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The Sieve of Angkar
This is a true account of what the author experienced when the Khmer Rouge revolutionary forces under Pol Pot took control of Cambodia in 1975. Swept from their industrious life of learning and enterprise in Phnom Penh, the Ky family was driven,along with millions of others, into the Cambodian countryside to fulfill Pol Pot's vision of a Communist, agrarian society. Angkar, not a person or a political party but rather a goal, a zeal for the Communist ideal, a name for the collective effort, replaced the warm family life the Ky's had thrived in.
With an army consisting largely of illiterate,
impoverished youth, easily incited to gratuitous,
hateful violence against the relatively wealthy city
dwellers, in the pattern of Stalin and Mao, Angkar
began reshaping Khmer agriculture with forced labor. No measure of terror or bloodletting was spared for the sake of the goal. All the accomplished, influential people were sifted out so as not to spoil Angkar with their experience or education. Employing barbarism so alien to the gentle Khmers, who hardly knew what was happening, Angkar stumbled along fruitlessly until the military intervention by neighboring Viet Nam ended the insanity and brought it all to light. This is the incredible, true story of the faith, endurance and courage it took to survive and escape THE SIEVE OF ANGKAR.
With an army consisting largely of illiterate,
impoverished youth, easily incited to gratuitous,
hateful violence against the relatively wealthy city
dwellers, in the pattern of Stalin and Mao, Angkar
began reshaping Khmer agriculture with forced labor. No measure of terror or bloodletting was spared for the sake of the goal. All the accomplished, influential people were sifted out so as not to spoil Angkar with their experience or education. Employing barbarism so alien to the gentle Khmers, who hardly knew what was happening, Angkar stumbled along fruitlessly until the military intervention by neighboring Viet Nam ended the insanity and brought it all to light. This is the incredible, true story of the faith, endurance and courage it took to survive and escape THE SIEVE OF ANGKAR.
198 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 28, 2010
11 people are currently reading
281 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 30, 2017
I received this book courtesy of Goodreads and Xlibris, the publisher. My gosh! I’m so glad I did.
While I understand the title, I think the title and book cover hurts this book. It is not simply a book about a war or battle. The cover with the man holding a weapon is misleading. It is a book of endurance and survival. This book will stay with me for a long time.
It is a memoir of Ky’s experiences when the Khmer Rouge revolutionary forces overtook Cambodia. Ky’s family was forced from their home in Phnom Penh in 1975. They were forced into hard, manual labor for four years. Very few of Ky’s family survived. Many of the family starved to death. Millions in Cambodia were executed. Many, like Ky’s family, were well established residents of Phnom Penh. Educated individuals were at risk to be murdered simply because they were educated. The use of weapons empowered the Khmer Rouge to force these families from their homes.
Meeting and befriending others in a village may be short-lived… “’I walked to the edge of the clearing to visit the girl I had met earlier but found only her grave at the edge of the woods. She was gone, a victim of the infection and the maggots.” Being a male was a disadvantage: “”As the days passed, I noticed fewer boys working with us; their ranks were slowly being thinned. It wasn’t just that girls were stronger somehow, more able to survive, boys found it harder to hide their defiance; and a defiant expression invited death.”
“They [Khmer Rouge] even had more regard for cattle than for us. They saw to it that the cows had plenty of grass and water… Our human worth was summed up with what became almost a Khmer Rouge motto: “To keep you is no benefit; to destroy you is no loss.” Humans were deemed of less value than cattle!
The details in the book are heart wrenching. I had a tough time putting the book down until the horrors the family endured made me put it down in disgust. However, this book is a must read. It made me stop and think about other instances of refugees in other parts of the world trying to survive today. Even though the facts within this book are hard to read, it is something we all should learn. History can be an awful ugly thing – just as shown in this book.
While I understand the title, I think the title and book cover hurts this book. It is not simply a book about a war or battle. The cover with the man holding a weapon is misleading. It is a book of endurance and survival. This book will stay with me for a long time.
It is a memoir of Ky’s experiences when the Khmer Rouge revolutionary forces overtook Cambodia. Ky’s family was forced from their home in Phnom Penh in 1975. They were forced into hard, manual labor for four years. Very few of Ky’s family survived. Many of the family starved to death. Millions in Cambodia were executed. Many, like Ky’s family, were well established residents of Phnom Penh. Educated individuals were at risk to be murdered simply because they were educated. The use of weapons empowered the Khmer Rouge to force these families from their homes.
Meeting and befriending others in a village may be short-lived… “’I walked to the edge of the clearing to visit the girl I had met earlier but found only her grave at the edge of the woods. She was gone, a victim of the infection and the maggots.” Being a male was a disadvantage: “”As the days passed, I noticed fewer boys working with us; their ranks were slowly being thinned. It wasn’t just that girls were stronger somehow, more able to survive, boys found it harder to hide their defiance; and a defiant expression invited death.”
“They [Khmer Rouge] even had more regard for cattle than for us. They saw to it that the cows had plenty of grass and water… Our human worth was summed up with what became almost a Khmer Rouge motto: “To keep you is no benefit; to destroy you is no loss.” Humans were deemed of less value than cattle!
The details in the book are heart wrenching. I had a tough time putting the book down until the horrors the family endured made me put it down in disgust. However, this book is a must read. It made me stop and think about other instances of refugees in other parts of the world trying to survive today. Even though the facts within this book are hard to read, it is something we all should learn. History can be an awful ugly thing – just as shown in this book.
July 28, 2017
This is an absolutely captivating first person account of the lives of the "new people" under Angkar's rule. Right from the intense prologue, it is breathlessly fast, constantly shocking you with how barbaric and heartless things were during those years. The book makes you feel like you are there, and you understand every choice made - I felt enraged at the injustices and wept at the helplessness. There is such a constant flow of events that there is no place to pause and slip out of the feeling. There were no overt attempts at eliciting sadness, but it was steadily heartbreaking all the same. This is a very important book to read if you want a perspective on what forces people to become refugees and leave their homelands, and what a frightening world can be created by unquestioning loyalty to political ideologues without empathy.
June 26, 2020
Sufferings
Sad to read of sufferings and deaths. People should read though of these and glad Author survived. Could not understand the cruelty of their own people..
Sad to read of sufferings and deaths. People should read though of these and glad Author survived. Could not understand the cruelty of their own people..
December 5, 2025
so much resilience
These true accounts are quite heartbreaking but it’s important we never forget what happened.Such a brave lady who survived against all odds
These true accounts are quite heartbreaking but it’s important we never forget what happened.Such a brave lady who survived against all odds
December 3, 2024
Dark,Dreamlike
It gives a unique feeling of loss... It has a quality that is dark dreamlike and nightmarish. It is well written which was a worry for me, it will expand your understanding and give you glances into light that seems to only appear in the darkest of moments... Just as a good of a read as "First They Killed My Father" and "Beautiful Hero." Another unique experience that gives you all the reasons to believe in spiritual meaningfulness in life... her dreams, experiences and ect.
It gives a unique feeling of loss... It has a quality that is dark dreamlike and nightmarish. It is well written which was a worry for me, it will expand your understanding and give you glances into light that seems to only appear in the darkest of moments... Just as a good of a read as "First They Killed My Father" and "Beautiful Hero." Another unique experience that gives you all the reasons to believe in spiritual meaningfulness in life... her dreams, experiences and ect.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews