35 David Ashley, interview with ex-division level cadre (May 1995). Interestingly, although the confessions of senior cadre imprisoned at S-21, and probably those of hundreds of lesser figures as well, were transmitted to Pol Pot (under the cover name of “angkar”), nothing in his handwriting is known to have survived among the hundreds of thousands of pages generated by the prison and currently accessible to scholars. Throughout his career, Pol Pot avoided leaving a paper trail.

36 Terry McCarthy, “The Butcher of Cambodia,” Time, April 27, 1998.

37 Quoted by Sina Than, “Cambodia 1990: Towards a Peaceful Solution?” Southeast Asian Affairs 1990 (Singapore, 1991), p. 87.

38 Thayer, “Final Reckoning”; and Eric Pape, “Pol Pot’s Final Interview,” Phnom Penh Post, April 24-May 7, 1998.

39 David Ashley’s interview with I Chhean (January 1997); and David Ashley, “The End of the Revolution,” unpublished paper, April 1997. I am grateful to Ashley for a copy of this insightful essay.

40 David Ashley’s interview with a former Division 450 cadre (September 1996).

41 Material in these two paragraphs is drawn from Nate Thayer, “Next Generation,” FEER, August 7, 1997; and from the verbatim translation of his July 25, 1997, interview with Khem Nguon, the incoming military commander who, along with Ta Mok, engineered Pol Pot’s show trial on the same day, discussed below. Khem Nguon’s fluent narrative rings true but should be treated with caution as far as the timing of conversions and people’s ascribed motivations are concerned.

42 This idea was echoed by an accuser at Pol Pot’s trial in July 1997: “Looking backwards, Cambodia was dissolving into nothing.”

43 Nate Thayer, “Brother Enemy No. 1,” Phnom Penh Post, August 15-18, 1997, is a more detailed treatment than his “Brother Number Zero,” FEER, August 7, 1997. For a summary of events in June July 1997, see Phnom Penh Post, January 2-15, 1998.

44 Thayer, “Brother Enemy Number One.” The slogans are taken from David Ashley’s translation of cassette tapes recording the trial and Thayer’s subsequent interview with Khem Nguon.

45 Thayer, “Day of Reckoning.” I am grateful to Sok Pirun, a survivor of the Pol Pot era, for the mordant adage.

46 Nate Thayer, “Nowhere to Hide,” FEER, April 23, 1998, and his “Dying Breath,” FEER, April 30, 1998. See also Seth Mydans, “Pol Pot’s Body Is Shown to Reporters,” New York Times, April 17, 1998.

47 Seth Mydans, “Pol Pot Is Cremated; No Tears Are Shed,” New York Times, April 19, 1998.

48 I am grateful to Judy Ledgerwood for a translation of this macabre interview.

Bibliographic Essay

Interviews by Author

These interviews were conducted in Australia, Cambodia, Canada, France, and the United States between 1986 and 1997. In listing them alphabetically, I have followed the accepted practice with Vietnamese and Cambodian informants of giving family names first (e.g., Ngo Dien).