I recently finished reading "In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner. I have just about recovered enough to talk about it.
The book is set during the time period when the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia, between 1975 and 1979. This is a period of history I had not heard anything about, so thought it was worth sharing and that some people here might be interested or have interesting insight.
I don't know much about the politics of the situation, but from what little I understand, the Nixon government started bombing Cambodia in the belief that there was a presence of Viet Cong forces there. This gave a platform for the Khmer Rouge, Cambodian communists, to take control.
What followed is horrific.
In a country of 7 million people, over 2 million were killed, executed or starved to the death. The regime targeted all middle class people, any one with useful skills such as teachers, lawyers and doctors and anyone that could read or had contact with foreigners. '"Eyeglasses were as deadly as the yellow star" as they were seen as a sign of intellectualism.' The regime had grand plans to turn Cambodia into the a self-sustaining nation, "the envy of the world". Cities were sacked and the entire population sent to the countryside to work in the rice paddies and on rural projects such as building embankments. They attempted "agricultural experiments", wanting to grow rice all year around. They discarded Western medicine and destroyed temples and libraries. By the end of it, the entire country was starving.
"It was the dawn of an age where there would be no families, no sentiments, no medicine and no expression of love or sorrow, no hospitals, no schools, no learning, no holiday, no music, no song, no money, only work and death."
The book I referred to earlier is written by the daughter of a prince, based on her experience. She was 7 when the Khmer Rouge took over and it details her journey from living in paradise to starving all day, working, while her family collapses around her. One might argue that this was decades ago, but we still see scenes like this happening, Syria being the latest case in point. The motivations for all these conflicts are age old, power, religion, ideologies and arrogance. We're all used to seeing the images on the news and reading about it in the papers, listening to people argue and bicker about the politics behind it all. Sometimes it feels like it's all almost there for entertainment, to give us something to occupy ourselves with and to give the networks higher ratings.
But to read about the people, to feel their slow deterioration and their losses is devastating. To see a heavenly place slowly turn into a torture chamber from a child's eyes is distressing, yet impactful. I feel if we all connected with people in this way, understood their stories and their sorrows, we would be less willing to get involved in any sort of conflict. After all, all we have is stories and memories. If we lose them, if we let the past be forgotten and swept over, have we not lost a part of ourselves?
Here is a documentary recorded a few months after the end of the Khmer Rouge reign and details the situation of the country at that point in time:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/year-zero/The book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-Shadow-Banyan-Vaddey-Ratner/dp/1849837589I would love to hear your thoughts and if you know of any good resources please point me towards them, I'm curious to learn more about this period. If you were as clueless about this as I was, I hope this inspires you to learn more!
Cherish your stories and never give up.
Topic: Democratic Kampuchea and the Khmer Rouge