Cambodian Oral Histories of the Center for Lowell History. This project contains 11 interviews transcribed in English.
Cambodian Women’s Oral History Project: Life Stories of Survival under the Khmer Rouge Regime. NGO based in Phnom Penh. Supported by Cambodian Defenders Project, Transcultural Psychosocial Organization, Youth for Peace, and the Youth Resource Development Program.
The Digital Archives of Cambodia Holocaust Survivors (DACHS). This website has stories of Cambodia genocide survivors and is looking for more stories.
Khmer Oral History Project of the Minnesota Historical Society. A part of a larger immigrant history effort, this 1990 project of the Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee as a part of a mock trial of the Khmer Rouge leadership for the crime of genocide. The project includes fifteen interviews of Minnesota’s Cambodian immigrant community who served as witnesses in the mock trial. Each interview includes a transcript, available in English and Khmer as appropriate. Copyright in the interviews is held by Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights.
Khmer Rouge History. This Khmer language website provides accounts of various actions of the Khmer Rouge regime, including stories of survivors and details of daily life.
The New York Public Library Digital Collections. More than 25 interviews with Cambodian artists and musicians as a part of a larger collection of stories, many referencing the Khmer Rouge period. Co-produced by the Khmer Dance Project and the Center for Khmer Studies. In Khmer and subtitled in English.
The Stockton Cambodian Oral History Project Facebook Page. The Stockton Cambodian Oral History Project is aimed at educating the community about the richly diverse and unique role Cambodians have played in Stockton’s recent history and their phenomenal contribution to the city’s arts, religion and culture.
Supplementary Teaching Education Project (STEP). This non-profit organization provided projectors and screens to a library in Meanchey, Cambodia. The project staff trained and taught librarians to hold and transcribe interviews. The effort lasted from May 2010 – April 2011 and helped many to be more open to talking about this dark past.
The OH Project, Portland Oregon. This project was started by the Cambodian American Community of Oregon in 2009. The purpose of this project was to pass down stories and Khmer culture to future generations. There are clips from five interviews, each with a video and English transcription.
Living Memory of the Khmer. Northern Illinois University began this project to document Cambodian history and hardship from 1950-1990. The twelve interviews highlight important historical events as well as individual stories from Khmer Rouge survivors. The videos include English subtitles.
Southeast Asian Digital Archive (SEADA). A project by UMass Lowell, a research university in Lowell, MA, is seeking to collect and preserve oral histories of Southeast Asian Americans. It began in 2019, and has four interviews from Cambodian Americans who lived during the Khmer Rouge Era—but they are hoping to collect more. This website includes audio files and English transcriptions of the interviews.
Shadows in the Sun – Richard Olsenius. In 1979, photographer Richard Olsenius and writer Lewis Cope traveled to the war torn border of Thailand and Cambodia to document the developing refugee crisis for the Minneapolis Tribune newspaper. In 1980 Olsenius was awarded the World Press Photo award for his coverage of the refugees. This site is a collection of images and text that chronicles his work and memories from that life changing experience, and provides a stunning visual history of the Cambodian refugees fleeing the Pol Pot regime.
Books of Note:
Sok Tann’s Life Story: From Cambodia to the United States and Freedom. This book was compiled by Randolph Taylor and informally published by the Salt Lake Community College Printing Services to document the life history of Sok Tann, a Cambodian-American refugee and friend of the compiler. In this book, Sok Tann shares his story from his childhood beginnings to his escape from the Khmer Rouge and immigration to America. We obtained this book after Randolph Taylor came in contact with our project and asked to donate his book to the project. With their permission, a copy of Sok Tann’s life story is now hosted on our website and can be found here: Sok Tann’s Life Story
Little Srey Mao: A Story of Survival. This book is the personal history of Long Savanna, who worked with her close friend Janet Alexander for nearly a year to compile her life stories. In this book, Long Savanna shares both her terrible and triumphant memories, having survived the Cambodian Civil War and the Pol Pot regime in her youth. After the Khmer Rouge period ended, she lived in the Khao-I-Dang refugee camp before immigrating to the United States. We obtained this book after Janet Alexander got in contact with our project and gave us permission to host a copy of Long Savanna’s life story on our website. You can read her story here: Long Savanna’s Life Story
Out of the Killing Fields, Into the Light. This book chronicles the life stories and miracles of several Latter-day Saint Cambodian refugees who left Cambodia during or after the Khmer Rouge and settled in the Long Beach, California. Many of the individuals interviewed by this project have shared their full stories in this book, which was published by Cedar Fort, Inc.
- Full Citation: Conrad, Penne. Out of the Killing Fields, Into the Light: Interviews with Mormon Converts from Cambodia. Springville: Cedar Fort Publishing, 2011.
To Destroy You Is No Loss: The Odyssey of a Cambodian Family. This book, written by Joan Criddle, shares the story of Teeda Butt Mam, the daughter of a Lon Nol minor government official who was a teenager when the Pol Pot regime took over the country.
- Full Citation: Criddle, JoAn. To Destroy You Is No Loss: The Odyssey of a Cambodian Family. New York: East/West Bridge Pub House, 1998.