An article in today's New York Times reports from the trial of a commandant of a notorious prison run by the Khmer Rouge in which an estimated 14,000 people were tortured and executed. It is the first trial of a senior Khmer official -- 30 years after Pol Pot was driven from Cambodia.
When considering the actions and behavior of seemingly regular, unremarkable people during events like the Killing Fields or in Hitler's Germany, I think it's instructive to consider the words of Primo Levi:
"Monsters exist, but they are too few in numbers to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are…the functionaries ready to believe and act without asking questions."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment