26 See “The National Duties of Us All,” Tung Padevat (July 1978): 1, which refers to the “correct and wise leadership of the CPK with POL POT at its head” (Heder translation). See also the untitled poem in Kampuchea, August 1978, p. 36, line 3, for the same formulation. Sok Bunthan (author’s interview, July 1989) claimed to have seen a school textbook in 1978 with Pol Pot’s picture on the cover. See also New Straits Times, March 6, 1990, where Loth Suong in an interview with Larry Jagan stated that his brother’s portrait in the dining hall in Kompong Thom was bracketed by photographs of Mao Zedong and Kim Il Sung.

27 Author’s interviews with Ong Thong Hoeung (February 1990), Khieu Kannarith (October 1990), and Vann Nath (January 1995). Hoeung identified the artist as Mok Sokhun, who had come back from France with Hoeung in 1976. Sokhun was arrested in December 1976 and held at S-21 until January 1979, when he “escaped.” Presumably, much of his time was spent executing portraits and other paintings for the regime. On the sculptures, see John Pilger, Heroes (London, 1989), p. 394. Pilger interviewed the sculptor, Ten Chan, in Phnom Penh in 1979. See also Vietnam Courier, ed., Kampuchea Dossier III (Hanoi, 1979), p. 116. Thiounn Mumm told Sauv Kim Hong in 1980 that “from what he knew about Pol Pot, Pol Pot would never have ordered” the statues made (Heder interview with Hong).

28 David Ashley’s interview with Vann Nath (May 1995). Wat Phnom is a small hill in the northern section of the capital. The mock-up of the statue has not survived. See also Christine Chameau, “No. 55 Delivers His Verdict on Pol Pot,” an extended interview with Vann Nath, in Phnom Penh Post, November 7-20, 1997.

29 Some accurate biographical information about Nuon Chea appears in Non Suon’s confession, suggesting that in the self-criticism sessions that all party members attended periodically, Nuon Chea had on at least one occasion provided a version of his life story. By 1978, some party members had blended Nuon Chea and Pol Pot in their minds to form “the organization.” On Nuon Chea, see Roger Normand (personal communication, citing conversations with defectors); author’s interviews with Hin Sithan (November 1987) and Ty Sophen (February 1989); and Suon Kaset Sokho’s letter to author (November 1989). Sithan and Sophen spent the Pol Pot period in Wat Ko, Nuon Chea’s home village, where Chea’s mother exercised a strong influence over him. In 1975—1977, when she lived in Wat Ko, she was allowed to visit the Buddhist monastery daily. Four monks were kept on duty to receive her. They were almost certainly the only functioning monks in Democratic Kampuchea. In 1997, Nuon Chea allowed himself to be interviewed by Nate Thayer and provided Thayer with an interesting handwritten history of the Communist movement, but revealed very little about his personal life.

30 See U.S. Embassy Bangkok’s telegram of Heder’s interview with Sok Sim (Lonh), unnumbered, Pike Archives (Cambodia, January 1980).