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Obituaries

Obituaries from page B29

million people — a fourth of the popu-
lation — perished on Pol Pot's "killing
fields" in one of the worst mass mur-
ders since the Holocaust.
Sayana, who wrote her master's
thesis about "dark tourism," or tour-
isty voyeurism at genocide sites in
Cambodia and elsewhere, also visited
several Holocaust memorials and
death camps. "I couldn't believe how
one human being could do this to
another, whether they were Jews or
Khmers," she says.
On returning home, she sought per-
mission to translate the Anne Frank
diary into Khmer. The Holocaust clas-
sic was published by the country's
leading genocide research group, the
Documentation Center of Cambodia.
It is now available for Khmer students
at high school libraries in Phnom Penh
alongside locally written books about
the Khmer Rouge period. Such books

include First They Killed My Father by
Loung Ung, which recounts the har-
rowing experiences of a child survivor
of the killing fields.
"I have seen many Anna Franks in
Cambodia," says Youk Chhang, the
head of the documentation center and
Cambodia's foremost researcher on
genocide.
A child survivor himself, Chhang lost
siblings and numerous relatives in the
mass murders perpetrated by Pol Pot
and his followers.
"If we Cambodians had read her
diary a long time ago," he says, "per-
haps there could have been a way for
us to prevent the Cambodian genocide
from happening."
Anne Frank's message, he adds,
remains as potent as ever. "Genocide
continues to happen in the world
around us even today," Youk says.
"Her diary can still play an important

role in prevention."
Although the story of Anne and
her resilient optimism in the face of
murderous evil has touched millions
of readers around the world, it may
particularly resonate with Cambodians,
Sayana adds. "Under Pol Pot, many
children were separated from their
families. They faced starvation and
were sent to the front to fight and
die," she explains. "Like Anna, they
never knew peace and the warmth of
a home."
Inspired by Anne's diary, she adds,
some Cambodian students have begun
to write their own diaries to chronicle
the sorrows and joys of their daily
lives.
Children in Laos, too, can soon learn
of Anne's story and insights. In the
impoverished, war-torn communist
country bordering Cambodia, almost
a million people perished during the

Vietnam War, while countless land-
mines and a low-level insurgency con-
tinue to take lives daily.
Yet with books for children almost
nonexistent beyond simple school
textbooks, Lao students remain largely
ignorant of the world and history.
In a private initiative, an American
expat publisher is now bringing them
children's classics translated into Lao,
including Anne Frank's diary.
"I was describing the book to a
bright college graduate here and
gave him a little context," says Sasha
Alyson, the founder of Big Brother
Mouse, a small publishing house in
Vientiane, the Lao capital, which spe-
cializes in books for Lao children. He
recalls the student asking, "World War
II? Is that the same as Star Wars?"
Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl,
he says, will provide Lao children with
a much-needed lesson in history. Li

e
an Chapel, it might
When" e p one zings a
be a request for the day and time of a service, Shiva
information and directions, or an inquiry regarding where to
send contributions in memory of a loved one.

It might also be a family member advising us of the death of
a loved one.

That is why—for nearly 70 years—The Ira Kaufman Chapel
has chosen NOT to have an answering service come
etween you and your call.

Bringing Together Family, Faith & Community

18325 WEST NINE MILE ROAD, SOUTHFIELD, MI 48075 I 248.569.0020 I FAX 248.569.2502

B30

January 1 • 2009