On April 17th 1975, Khmer Rouge forces entered Phnom Penh, Cambodia and defeated the ruling Lon Nol Army. The taking of Phnom Penh marked the beginning of the Cambodian genocide. Between 1975 and 1979 a brutal revolution took place in Cambodia. Led by Pol Pot, a radical communist group – the Khmer Rouge – seized power following a period of instability. They declared the date year zero and ruthlessly imposed an extremist programme to reconstruct Cambodia (Khmer name: Kampuchea). Working from a warped understanding of Maoist communism, they claimed to be returning society to a golden age when the land was cultivated by peasants. They despised city dwellers.

Denise Affonço was born to a French father and Vietnamese mother. She lived in Phnom Penh with Phou Teang Seng, the father of her children, who was Chinese. Although she had never been to France, Denise was, through her father, a French citizen. She spoke fluent French and regarded herself as French rather than Cambodian. As the French Embassy would not employ French women who were married to Cambodians or Chinese men Denise and Seng never married but she always referred to him as her “husband.” When the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia Denise could have fled to France with her children but she decided to stay in Cambodia with Seng, who could not have a French passport. That decision was to change her life forever…

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