Survivor: The triumph of an ordinary man in the Khmer Rouge genocide

by Chum Mey, Sim Sorya (Translator), Kimsroy Sokvisal (Translator)

108 pages : some coloured illustrations and portraits ; 22 cm. His life story -- Postscript at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal -- Fact sheet on "S-21" Tuol Sleng Prison -- (Khmer) spelling -- Chum Mey's confession / with introduction by David Chandler and Youk Chhang. Series Documentation series (Documentation Center of Cambodia), no. 18.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, War, Historical, Memoir

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Khari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went to the Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh three years ago and Chum Mey was there.

I bought the book from him because I was so horrified by what I had seen at that museum that I wanted to do something, anything, to try and erase some of the suffering that place had caused.

I know that my ten dollars and tearful face didn't really do anything, they can't change the past, but by reading the book and passing it on to someone else, I can raise awareness about the atrocity humans are capable of inflicting on other humans.

Honestly speaking, the book isn't that good. It's not well written, and it's not a good translation. There are spelling errors and binding issues, but all of that really doesn't matter because all you can really hear as you read this book is one person's story. It's full of sincerity and pain. I recommend it on those grounds, but even more that that I recommend actually going to Cambodia and visiting Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields because it will change your life and how you view the world.

[Michael Huang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cambodia is probably not a country that generates a lot of tourism interest (e.g., 15 times more people visit France instead). But Angkor Wat is an awesome sight not to be missed. When you visit Cambodia, you’re likely to visit their museums and hear about their recent history including Khmer Rouge and their infamous concentration camp. Chum Mey is (as of Dec 2024 when I visited) the last surviving inmate of the prison known as S-21. He was born in 1931. He shows up at the prison-turn-museum quite often and signs this book there and tell you about the brutal things the Pol Pot regime did to him and others in that prison (electrocution and tearing out toenails are among the less brutal side). This little pamphlet is a plain-spoken autobiography including his early childhood, marriage, working for various jobs, forced out of home by Khmer Rouge, being tricked and captured into the prison and forced to confess being an agent of enemy (CIA), and eventual release when the Viet Nam forces drove away Khmer Rouge. It also includes various photos and the international tribunal events decades later.

[Laura]

like most of the other reviewers, I also purchased this book from chum mey while i was at the toul sleng genocide museum. I didn't get around to reading it til now because it is difficult to read. i dont really know how to rate it w stars because it isn't like a book or argument or memoir, it is
a matter-of-fact testimonial. he crams his life story into about 40 pages, then we have a pamphlet section on his organization and their mission statements, and then we read a transcript of the "confession" he gave while being tortured. I honestly cannot imagine how he can even set foot in the prison and I hope he's had a lot of happiness in the rest of his years.

very weird side note is this book smelled really good and i kept stopping reading to sniff it

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book when I met the author at S-21 because I wanted to support his telling the story of his life. It's the story of one man's life and horrific experiences under the Khmer Rouge. Mey is not a writer by profession so the writing is not literary at all, just simple sentences and fragments. I guess the prose isn't the main point of the book, but it didn't really draw me in. This book was a good accompaniment to my visit to Tuol Sleng, which I definitely recommend visiting if possible, but I don't think I would've gotten as much out of the book if I hadn't already seen the site in person.

[Debbi Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Chum Mey on a recent trip to Cambodia, and was a tearful wreck hearing about the barbaric treatment of prisoners held at Tuol Sleng interrogation camp. What a serene forgiving person that I found him to be considering that he was one of only 7 survivors. For people interested in the history of the Pol Pot regime, a must read.

[Celine Prins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Echt een hele slechte vertaling, maar het gaat natuurlijk om Chum Mey’s verhaal. Moet wel eerlijk zeggen dat de diepte daarvan een beetje wegviel omdat de vertaling echt zo slecht was dat ik soms moest puzzelen om het verhaal te begrijpen. Dat vond ik zonde.

Het was wel heel bijzonder om Chum Mey te ontmoeten en ik zou zijn verhaal zeker aanraden.

[Nicole Turnbull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having met Chum Mey made this book extra special and realistic. It is all truth from his eyes and what he saw during the Khmer Rouge genocide. It is a real eye opener and would be a good teaching aid for schools to explain the harsh treatment theses people endured.

[Candice Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up buying this book at Tuol Sleng from Mr. Mey, who is a very sweet and charming man. The book is gut-wrenching and insightful, although there's no literary quality to it, and the matter-of-fact tone when it comes to the death of family members is jarring.

[marianatinajero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leí este libro porque fui al museo de genocidios Tuol Sleng en Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
En donde tuve el privilegio de coincidir con el autor de este libro y uno de los sobrevivientes del S-21 en el régimen de los Jemeres Rojos, tras la guerra de Vietnam.
Este libro te narra la historia de Chum Mey, en donde te cuenta lo que sufrían, luchaban, como vivían ahi dentro, sus castigos, obligaciones, etc.
Y dentro de todo esto, como él logra sobrevivir dentro de miles de personas, siendo privilegiado de poder vivir para contar su historia.
A mí este libro me dejo mucha historia sobre este genocidio y sobre todo un pedacito de Chum Mey y su historia.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving memoir. Another honour meeting Chum Mey and to be able to express my gratitude to him for sharing this story of surviving the Khmer Rouge genocide.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrible stories of the things the Khmer Rouge did to ordinary people. Met him in real life and couldn't help to tear up when I saw him.

[Lori Sunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

We met this man at the S-21 Prison in Phnom Penh. He is one of two remaining survivors from that prison and, despite the atrocities he experienced there, he returns every day to share his story with visitors.

For Cambodians, it's important that their experiences under the Khmer Rouge are shared. This is a simple, yet raw, account of this man's experience of being starved, tortured, and losing his entire family during this horrific period in time.

It puts a real face on the horror that we typically only see in movies from our couches.

You don't read it for the literary prose, you read it for the real, gritty, first hand account of what one man experienced.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not an author nor a work that pretends to be literary. This is a straight account of a survivor of S-21, the notorious Khmer Rouge torture facility in Phnom Penh. It reads like you are simply listening to the author, without any editor stepping in. It is rather shattering. The book also includes the lengthy "confession" of the author, which is remarkable in how droning and ridiculous it is. One wonders why the author of the confession thought future readers would find the stilted prose and painful density to be useful at all. After visiting S-21 and seeing Mr. Chum, this was compelling.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I purchased this book from Chum Mey at the S-21 prison. His story is amazing, and he is an inspiration. I was hoping for more from this book. I wanted more details about his life and how he was feeling during the time, but it was more to the point. He wrote about what happened and during what year. It was a little difficult to read maybe because of the translation to English.

[Tegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Purchased this book from Chum Mey himself at S21 Prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia recently. Incredibly moving tale of his childhood & life before the Khmer Rouge, however, not much on his time at S21 or the Khmer Rouge.

[Felix Eder · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, especially as I was traveling in Cambodia and visiting the exact places that appear in this book, shown through text and images. I even bought the book from the author, the guy on the cover! I am really happy I have this book as a souvenir and memory of Phnom Penh, but it's also hard to recommend to most people. It's not written very well and there are probably other books and documentaries that tell this story better.

But since this is an authentic story told by one of the only survivors of the Khmer Rouge Genocide, I still think it's worth a read. And if you don't have access to this book and want to learn about this story, there should be plenty of other material to go to! This is a horrible and at the same time fascinating piece of history that we otherwise never really get to learn. So if this sounds interesting, please find more resources about Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge regime!

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had the privilege of visiting Tuol Sleng and hearing Chum Mey’s story from the man himself in May 2025, and I couldn’t walk away without buying his book. I can’t imagine the pain of attending the site he was tortured at each day and recounting that pain for ignorant tourists such as myself, so I hope my $10 USD helps numb that pain even just a bit.

To be honest, the book isn’t that great - it doesn’t appear to be a great translation, there are a few spelling errors, and Chum Mey’s account and the good work of the victims organisation he’s a part of aren't really organised in any compelling way. However, the pain of what he went through during the Khmer Rouge regime is poignant in each page of the book. If anyone were interested in learning about the Khmer Rouge regime, I probably wouldn’t start with this book, but it does give you a personal insight into one man’s horrific experience during and after the regime.

[Maureen Mclelland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like others, I bought this book after meeting Chum Mey when I visited Cambodia. It was out of respect for him and all that he’s been through that I purchased and read the book and have rated as t as 4 stars. It really wasn’t a literary masterpiece but it certainly deserves to be read. It was a difficult read because of the horrifying content but also the poor translation. The written confession at the end (written by guards to justify his torture in prison) was so disturbing on so many levels…that one person would go to that length to fabricate lies in order to save their own life, that one would go into such fake detail to make it sound convincing, and that Chum Mey would publish it in its entirety as evidence that his captor faced no consequences and was essentially an innocent victim as well? It boggles the mind. What a senseless period of history this portrays.

[Ray Grasshoff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like most people who have reviewed this book, I bought it from author Chum Mey himself at the former S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. His brief story of the cruelty of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime that he, as well as millions of others, experienced in the 1970s is difficult to read. But the courage and willingness to weather it and survive it, as did Chum Mey, is a tribute to human hope and resilience. Still, as a book, this one only informs of these things very basically, as if reciting a list of events with little, if any, human emotion attached to them. Too, only about half of the book describes Chum Mey's life, and only part of that involves the Khmer Rouge takeover. Much of the remainder of the book contains only Chum Mey's untrue confession, made after days of torture by the Khmer Rouge, as being an agent of foreign governments.

[Suzanne Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many others I met Chum Mey whilst visiting Tuol Sleng, a prison / torture centre that had previously been a primary school, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The experience of that visit as well as time spent at the Killing Field outside the city was overwhelmingly painful and shocking. I too bought the book hoping that proceeds would help those affected by such vicious and brutal events.
The translation is creaky but that’s the point. It’s a wholly personal voice we hear in this book. His story must be protected and shared. Throughout the 20th and now the 21st century men have committed atrocity after atrocity across the world… Russia, China, Nazi Germany, Chile, Balkans, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Gaza… will mankind never learn, never stop hating?

[Carolyn Coote · Rating 3 out of 5]

December 2025 I visited the Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh and Chum Mey was there as he is most days with an interpreter signing his books. I hadn’t been able to take any photographs during my two hour visit as I found it very overwhelming so I bought the book to support families affected by this terrible tragedy which lasted more than four years. It’s a book about his life, and it gives a background of the events that lead up to his imprisonment in Tuol Sleng prison and how he was only one of eight to survive. It’s not a book that flows easily and the translation seems very stilted with the literary style very staccato, but it gives insight into life in Cambodia under the rule of the Khmer Rouge and how a country is still dealing with the events of this period.

[Sam Schroder · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a school group from Bowral NSW we visited S21 on 15.1.17 and met Chum Mey. His story is heartbreaking and we were all in awe of the courage it must take to go back there every day as he does. This book is brief and factual. It offers the devastating story of a simple man, living his life the best he knew how, who experienced incomprehensible torture and lost every person he had ever loved, including his wife and four children. It includes images and information about the hell that was the S21 prison and a transcript of the 'confession' that helped, along with his mechanical repair ability, to save his life.

[Ana-Maria Bujor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a difficult book to review as it is not written by a professional writer and simply reflects the horrific things the author went through. I can see people being lost by it if they had not previously visited Tuol Sleng. But as a companion to the visit, the book brings some new things. It shows how life was for the average person, as we mostly get books from the perspective of intellectuals. And second, even if it is a bit of a drag to read, the fake confession is fascinating when put into context.
All in all, an important historical document, but can see why some readers may not get the best experience.

[Saheb Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most, I purchased the book from Mr. Chum Mey earlier this month when I was on a solo trip to Cambodia. I really feel so ignorant that I did not know about this cruel recent history of Cambodia before this.
This is an eye opener.
I am unable to fathom the fact how the quest for power can cloud one's mind so much that one would go at such heinous length to torture fellow human beings.
The recent history is very sad, and although this book summarizes some of the facts, it also leaves a lot of questions unanswered!

[Bozena Lukasiak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met the author 8 years ago, at the museum, where he was selling his book.

His modesty and deep understanding of the value of life struck me deeply.
I still remember the words he used to describe his persecutors - how he forgave them by acknowledging their own misery.

I often think about the way he embraced life after prison and after his young family was killed, his example brings me hope and comfort in difficult times.

I love the beauty of his writing, it's simplicity and decency.

[Liz Mistry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book from the author at the Genocide museum in Phnom Penh. A 94 year old survivor of the abuses that happened at this museum which was first a school then a torture chamber.
In terms of the writing - okay maybe not the best, but I appreciated the determination of the survivor Chum Mey to tell this story. Although he experienced many horrific things during this time, the account was quite factual rather than emotive, which to be honest , for me having just visited the museum, I was thankful for. A valuable real life story that shouldn't be forgotten

[Suze · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Chum describes his life and experiences leading up to, and during, the reign of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge in this simply written nonfiction book. As he recounts his imprisonment, torture, and fabricated confession I couldn’t help thinking, “This is real, this is what so many of the world’s people experience.” Meeting him on the prison tour in Phnom Pehn and getting a signed copy of his book makes it even more meaningful.

[Umbar]

Like other reviewers I also bought this from Chum Mey at Tuol Sleng. I struggled to find the emotional strength to read this book since then, but glad I read it now. As others have noted it’s not particularly well written but it feels a bit disrespectful leaving a rating. Chum Mey and the other survivors are so admirable for being able to face that prison again to tell their stories, the least we can do is remember them.

[Tricia Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like many others I purchased Chum Mey’s book after visiting Tuol Seng in Cambodia. Three years later and I have finally decided to read it! It was an easy read despite the poor use of grammar. I found the text a bit dry, but there were parts that really made me hurt for Chum. What a remarkable story he has kindly shared with the world!

[Nahia]

Coincidí con el autor en el museo S21 y compré el libro, que leí esa misma tarde. Es increíble que esté allí presente y siento una gran admiración por el esfuerzo que debe suponer revivir a diario todo el terror sucedido en Camboya, con el fin de rememorar a las víctimas y dejar constancia de los horrores del régimen. Siempre recordaré la presencia de Chum Mey y su impresionante testimonio.