Exiled: From the Killing Fields of Cambodia to California and Back

341 Pages·2018·2.948 MB·English

by  Katya Cengel

EX ILE D

E X I L E D
FROM THE KILLING
FIELDS OF CAMBODIA TO
CALIFORNIA AND BACK
Katya Cengel
POTOMAC BOOKS
An imprint of the University of Nebraska Press
© 2018 by the Board of Regents of
the University of Nebraska
All rights reserved. Potomac Books is an
imprint of the University of Nebraska Press.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Library of Congress
Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Cengel, Katya, author.
Title: Exiled: from the killing fields of Cambodia
to California and back / Katya Cengel.
Description: [Lincoln, Nebraska]: Potomac
Books, an imprint of the University
of Nebraska Press, [2018] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017042817
ISBN 9781640120341 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN 9781640120761 (epub)
ISBN 9781640120778 (mobi)
ISBN 9781640120785 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Cambodians— California.
| Cambodian Americans— California. |
Immigrant families— California. | Immigrant
families— Cambodia. | Deportees—
California. | Deportees— Cambodia. |
Cambodia—H istory—1 975–1 979—I nfluence.
Classification: LCC F870.K45 C46 2018
| DDC 979.4/00495932— dc23
LC record available at
https:// lccn .loc .gov /2017042817
Set in Lyon by E. Cuddy.
Designed by N. Putens.
To my mother

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Complete Cast of Characters xv
Introduction 1
PART 1. YEAR ZERO
1. The Diplomat and the Deportee 15
2. “It Was a Massacre” 27
3. The Mother 40
4. The Murderer 51
5. Sithy and Sithea 67
6. “It’s Not What You Think” 77
7. The Wife without a Husband 84
8. Stealing from the Dead 94
PART 2. LIMBO
9. The Father 103
10. An Education in Silence 113
11. A Second Chance 124
12. The Medicine Man 136
13. Expired 150
14. “Not Home for the Holidays” 163
15. Never- Ending Nightmare 179
PART 3. YEAR OF THE MONKEY
16. Two Cities Tangled Together 197
17. New Year, Same Past 203
18. Girlfriends 212
19. A Party at Oak Park 223
20. Judgment Day 235
PART 4. YEARS TO COME
21. Blood- Killer 247
22. The Pastor 254
23. Friends and Family 261
24. Exile 269
25. Left Behind 278
Afterword 283
Acknowledgments 287
Appendix 289
Sources 291
Index 305
ILLUSTRATIONS
Following page 162
1. Sithy Yi, Jennifer Diep, and Sithea San
with their maid, Than, ca. 1972
2. San Croucher with Sithy Yi, Sithea San,
and Jennifer Diep, 1980
3. San Croucher and Sithy Yi, 2016
4. Puthy Hak and Touch Hak, 2016
5. David Ros at Cambodia Town’s New
Year’s parade, 2016
6. Spectators at Cambodia Town’s New
Year’s parade, 2016
7. Nheb Thai, 2017
8. Khe Khoeun, 2017