39 From author’s interview with Sok Chuon (June 1990). Michael Vickery (personal communication) recalled that Saloth Sar was known as a progressive among fellow schoolteachers. Chhim Samauk’s confession mentions secret study sessions in the suburb of Beng Trabek. For an analysis of the interplay between Buddhist and Communist styles of teaching, see François Ponchaud, ”Social Change in the Vortex of Revolution,“ in Jackson, ed., Cambodia, 1975—1978, pp. 172ff. Sok Chuon claimed that at this time Nuon Chea was also well known as a propagandist.

40 From author’s interviews with Oeur Hunly (September 1989) and Sok Pirun (November 1989); and Siet Chhae’s confession. Party members held their own closed sessions. Pun Than’s confession lists those regularly attending such sessions in Phnom Penh in 1958-1959.

41 On the Siem Reap demonstrations, see RC, March 8, 1963. See also Khieu Samphan, Cambodia’s Economic Development, ed. and trans. by Laura Summers (Ithaca, N.Y., 1979), p. 17; and author’s interviews with Ith Sarin (November 1988) and Thel Thong (August 1987). On Lon Nol’s list, see Kiernan, HPP, pp. 202 and 242 (n158). Chou Chet fled Phnom Penh a week earlier, according to his confession.

42 See Engelbert and Goscha, Falling Out of Touch, p. 64. The money had been given to Chea by Vietnamese colleagues in the Indochina Communist party and was intended to buy a house for an ICP cadre in Phnom Penh. This intriguing tale of double-dealing may explain why Chea was reluctant to follow Sar into the forest in 1963 and also suggests, in view of Chea’s long career, an overwhelming, self-abasing loyalty to the party. Vietnamese Communists accepted Sar’s promotion, referring to him by 1964 as Anh Hai (”eldest brother“)—a position probably occupied by Ho himself within the Vietnamese party. Sar was also known to the Vietnamese as Hai Thien (”the good-natured one“).

43 Nuon Chea, ”History.“ According to his confession, Siet Chhae was removed from party work after the promulgation of the list; he followed Sar to Office 100. On Saloth Sar’s conversation, see author’s interview with Keng Vannsak (October 1986). See also ”Interview with Comrade Pol Pot,“ March 1978, p. 22 (uncatalogued item in Tuol Sleng Archives, Phnom Penh).

44 See Robert Jay Lifton’s persuasive article ”Protean Man,“ Partisan Review (Winter 1968): 13—25. Throughout his career, Pol Pot seems to have associated clandestinity with success.

Chapter Five

1 The label “Khmers rouges,” coined by Sihanouk, was never used by members of the Communist movement to describe themselves. I have borrowed the last phrase from Timothy Carney, “The Unexpected Victory,” in Jackson, ed., Cambodia, 1975—1978, pp. 13—35.

2 For a discussion of the politics of this period, see Chandler, Tragedy, Chapter 6.