battambang since 1992, when they repatriated from Site II refugee camp. Rin says that in general things have been going much better for the family since they returned from the camp. They feel safer in the city, where there are fewer thieves than in the camp. Occasionally, however, shelling and gunfire can still be heard in the distance.
Rin's husband works with a local nongovernmental organization (NGO) which aids the development of some of the poor communities in the countryside. The NGO is funded by the Australian government, and her husband's salary is $300 per month, a great deal higher than the national average of $200 per year. The family own their own home, and they are able to support themselves as well as help support some less fortunate family members. They hope to move to Australia next year so that her husband can get his master's degree there.
Before Pol Pot came to power, the family lived in a large stone house near the center of Battambang. They were quite well off, as her father was a relatively high-ranking army officer. Rin remembers vividly the shelling and gunfire which took place just before the Khmer Rouge emerged victorious and took control of the city. Her last memory of her father was of him being herded into the back of a truck and driven away; she later found out that he had been executed.
Rin, her mother, and her four siblings were forced, along with the rest of the surviving inhabitants of the city, to leave their home and trek several days to a small village in the countryside. She was separated from the rest of the family and placed in a work gang with other children her age. Her job was to watch the cows and collect fertilizer. There was not enough to eat and many of the children around her died of starvation. She remembers being extremely thin and having a belly swollen from malnutrition. She was witness to many people being led away from the village for execution.
Although separated from her family, her mother was able to come and visit her once a week, sometimes secretly bringing food. On one occasion her mother was caught, and both Rin and her mother were severely beaten. Her mother was placed on a list of people to be executed and was actually led out to the field with a group of people to be slaughtered. Luckily one Khmer Rouge leader, kinder than the rest, said "Give her another chance. She has many children"; at that point her mother was set free.
Fearing that she was still on the list to be executed, in the middle of the following night her mother somehow collected all of her children and fled with them to a neighboring village. The leader of this village knew that the family was on the run, but pitied them and allowed them to stay. The work in this village was extremely hard and food was scarce; one of Rin's younger sisters died of starvation.
There was much shelling and fighting as the Vietnamese took over the countryside. After their Khmer Rouge guards fled, the family returned to their house in Battambang, but found it destroyed. Because the family was starving and had no way to support themselves, they fled to the Thai-Cambodian border where they heard there were foreigners giving away food. Because of the ongoing civil war they wound up staying in refugee camps for 13 years, until 1992. The camps themselves were not very safe; she remembers some of her neighbors being beaten by Thai soldiers for very minor offenses. Rin was able to attend several years of school in the camp and learned how to read and write. She was married in Site II camp in 1986.
In 1992, just before repatriation, Rin was extremely concerned about whether their family would be safe upon their return to Cambodia. Since their repatriation the security situation has improved somewhat, and she has not been as worried. Her family's relatively good standard of living has helped improve her state of mind. When she hears shelling or gunfire in the distance, however, or is reminded of the Khmer Rouge by newspaper or television, she recalls vividly the terrible experiences she went through. She often cannot get the images out of her head, especially that of her father being driven away in a truck. She has occasional nightmares about Pol Pot times, though less often than in years past. She has difficulty falling asleep, and wakes up several times in the middle of the night. Loud noises such as a motorbike horn startle her easily.
Rin tries to avoid thinking about the Khmer Rouge days, and generally does not talk about them. She worries that the Khmer Rouge might again take control of the country. For the safety and future of her family she would like to leave Cambodia and go to Australia, if they get the chance.
Although she has had episodes in the past when she was quite depressed, lately she has been in a fairly good mood. She enjoys taking care of her children and socializing with her neighbors. She is very happy about the recent improvement in her family's financial situation, and hopes that things will get even better in the future. She has a good appetite, her energy level is good, and she is able to concentrate well. She has never felt as though life was not worth living.
Paul
Paul is a 34-year-old man who lives with his wife and their six surviving children in a small village in western Cambodia (one child died of Dengue fever). He makes his living by harvesting sugar palm fruit from the trees, making sugar out of it, and selling the sugar at the market. He also serves in the government army and is frequently assigned guard duty at a small bridge near their village.
Paul was born in Phnom Penh and went to school there until the fifth grade. When Pol Pot came to power, he remembers his family being ordered to leave the city with the rest of the population. They walked for several weeks and finally arrived at the village they were assigned to. The last time Paul saw his father was when he was ordered onto a truck and driven away. He later learned that his father had been executed for having been a soldier in the Lon Nol army.
Paul was separated from his mother and two siblings and sent to work farming rice. He also helped take care of cows with a group of adolescent boys and girls. There was never enough food and many of his peers died of starvation. From the field where he worked he saw people being executed in the distance, one of whom he later learned was his brother. He was not allowed to see his mother, but on one occasion he stole away from the group to try to find her. He was caught and severely beaten by Khmer Rouge soldiers until he was bleeding from his ears; he was then locked in a cow shed for three days without food or water. Later, he was chained to a rock and forced to walk around in circles for three days. After this, he never again tried to visit his mother.
After the Vietnamese took power, Paul was reunited with his mother and sister. Because they were starving, they went to a refugee camp where they stayed four months. They did not like the camp, and returned to Cambodia. Paul was drafted into the army and participated in many battles against the Khmer Rouge. Because he could not hear well, however, he was dismissed from regular duty and assigned to guarding the bridge in the village where he lives today.
Paul has recurrent nightmares of his father being led off to be executed, though he says these are less frequent than several years ago. He often has difficulty sleeping at night and is restless and anxious during the day. He worries about Pol Pot gaining power again, but does not think it very likely. Paul is easily upset when he hears or sees anything that reminds him of Pol Pot times and is frequently startled by loud noises. He tries to avoid thinking about the traumas he has endured and is usually able to do so while he is working.
Paul says that life for him and his family has gradually improved over the past few years, though there are times when they don't have as much to eat as they would like. He occasionally feels sad but is able to enjoy socializing with friends and relatives. His appetite and energy level are good and he has no difficulty concentrating. He denies feeling guilty about anything that has happened to him or his family and hopes that things will continue to get better for them. He has never lost the will to live.
Discussion
The Holocaust and the Cambodian tragedy each have their own history. The events leading up to the trauma, the ideology of the persecutors, the methods of extermination, and the number of victims are very different. Similarly, the Jewish and Cambodian cultures are different, as are the ways in which each culture has so far managed to adapt to the trauma. Nevertheless, there are similarities between victims of the Holocaust and victims of the Cambodian tragedy which we believe relate to a universal human response to overwhelming trauma.
In the unique case of the Cambodian genocide, the perpetrators were of the same racial and ethnic background as the victims. Terror was generated from within, rather than by an outside enemy. The ideology which stood at the basis of the atrocities was a utopian plan to radically change Cambodian society into a communist agrarian one.6 Leaders of the Khmer Rouge, headed by Pol Pot, carried out mass killings on the way to their utopian aim. Their goal was not the annihilation of their own nation. Yet, though the rich, the educated, and those connected with the previous regime were targeted, the entire nation suffered.
The Holocaust was a war waged against the Jewish people by Nazi Germany. In a systematic fashion, six million Jews were murdered, one-third of the whole Jewish nation. Most of European Jewry was annihilated. The whole Jewish culture in Poland, Lithuania, and other countries was destroyed. The final aim of the Nazis was to annihilate the entire Jewish nation, and they carried this out wherever they could.
At the Wannsee Conference in Berlin on January 20, 1942, plans for exterminating the Jewish people were coordinated by high-ranking Nazi officials. The Final Solution, a code name for the total destruction of the Jewish people, was of highest priority for Hitler and the Nazi German government. For the purpose of killing every Jew, death camps such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor, Majdanek, and many more were built. Most of the Holocaust victims were murdered in these camps. In Auschwitz alone, 1.5 million Jews were poisoned with Zyklon-B gas. In Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka, approximately 2 million Jews were poisoned with carbon monoxide gas.8 The mass killings of Jews began even before the death camps were built, with the German invasion of the USSR (June 22, 1941). These mass killings were carried out by special units of the SS (Einsatzgruppen), which shot hundreds of thousands of Jews to death. Later, hundreds of thousands of Jews died from starvation in the ghettoes, hard labor, torture, or epidemics.
Holocaust survivors still suffer from the effects of Nazi persecution. In a study carried out in 1989, it was found that a large percentage of elderly Holocaust survivors still suffer from symptoms of the survivor syndrome: 86% of them from hypermnesia for Holocaust events, 50% from anhedonia, 42% from depression, and 38% of them, still, from guilt feelings. Some 75% consider themselves as still suffering from the Holocaust.17 In a later study of people who survived the Holocaust as children, it was found that most of them still suffer from symptoms of the survivor syndrome. Their suffering today shows a positive correlation to the trauma endured during the Holocaust. Death-camp survivors suffer more from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom than survivors of other forms of persecution.19
Many Cambodians also carry mental scars nearly 20 years after the Pol Pot reign ended. The stories of the interviewees presented here illustrate the terrible suffering of millions of Cambodians during the Khmer Rouge regime, as well as the psychological late effects caused by this suffering. All six interviewees display posttraumatic stress symptoms. Four out of six meet DSM-IV criteria for PTSD, and the other two have significant symptoms. The first author has found posttraumatic stress symptoms in hundreds of Cambodians whom he examined during his two-and-a-half-year stay in Cambodia. In a group of 100 Cambodian child survivors interviewed in a refugee camp near the Thai border 13 years after the end of the Pol Pot regime, 46% met full DSMIII-R criteria for PTSD, and an additional 40% met the lesser criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD not otherwise specified (NOS).22 In another group of Cambodian child survivors who made it to the United States and were interviewed around the same time, 28% met full criteria for PTSD, and an additional 20% for PTSD NOS.15, 21, 22
Thus, Cambodians and Holocaust survivors are highly traumatized populations, and continue to suffer from posttraumatic symptoms many years after the major trauma has ended. Situations which may have some association with the original trauma may cause exacerbation of the posttraumatic symptoms. This was found in Holocaust survivors in Israel during the Gulf War20 and also in Cambodians during the times of political instability, as seen in some of the interviews in this paper.
The attitude of Holocaust survivors toward what happened to them during the terrible years of their persecution changed over the years. Many say that they survived because they did everything in their power so that they would be able to tell the world what happened to themselves, their families, their communities, and the Jewish people in Europe. They felt an overwhelming imperative to bear witness. The wish for revenge also constituted a strong drive to survive for many persecuted Jews.9 This attitude partly changed after the war;18 acts of revenge were rare. Many of the Holocaust survivors were ill, and needed medical help after the war. Most suffered from PTSD symptoms. A common aim was to rise from the ashes, build families, and seek a better future. Many emigrated from Europe to Israel, the United States, Australia, and other countries.
For many Cambodians the wish for revenge was initially quite strong, and with Pol Pot still at large this wish is still considerable. As with survivors of the Holocaust initially, most Cambodians since the Khmer Rouge regime have primarily been concerned with improving the living situation of themselves and their families. Some Cambodians emigrated to countries such as the United States, France, and Australia after the years of terror. It was mainly survivors from this group of emigrés who first began to speak to the world about their experiences.16 Their living situation has been more stable than that of their counterparts in Cambodia and they have had more access to the Western media. Recently, however, we have begun to hear more voices from Cambodians in their own country.
In interviews for this study, Cambodians were asked whether or not they feel guilty about anything that happened during the traumatic years. Invariably, the answer was negative. We believe, however, that their answer was colored by inexact translation of the English word "guilt." In Khmer, the translation of "guilt" is koh, which also means "wrong," implying actual wrongdoing rather than just the feeling that one has done something wrong. This probably explains why interviewees in this paper did not speak much about the issue of guilt. By talking with Cambodian survivors in more detail, however, it becomes clear that guilt is a major issue for them as for Holocaust survivors. Cambodian survivors wish they would have given deceased family members more of their own food, or speak of feeling badly about taking the clothing of a deceased relative. Many describe guilt feelings for not having been able to perform a proper funeral ceremony for their loved ones.
A central function of any culture is to provide traditions, institutions, and value systems that can protect members from being overwhelmed by stressful experiences.(15) A culture helps to maintain social relationships and social structure. Just as intense trauma may cause permanent changes in individuals, it may cause permanent changes in the cultural system as a whole.7 Jewish society will never be the same as it was before the Holocaust. Similarly, Cambodian society has been irreversibly altered by the period of the Khmer Rouge regime.
The degree of trauma experienced by an individual is to some extent a result of both the severity of the trauma, and the supportive capacity of the environment. In recovery from trauma, the most important first step is to ensure that the individual is in a safe environment. Since the end of World War II, much has happened within the Jewish community to make the environment more supportive and safe for Holocaust survivors.
Jews who came to Palestine before the Jewish state was proclaimed in May 1948, in the years after World War II, encountered a society preparing itself for its War of Independence. They helped the young country fight for its survival both militarily and economically. People in Israel were not ready in those years to hear about the Holocaust. The survivors who at first wanted to tell their story soon closed up. In 1961, the shock of the Eichmann trial caused a breakthrough, changing the attitude of Israeli society toward the Holocaust and toward the Holocaust survivors. Since then, Israelis have become much more interested in what happened during the Holocaust, and survivors have recently become more willing to tell their stories.
Unfortunately, in the 18 years since the end of the Khmer Rouge regime, Cambodia has not yet been able to create a safe and supportive environment for its people. Rival political factions continue to fight for control of the government with continued loss of life. Because the tragedy was inflicted by Cambodians on their own people, Cambodians in general do not trust their government (or even their neighbors). Corruption runs rampant and the community remains fractured. So far, the situation has reinforced the notion that living with corruption, injustice, and warfare is just part of being Cambodian.2 Many Cambodians live with the constant fear that what happened during the Pol Pot regime could well reoccur.
After the Holocaust, many survivors moved to new surroundings (Israel, America, Australia, and other countries) where there were not so many constant reminders of the trauma. For most Cambodians this was not possible. The countryside, the weather, buildings, rice paddies, irrigation ditches, and former Khmer Rouge cadres serving in high government posts act as constant reminders. Where Israelis may get some sense of safety from the presence of soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, Cambodians have little trust in their military. The continued presence of the Khmer Rouge and the survival of many of its leaders has delayed the process of mourning in Cambodian society. There has been no trial akin to that of Eichmann in Israel. Such a trial might provide an opportunity for individual Cambodians to tell their stories and aid in their process of healing.
Whereas economic conditions in Israel have improved markedly over the years, Cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Many people lack the basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter. Among a group of adolescent and young-adult Cambodian-Americans it was found that whereas symptoms of PTSD are generally constant or diminish slightly over time, symptoms of depression are more related to recent stressors and decreased markedly as they spent more time in America. For many Cambodians still in the country, poverty is a continual stressor which is most likely a significant risk factor for depression.
During the Khmer Rouge reign, the practice of organized religion was prohibited, temples were destroyed, and monks were either killed or forced to renounce their religious oaths. One positive occurrence in Cambodia over the past few years has been the restoration of Buddhism. Many Buddhist monks have taken an active role in espousing nonviolence among Cambodians and seem to be having a positive effect (personal communication, Mr. Bob Maat, Committee for Peace and Reconciliation, Cambodia). Hopefully, the traditional practice of Buddhism in Cambodia will be able to help in stopping the cycle of violence and allowing the population to heal. The appearance of several human rights advocacy groups in Cambodia is also an encouraging sign.
Conclusion
What happened during the Holocaust was different from what happened in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime. The differences largely flowed from the fact that the aims of the perpetrators were different. As for the posttraumatic psychological late effects, we have found that both Holocaust survivors and survivors of the Cambodian tragedy still suffer from PTSD symptoms, many years after the traumatic events. This is a complex form of PTSD which followed massive prolonged traumatic events.10
The Jewish Holocaust and the Cambodian conflict caused deep, permanent changes in both societies. Because of different conditions and background, the Jewish society has coped differently than the Cambodian society with the national trauma.
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