Dith Pran
Dith Pran (born September 23, 1942 in Siem Reap , † March 30, 2008 in New Brunswick ) was a Cambodian photojournalist who survived the rule of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s in Cambodia (then Kampuchea). His fate was portrayed in the film The Killing Fields . In the film, Dith was played by Haing S. Ngor , also a survivor of the Killing Fields . Ngor was awarded an Oscar for his portrayal .
Life
Dith Pran's father was a civil servant responsible for public construction projects. Due to the fact that Dith was learning French at school and also learning English on the side, he was hired as a translator for the United States Military Assistance Command . When Cambodia broke off diplomatic relations with the United States in 1965, he worked for a British film team and in a hotel reception because of his knowledge of foreign languages. In the early 1970s, after the effects of the Vietnam War also hit Cambodia and civil war broke out in the country, the influence of the Khmer Rouge continued to increase, so that tourism as a source of income dried up and Dith Pran now had to interpret for foreign journalists . He taught himself reportage photography while working with Sydney Schanberg , a reporter for the New York Times .
After the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, Dith Pran stayed in Cambodia with Schanberg to report on the capture of the capital Phnom Penh by the communist forces of Pol Pot . As a foreign journalist, Schanberg had permission to leave the country, but Dith was refused to leave. To avoid a possible execution, Dith posed as a simple farmer. For the next 3 ½ years he worked in the fields and did labor. After the People's Army of Vietnam invaded in November 1978 in Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge had stripped of power after a few weeks, went Dith Pran to Siem Reap , where he learned that 50 members of his family during the genocide of the Khmer Rouge killed . He was appointed mayor of his village by the Vietnamese occupiers, but he eventually fled to Thailand because he was afraid that they might find out about his ties to Americans. Since then he has lived in the USA.
From 1980 Pran worked as a photojournalist for the New York Times . He stood up for the victims of the rule of the Khmer Rouge and was the founder and chairman of The Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness Project, Inc. In 1998 he was honored with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for his commitment .
Dith Pran died of pancreatic cancer in New Brunswick on March 30, 2008, at the age of 65 .
Web links
- "Cambodian journalist Dith Pran has died" , Spiegel Online , March 30, 2008
Individual evidence
- ^ Dith Pran, Photojournalist and Survivor of the Killing Fields, Dies at 65 by Douglas Martin, accessed from www.nytimes.com on January 14, 2014
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dith Pran |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Cambodian photojournalist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 23, 1942 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Siem Reap |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 30, 2008 |
| Place of death | New Brunswick (New Jersey) |