Chum Mey

Chum Mey (Khmer: ជុំ ម៉ី, born c. 1930) is one of only seven known adult survivors[1] of the Khmer Rouge imprisonment in the S-21 Tuol Sleng camp, where 20,000 Cambodians were sent for execution.[2] His life was only spared because of his high level of competence in machine repairing for Pol Pot's soldiers.[3]

Chum Mey
Born1930 (age 89–90)
French Cambodia
NationalityCambodian
OccupationMechanic and writer
Known forSurvivor of the Tuol Sleng prison camp
Children7 (1 killed)
The exterior of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh
Chum Mey signing books at Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh (January 2015).

"First they shot my wife, who was marching in front with the other women," he said. "She screamed to me, 'Please run, they are killing me now'. I heard my son crying and then they fired again, killing him. When I sleep, I still see their faces, and every day I still think of them".[4]

Chum Mey later remarried and had six children, three sons and three daughters.

In 2003 he appeared in the Rithy Panh documentary S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine along with Cambodian artist Vann Nath where they were reunited and revisited the former prison, now known as the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh. They meet their former captors – guards, interrogators, a doctor and a photographer – many of whom were barely teenagers during the Khmer Rouge era from 1975 to 1979. Their appearances are in stark contrast to the two former prisoners, who are both elderly men. Vann Nath, who was made to paint portraits of prisoners, has a full head of white hair.

The guards and interrogators gave a tour of the museum, re-enacting their treatment of the prisoners and daily regimens. They looked over the prison's detailed records, including photographs, to refresh their memories.

Chum Mey giving evidence at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, 30 June 2009

In 2009, he gave evidence at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, the trial of surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime. On 9 November 2014 Mey appeared on BBC's The Mekong River with Sue Perkins.

Chum Mey at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh (March 2015)
Chum Mey is signing his book Survivor for visitors at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh (March 2015)

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2015-03-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "BBC - History - Into the Heart of Darkness: Extracts from a Film Diary". Archived from the original on 2008-05-06. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
  3. "Survivor rises to bear witness from the killing fields". The Age. Melbourne. 2004-01-07. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  4. "Pol Pot survivor prepares to tell horrific tale". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2004-01-07. Archived from the original on 2016-07-24. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
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