FOR many years Cambodia (or, Kampuchea) was at peace. Then, in 1970, Lieutenant General Lon Nol seized power. As a result, communists known as Khmer Rouge, or Red Khmer, rose up in revolt. Lon Nol mobilized everyone he could throughout Cambodia to fight the communists.

That was because in April 1975 the communist Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Penh, ousted Lon Nol, and immediately tried to create a completely new society.

To this end, all officials who had served in the former regime had to report so that they could be sent to special camps for retraining purposes. I did not report because I did not want to become a police officer again. This failure to report saved my life. I learned later that “retraining” really meant execution. All who reported were killed.

A Time of Horror

According to estimates, in the months that followed, from one to two million Cambodian people were put to death. I personally witnessed executions, saw mass graves, as well as rivers and lakes literally red with blood and full of dead bodies. Families were torn apart and driven from their homes and land. An unprecedented revolution swept away Cambodian traditions of more than two thousand years. No Cambodian would ever have thought such radical change possible.

Disconcerted and filled with horror, I asked myself if there was any purpose left in living in such an inhuman society. I resolved to flee to a foreign country. The Red Khmer had already been searching for me; I was on their blacklist. Since leaving the police force, I had been living under an assumed name, and this had delayed their finding me. However, since I was well known as a songwriter and author, many people knew who I was and would even call me by my real name. So I realized I was in great danger.

Even so, the decision to flee to Thailand was by no means easy. Whatever the ruling regime, I still loved my home country. Also, I knew that once I left, I could never expect to come back to see my parents, my brother, and my sisters. Besides, there was no way to find routes to Thailand. I couldn’t ask. I had seen the corpse of a man who had been shot and left lying on the ground because it had become known that he was planning to flee the country.

The Flight​—and Faith in God

EXACTLY two months after the Red Khmer took power, another man and I attempted to flee. However, we got lost and had to return. But I didn’t give up. A few days later, I set out again with a former police colleague. We were later joined by seven others, including a three-year-old child.

In the jungle, we heard the bloodcurdling roars of tigers. But even more frightening than tigers and poisonous snakes were supporters of the Red Khmer, who were constantly combing the jungles in search of refugees. Sometimes we saw them. The slightest noise would have attracted their attention and meant death. At times fear deprived us of sleep.