– Written by a Teacher in Cambodia –
[First They Killed My Father], which is a bestseller, even in America, was written by a girl who was 5 years old in 1975, when the Khmer Rouge took over. It has been really eye-opening, as what happened is told from her perspective, and I see how quickly it happened, how unfair it was, and what some of the different hardships were that families endured. People who could potentially start a revolt or were educated were killed, as well as people who were soldiers previously. The family this book follows survives the first few months by keeping their identity secret, acting as an uneducated peasant family, submitting to any of the new soldiers’ demands. This is all very real to me, as I see the effects of the Khmer Rouge here in Phnom Penh, in the diversity of buildings, the poverty, and the age of the population. Most people here are 20 years or younger, and anyone who is 30 or older survived the Khmer Rouge.
