For Cambodia, I read a Loung Ung’s memoir First They Killed My Father in which she describes her experiences during the Cambodian genocide. Ung summarizes the book as follows:

From 1975 to 1979–through execution, starvation, disease, and forced labor–the Khmer Rouge systematically killed an estimated two million Cambodians, almost a fourth of the country’s population.

This is a story of survival: my own and my family’s. Though these events constitute my experience, my story mirrors that of millions of Cambodians. If you had been living in Cambodia during this period, this would be your story too.

First they killed my father, Author’s note.

Ung was five years old in April 1975 when Pol Pot came to power and the genocide began. Her family of nine–two parents, and seven siblings, ranging in age from three to eighteen–lived together in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and were forced to flee. They traveled into the Cambodian countryside on their truck until they ran out of diesel and had to join the thousands of people walking to villages.

This is not your usual survival memoir. This is the story of a child who lived through unspeakable horrors and witnessed the worst of humanity. Ung describes what happened to her family while diving deeply into her thoughts and feelings. As a history major, I learned about lots of famines, wars, and atrocities and became desensitized to the death tolls of lives lost long ago. This memoir reminded me that history happens to people.

I was wrecked by the time I finished.

I did not simply learn about the Cambodian genocide. I experienced it through the heart, mind, and a soul of a child, which made me think of my own children. To be honest, it’s uncomfortable for me to write this post because I am revisiting the anguish and utter despair I felt for Ung’s family. My heart aches to think of all those families devastated by famine, forced labor, and senseless executions, and as I write this, the ache is pushing out from my chest, thrumming with horror for all the people living in the world today under violent conditions.

Why does humanity commit such evils as genocide?

How do we change and grow and realize our true potential as loving, creative species?

I don’t have the answers to those questions, but I know it’s important to find time and space to honor stories such as First They Killed My Father. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to deepen their connection with humanity across the globe and through the ages. If we want to do better in the future, it is important to bear witness to how humanity has failed in the past.