Purging Innocence

Survival Against Impossible Odds ... The Khmer Rouge: a name synonymous with unspeakable torture, oppression, and genocide. On April 17, 1975, they invaded Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, ruthlessly combing the city and murdering thousands on their hit lists as well as anyone who would not or could not leave. Whole families perished in this atrocious campaign. San Khiev, an ex-military fisherman, bravely helped his family and friends survive until they were transported to the countryside, where his pregnant wife had to watch him be taken away for "questioning," which meant he would never return. He was brought to a prison camp called Wat Thomayuth, a temple taken over by the Khmer Rouge, where they viciously tortured and murdered at least fifty prisoners a day. Rather than "giving names" of the innocent during brutal interrogations, San endured torments that most people would not have survived. He kept faith, even when there was nothing left to hope for. Day after day, for months, he miraculously escaped death. He is the only known survivor of this prison camp. Purging Innocence is the heart-rending, inspiring chronicle of a family moving from a successful life in a prosperous and thriving country, through the horror of the Khmer Rouge regime, one of history's most tragic and shameful events, to a new but challenging life abroad. Through these family stories, as told by San's sister Pauch, you will witness horror, despair, loyalty, courage-and, above all, the astonishing resilience of the human spirit.