First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung is a book about a daughter of Cambodian going though the horrible event in 1975. It is also known as the Cambodian genocide which has killed around 2 million people. Since this article “First They Killed Her Sister” by Soneath Hor, Sody Lay, and Grantham Quinn disagreed with Loung’s book on some of the events. The critics stated Loung’s book misrepresent Khmer culture and history is true but Loung didn’t perpetuate racial tension and distort what really happen in 1970s Cambodia which the critics has argue was total wrong.…
3. The bloody civil war that ended with the Khmer Rouge in power occurred in which Southeast Asian Country?…
While living in Phnom Penh, Loung and her family lived under the stable government of Lon Nol with plenty of food, shelter, and freedom. They were successful because Pa was a military policeman. Loung states “He has four stripes on his uniform, which means he makes good money” (Ung 10-11). When the Khmer Rouge soldiers invade the city and forces everybody out, Loung’s long and dreary war against the Angkar begins. As Loung and her family travel on the seven day trip following the evacuation, they are frightened at the possibility that they could be slayed anytime. Pa warns them “The Khmer Rouge are executing people perceived to be a threat against the Angkar. This new country has no law or order. City people are killed for no reason…even people who wear glasses, as the soldiers view this as a sign of intelligence” (Ung 51). After surviving a brutal seven day walk, the family arrives at Lo Reap. With the Khmer Rouge soldiers given full control, they have the power to do anything they want to the villagers. One morning, two soldiers arrived at the family’s door and said to Pa, “We need your help. Our ox wagon is stuck in the mud a few kilometers away. We need you to help us drag it out” (Ung 102). Knowing what was going to happen, Pa says his goodbyes to the family and that was the last of him. Because Ma knew it wasn’t safe to live together anymore, she tells the children to go to separate work camps as orphans. After Loung, Chou, and Kim go their separate ways, they all find homes at labor camps. One morning, Loung wakes up with tremendous pain and realizes, “I have to see Ma. It is dangerous to travel without permission, but I do not care. I have to go to her... I know they are calling out to me. But I cannot accept it. I know” (Ung 159). The Khmer Rouge soldiers continue to assault the villagers in fear that one day they’ll one day grow strong and take revenge on…
Soon after Pol Pot seized power he started to try to reconstruct Cambodia (Changed to Kampuchea now), trying to make it like communist China with collective farms. Anyone who opposed these plans, which intellectual people were assumed to be, were ordered to be killed. So afraid of death civilians were forced out of towns, even the old or disabled. Those who did not leave were shot. Here is a quote from a victim of this genocide; “They ordered the city evacuated. Everyone was to head for the countryside to join the revolution. They killed those who argued against leaving. Two million frightened people started walking out of the capital.”(Cambodian Genocide) All civil rights and political rights were destroyed. Children were separated from their families and put into different forced labor camps. These forced labor camps caused many to die due to overwork, malnutrition, and disease. They had a diet of one tin of rice, 180 grams, per person every two days. While this was going on purges killed all people who reminded soldiers of the “old life”. Many doctors, lawyers etc. were completely murdered, along with their stores and businesses. Basically, Pol Pot attempted to wipe out anyone who had anything to do with the “Old Life” because they were “threatening” his power. In the Holocaust, first Jewish people were stripped of their rights by the Nuremberg laws. Then they were sent to ghettos, sealing…
Despite a strong opposition primarily from Vietnam, he had gained support from several major countries. After the bombing in Cambodia that began in 1969, the United States provided economic and military support for the Khmer Rouge. With the economic support, the Khmer Rouge was able to afford to continue their reign over Cambodia. The United States also aided in the destruction of the Cambodia that existed before Pol Pot by bombing and killing up to 150,000 Cambodian citizens in support of this regime (The Original Cambodian, 1993). This accounts for ten percent of the total death toll that resulted in this ruling. Along with the U.S., China also expressed support for the Khmer Rouge. They allied with them against the Vietnamese and the USSR, aiding them in military tactics and strategy. When Pol Pot wanted to go to war with Vietnam, China warned that the Vietnamese were more militarily advanced than Cambodia was. This prevented a potential disaster and downfall on the Khmer Rouge's part (Carvin, 1999). The Chinese also aided economically. They provided Cambodia with weapons in exchange for rice. This trade allowed Khmer Rouge to strengthen their military, gaining protection against their opposition. It also enhanced the relationship between China and Cambodia. In addition to the support from other countries, the Khmer Rouge received local support from peasants, who were used as pawns in Pol Pot's regime. However, due to cruel and…
General Lon Nol in 1970. To regain political power Prince Sihanouk and his followers joined forces with a communist guerilla organization known as the Khmer Rouge. The new founded alliance then attacked Lon Nol’s army and the civil war within Cambodia began. During this time Cambodia was caught in between two civil wars. In the neighboring country of Vietnam a civil war between the communist north and pro-western south broke out.…
Originally sponsored by Vietnam, Khmer Communist Party was dedicated to the formation of a Cambodian socialist state. The party planned to follow the Maoist approach of initiating widespread revolution through initial insurgent activities in the countryside. By 1960, Khmer Communist Party was moving beyond merely expressing Maoist philosophies; the group was now actively engaging the Cambodian government in battle. Utilizing terrorist tactics, the terrorist group would battle the Cambodian government from 1960 to 1975. During this time, Cambodia's long-time leader Norodom Sihanouk dubbed the guerilla organization the Khmer…
The Cambodian Genocide was a genocide that was very harsh and ruined many people's lives forever. From April 17, 1975 to January 6, 1979, more than 2 million people died under the Khmer Rouge rule led by Pol Pot in the terrible genocide that we call the Cambodian Genocide. Pol Pot’s main reason to start this genocide was to nationalize the peasant farming society of Cambodia ideally overnight, in accordance with the Chinese Communist agricultural model. This horrific genocide took place in Cambodia and lasted 3 years, 8 months, and 20 days. Some causes of this genocide was the fact that Pol Pot wanted to nationalize the peasant farming society of Cambodia. Most Cambodians involved in the genocide died from starvation,…
The Cambodian government has a history of turmoil and transition due to a period of conflict and civil war. Towards the end of the twelfth century Cambodia experienced a great deal of internal rebellion, decay, and infighting. In 1431 the Kingdom of Siam assumed control and by the seventeenth century Vietnam also had a hand in controlling the nation. The French took over completely in 1863, followed by the Japanese during World War II, and then the French again in 1945 (Emmons, Eveland, Lin-Liu, and White, 2011). In 1953 Cambodia claimed independence. War continued to be waged in Vietnam between the communist north and American backed south. North Vietnam used Cambodia to set up outposts to strategize attacks. From March 1969 onward, Cambodia was bombed heavily and indiscriminately by American forces, in an effort to dislodge them (Emmons, Eveland, Lin-Liu, and White, 2011). In 1970 Lon Nol was installed as leader of Cambodia. Then in 1975 the Khmer Rouge led by the Pol Pot regime, took control and led the nation as a great tyrant. Khmer Rouge ruled and the wars that came both before and after decimated Cambodia…
Imagine leaving everything that was once a part of your life because a new government began ruling the nation you live in. Imagine watching innocent people being taken away, hearing screams and gunshots, and knowing that these individuals have been killed without even seeing it happen. This is what living in Cambodia during the Cambodian Genocide was like. Each day, instead of growing larger and stronger, children were growing weak. As a young girl, Loung Ung lived through this war. Years later, she wrote a novel called “First They Killed My Father”. In this book, Ung records the experiences that she and her family encountered while trying to live through the civil war. If I were to meet any of the individuals mentioned in this novel, I would…
Most Chinese and Western views of the CR treat it essentially as a conflict of high (not local) elites, as a response to the concerns of a few people (not of many). Many explanations of this event fall into four types, relating it to (1) Chairman Mao's personality and cultural or political habits, (2) power struggle among high leaders, (3) ideal policies for radical development in an impoverished society, or (4) basic-level conflicts, induced by previous policies, of the sort suggested above. Let us examine these in order.…
The life of Youk Channy from documentation found a hard time to survive during the Khmer rouge. His mother lost a daughter and four siblings. For 30 year later he still searches for them, and hoping they survived. Youk Channy has dedicated a lifetime of work, research, preservation and advocacy to his mother, whose bravery and sacrifice inspired him. He survived by eating whatever he could find. Many people died during the Khmer rouge. The most important thing for Youk Channy was food and sleep during the Khmer Rouge period. “He believes that Khmer Rouge kept such careful record of their success a trophy of short (Hyde #3).” “Youk Channy hopes the tribunal will help Cambodia move forward and help heal the nation he love (Hyde#3).” He collects documents to use in trials against the Khmer Rouge. Two different reactions of survivors of the Khmer Rouge era was to forgive and forget.…
What is it that brings all dictators together in comparison? Is it their ruthless actions towards others? Could it be their thirst for power? Or maybe it's the fact that all dictators use others to gain for themselves. "He [Napoleon] would only be too happy to let you make your decisions by yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where would we be?" (Orwell page 50). These examples prove Napoleon, ruler of Animal Farm, and Pol Pot, ruler of Cambodia, are indeed similar.…
The cultural genocide of Tibet started when the Chinese declared that Tibet should be part of China. Years later, the Chinese said that Tibet was part of China because of the warrior Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan and the Mongolians were in control of Tibet, but they never made Tibet belong to china. Tibet had their own government before the Chinese took over. It was led by His Royal Highness, the Dalai Lama. Before the Chinese came in and took over Tibet, Tibet had nothing to do with China. The Chinese invaded Tibet in July of 1949. The goal of the Chinese was to eradicate the Tibetan religion so anyone who did not give up their religion was tortured to death, if you managed to escape Tibet the Chinese would find one of your relatives and torture them until they tell them were you went, if they did not then they would be killed.…
The Cultural Revolution urged the Red Army to see people and their group’s perspectives guarantee that they were loyal Maoists. This was frequently done in an exceptionally savage way as diverse units tried to make themselves seem, by all accounts, to be the genuine delegates of Mao's vision. Therefore numerous individuals were verbally abused as well as physically misused. Even Anchee was frightened by people because who side she was supporting. This prompted numerous passing’s and casualties. In the early phases of the Cultural Revolution, there were substantial scale changes in the initiative of the Communist party. All through the gathering, including the Politburo, authorities who were not considered to be strong of Mao's vision were evacuated and supplanted by individuals all the more in accordance with Mao's vision. The citizens including Anchee min were not doing well under the control of the leader and they lived in a dangerous time…