not MY father. mine is alive and well.
this is the title of a book i finished reading last night. it's a woman's gut-wrenching story of how she was orphaned during the khmer rouge, saw people die around her constantly, and trained as a child soldier. i had already anticipated reading this book through tears but surprised myself with heavy, heavy sobs.
i'm left wondering - why did i not learn about this tragedy in history class? i had hitler and the second world war shoved down my throat during my school years...but i never heard of pol pot or the khmer rouge until i was in college. and in a drama class, no less.
nearly a third of the cambodian population was killed during this time and it was only about 30 years ago!
it was just last week that the first verdict was made against a man responsible for thousands of deaths during this period of genocide. although 35 years imprisonment hardly seems like justice.
i visited the killing fields. i saw the stupa of skulls. i saw the trees that babies were swung against until they died. i walked the halls of toul sleng prison where thousands were tortured. i saw victims of land mines hobble around the streets of cambodia. it's haunting.
i'm almost embarrassed that i didn't know more about this history beforehand. and as painful as it was, i'm glad i read this book. not only for a deeply affecting story but for a bit of an education. i highly recommend it.Labels: asia, author loung ung, backpacking asia, book, cambodia, genocide, khmer rouge, killing fields, pol pot, toul sleng prison