Nazis and Khmer Rouge - 1008 Words

The 20th Century was an era marked by growing turmoil in the world stage. As countries fought for hegemony, it was often groups of people who were most affected by the political turbulence of the times. Throughout this era, many of these oppressive states existed, yet none quite like Nazi Germany and Khmer Rouge Cambodia. Told by the young voices of Elie Wiesel in Night and Chanthity Him in When Broken Glass Floats, each author tells their story of what it meant to grow up as a victim of these regimes. And through the analysis of their experiences are we able to observe the similar tactics two radical government groups imposed and how these tactics-both similar and different- advanced the politics of the aggressors. The Nazis and Khmer Rouge were unanticipated forces that left both the public and their victims unprepared for the atrocities they were soon to commit. In Night, the Nazi’s initially did not seem like such a threat, in fact, some were even accepted into Jewish homes. Chanrithy also comments on how â€Å"people don’t seem to feel the shadow of war creeping up on them† , when referring to the way Cambodians underestimated the Khmer Rouge. Both were able to accomplish their goals through gradual changes the regimes used to manipulate public opinion. In Nazi Germany this meant changing the public’s attitude of Jews with anti-sematic propaganda. Especially because Hitler wanted to blame the Jews for the problems Germany had after World War I. Much like Hitler,Show MoreRelatedA Brief Look at the Cambodian Genocide Essay1055 Words   |  5 Pagesthink that another Holocaust can happen again. It did already occur; think of Cambodia, Rwanda, and Bosnia.†- Mi ep Gies The Vietnam War, a brutal war that took place but many overlook what happened next to Vietnam. The Cambodian conflict, the Khmer Rouge slaughtered as many citizens as they could find, but was this genocide? The Cambodian conflict took place during the Vietnam War and Cambodia is located to the West of Vietnam. Genocide is important because it is something all of humanity needsRead MoreEssay about The Holocaust and the Cambodian Genocide 1201 Words   |  5 Pagespeople of a certain origin. The Holocaust was in Germany and started in 1933. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were in charge of the Holocaust. The Cambodian Genocide took place in Cambodia. Cambodia is in Southeast Asia (â€Å"Cambodian†). Pol Pot was the leader of Khmer Rouge and the group was in charge of the Cambodian Genocide (â€Å"Cambodian†). The Cambodian Genocide started in 1975 and ended in 1978 because Khmer Rouge was ended by Vietnam (â€Å"Cambodian†). The Holocaust and the Cambodian Genocide are similar in theRead MoreCambodian Genocide Essay1327 Words   |  6 Pagesexecution in what became known as the Cambodian genocide. A group known as the Khmer Rouge took control of the country in April 1975. Over the course of four years, many innocent people were killed in the hopes that it would lead towards one large society of peasants. Things like banks, medicine, and religions were outlawed. If you were a person with something of value, you were automatically a target for the Khmer Rouge. With the entire mass death happening, one could see bodies littered on the streetsRead MoreThe Genocide And The Holocaust1198 Words   |  5 Pagesbeen several genocides in the past century. The Cambodian Genocide and the Holocaust are two of the great tragedies of the twentieth century. The Holocaust occurred in Germany and Eastern Europe. The Cambodian genocide took place in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge was an overwhelming communist force that took Phnom Penh by surprise. In Cambodia,  "21% of the population was killed. That is about 1.7 million people that lost their lives† (â€Å"Past Genocides†). There was little commotion or outcry from the worldRead MoreDamage in Cambodia1155 Words   |  5 Pageswas categorized in the deadliest category because of the level of disaster and the number of deaths. The effects of the Khmer Rouge did to the people what a hurricane would do to the land times 1,000. While the initial problem is gone, the pieces that are left are flawed. To put the Khmer Rouge in perspective, Hurricane Katrina killed almost 2,000 people but the Khmer Rouge is estimated to have killed between 1.4 million and 2.2 million. The United States of America should care about Cambodia becauseRead MoreThe Khmer Rouge, By Michael Vickery1365 Words   |  6 PagesCommunist Party of Kampuchea, led by Pol Pot, invaded Phnom Penh and overthrew Lon Nol’s U.S. supported military dictatorship. The Communist Party of Kampuchea, otherwise known as the Khmer Rouge, was a Cambodian political party that based its ideals on nationalism, communism, and agrarian socialism. The Khmer Rouge first gained attention during communist movement that emerged from the anti-colonial struggle against France. During French rule, Cambodia was under the influence of western ideas andRead MoreThe D eclaration Of Human Rights1590 Words   |  7 Pages25 percent of the total population of Cambodia was killed by the Khmer Rouge to complete their societal goal of an â€Å"agrarian paradise.† The world’s reaction to the Cambodian genocide and the Holocaust were strangely different. After the Holocaust, the Nuremberg trials were created in order to try Nazi leaders for their war crimes, and most of the influential leaders and doctors were executed. However, barely anyone in the Khmer Rouge regime has been put on trial, let alone sentenced to death. AfterRead MoreThe Cambodian Genocide and the Holocaust: Exceptional Similarities and Differences629 Words   |  3 PagesThe day that the survivors of the Cambodian Genocide will never forget, was the day that the Cambodian society took a turn for the worse. On April 17, 1975, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge went to Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, took control and renamed it Democratic Kampuchea also known as DK. Pol Pot announced to all the citizens that he had to â€Å"purify† the Cambodian society. Although the Cambodian genocide did not kill as many people as other genocides such as the Holocaust it is still just as importantRead MoreSpeaking Anew : Language Politics Of Totalitarianism Essay1646 Words   |  7 Pagesare one of the most effective tools for mobilizing the people and maintaining control (Travers-Smith). In addition to the personality cults built around dictators, certain words develop a cultish worship, like â€Å"red† in communist China and â⠂¬Å"pure† in Nazi Germany. Everyday speech becomes dominated by stock phrases – Five-Year Plans, Great Leaps Forward, Enemies of the People. Numerical formulae, due to the ease of remembering, are prominent as well. Examples include the â€Å"Four Olds† of the Chinese CulturalRead MoreThe Armenian Genocide Committed By The Ottoman Empire1579 Words   |  7 Pagesagainst its minority Armenian population from 1915-1917 left an estimated 1.5 million dead and to date, not one individual has been tried for these egregious crimes. The mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in World War I and Jews by the Nazis in World War II shocked the conscience of the international community and led to the creation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), in order to hold the perpetrators of crimes of this magnitude accountable