A shattered youth

The rare testament of one of the few survivors of the genocide under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, during which 1.7 million people were killed. Deported at age 21, Savathay Kim spent four years as a prisoner of a Korngchalat, or forced labour camp. In 1998, she finally managed to get herself to visit the place where the camp once stood and all her memories began flooding back. She remembered her life as Borgn Tha, the name she was forced to use at the time, and began to write about it. This is her story.