Hundreds of declassified diplomatic reports on Cambodia’s contemporary history from Norway, Sweden, Australia, Britain, Canada, France, New Zealand and Switzerland are among the documents that former Chilien ambassador and a senior private secretary and official biographer to late King Father Norodom Sihanouk, Mr. Julio A. Jeldres, has given to the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam).
Mr. Jeldres collected the documents over 50 years of diplomatic and private involvement in Cambodia’s recent history. In total, the archives comprise over 1,580 kilograms of priceless historical documents and materials. It doesn’t say how he obtained the Swedish and Norwegian diplomatic reports and if they have been declassified by their home countries.
“DC-Cam is exceptionally grateful for and honoured by Mr Jeldres’ generous donation, which will contribute to the education of Cambodian youths, scholars and the public. we aims to improve the effectiveness of teaching Cambodian contemporary history, and in particular, the Khmer Rouge period,””
Ambassador Jeldres completed the manuscript of a book on the history of the friendship between late King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and Prime Minister Zhou Enlai of the People’s Republic of China.
“We also worked to translate a diary kept by Queen Mother Norodom Monineath during her trip to liberated zones of Cambodia in 1973.”
Youk Chhang, executive director of DC-Cam said that the documents and materials donated by Mr Jeldres will contribute to the Kingdom’s democracy and civic culture.
“I think history is very important to develop the nation,” Mr Chhang said.
