On Thanksgiving, John and I sat next to a mild mannered Swedish man among 20 other expats. We all got our turkey and stuffing, and filled out glasses with wine. We cheered to the cooks and shared what we were thankful for. We then started to eat and got to talking about why we are were Cambodia. John and I explained Kiva and micro-finance. The mild mannered Swedish man had a far more interesting story though. He was here to attend a photo exhibit he produced while traveling through Cambodia for 14 days in 1978 (This is during the Khmer Rouge era. Phnom Penh fell and Pol Pot was disposed as the leader of Cambodia on January 7, 1979 by the Vietnamese), and to apologize to the Cambodian people.
Gunnar Bergstrom 1978
Photo found on “From The Frontline – championing independent journalism” Blog
Ex-Khmer Rouge admirer says sorry- BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7735881.stm
Gunnar Bergstrom explained to John and I that he was a young reporter in 1978 who was a Maoist sympathizer. He was invited by the Khmer Rouge to visit Cambodia to witness how well the country was running under their leadership. He was ushered around by leaders of the Khmer Rouge and dined with them. He was shown modern hospitals, modern rubber factories, schools, and happy, well-fed Cambodians harvesting rice. It appeared to be a Utopian society.
As we ate dinner, we asked him so many questions realizing that he is only 1 out of about 50 reporters ever allowed to enter Cambodia during the Pol Pot era. We asked him about his trip during that time. He explained how nice everything really looked. The hospital was modern and people looked like they were getting proper care. “In the fields, everyone was smiling.” Of course, he follows it up with, “, but I’ve come to realize that Cambodians are naturally smiley people.” (It is true from my short time here so far. Cambodians even when they are angry will smile or laugh. Anger is not admired in this culture, and it will get you nowhere. )
When he returned to Sweden in 1978, he published a few stories in support of the Khmer Rouge. A few months after that when he realized the whole trip he went on was a fabrication, he halted his support. He still couldn’t believe though that the Cambodia that he saw and photographed was truly going through genocide. Of course he realizes that his view was colored by his Maoist sympathies, but he still had been conned. He was amazed how Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge were able to fabricate an entire 14 day trip crossing the entire country.
Sitting next to this man at Thanksgiving was a pleasure. He had been touring around Cambodia for the past few weeks giving talks, and answering angry questions from survivors from the Pol Pot era. He came back to Cambodia after 30 years to apologize, and recalled recently standing in a Buddhist temple and crying, coming to grips with what people had gone through especially Buddhist monks, and simply saddened for being conned and generating international support for such a brutal regime.
Currently, he lives in Sweden, and has given up journalism. He is now a drug and alcohol councilor. He is no longer affiliated with a political party.
As I ate dinner, I simply became more intrigued by his story. I looked at all of his photos which were published in a magazine this past month and analyzed them in amazement knowing ever single scene photographed during his whole trip in 1979 was a fabrication. I wondered how he felt about being conned as I listened to him and watched a man coming to grips with it all and apologizing to an entire nation. Hopefully his story will bring the Khmer Rouge leaders still alive and on trial at the moment to justice quicker.
Gunnar and John at Thanksgiving dinner
