First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, by Loung Ung (2000)
Loung Ung was 5 years old when her world was upended by the Khmer Rouge. She had been living a care-free childhood in an upper-middle class family in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with her parents and six siblings. Her father was a government official, but when the Khmer Rouge overthrew the government, his life was in jeopardy if his work status was discovered. In April 1975, the family had to leave Phnom Penh, hide their identity, and live as peasant farmers. Eventually, they were captured and sent to forced-labor camps where they were given very little food.
This memoir is told through the eyes of Loung Ung, who was a child during this period of Cambodian history. She describes the horrors of being separated from her family, how the Khmer soldiers can for her father, and he was never seen again. She describes how starvation and malnutrition stole the life of her younger sister. She describes how she, as a 7-year-old, was recruited into the Khmer as a child soldier. She lived through the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime, and in 1979, was finally able to reunite with what remained of her family. It is harrowing to imaging young children living through and being exposed to such hatred and horror.
Read: January 21, 2023
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