Transcripts For DW The Red Children 20240712

Its in 1966 china was swept up by the rising tide of the cultural revolution in august more than 1000000 people gathered on chan on men square to celebrate. Chairman mao tse launched a movement for the masses the aim was to weed out anyone who appeared eager to steer the revolution and peoples mindsets toward capitalism the young people of china became messengers of miles communist doctrine. They were joined by people from all over the world who believed in baals philosophy. More than 400 foreigners were involved in the cultural revolution. Their sons and daughters known as the red children were given a communist education and as teenagers were drawn into the revolution their lives are a missing page in an otherwise well known chapter of chinese history. The story of the red children begins with that of their parents during this tumultuous period of the 20th century they left their homes with the dream of helping to found a new china. Off once in for someone say. My father was born into an upper middle class jewish family in england. 2 but in 1028 my grandfathers business failed and he went bankrupt. Was in my father moved to china or 938 ounce or reading the book red star over china and he was impressed with the actions of the Chinese Communist party on social got the. Red star over china depicts mao to dong as a hero aims to save the poor man pursues social equality for the masses. Stablished the base of the revolution and you are not a remote part of central china. In an era when poverty and persecution were spreading throughout the world miles philosophy attracted young idealists like michael crooks father of the door but i assure you my fathers 1st destination was john i dont see how he wanted to meet these great people that he had read about. Like mounted on a joy and not with the obvious either. In 1939 michaels father david met canadian born Isabella Brown they married soon afterward the couple worked for the communist regime as language teachers for diplomats and other officials. My nama is still mainly male that my name is mimi miller nines i was born in china in 1950. My father my father was huntsman who was german. Because he was half jewish he had to flee nazi persecution in germany in nazi niger land. In 1933 the nazis seized power in germany after graduating from high school and miller escaped from a labor camp and fled to switzerland. While studying medicine at the university of basel he formed friendships with leftwing classmates including some International Students from china. At the time china was fighting against japanese expansionism a chinese friend suggested that hans miller go to china and support the communists. After graduating from university or wanted to aid the fight against fascism and decided to put his medical skills to use in china will. In 1039 after 5 months of travel here arrived at the base of the revolutionaries any media player requested to work at the front of the tunnel and the way to yon was real its carolus sometimes they had to break through the enemy blockades in the middle of the night. One soldier suffered a ruptured your research on the battlefield but there were very few surgeons in the area who were able to use modern surgical scalpels i know you. My father operated on him using the scalpel he brought from switzerland. To surgery went well. And the people of the village started calling him the buddhist saint of the west trying to tell us about that and. In 1905 when she was just 14 more i went to manchuria to study at a japanese Nursing School soon afterward japan was defeated and the 2nd world war was over leaving kyoko stranded in the chaos and unable to return home. Soon after that the chinese civil war resume 2 has a nurse kyoko naca moro was invaluable to the communists she was assigned to the front where she met dr hans muller who was working for the chinese army. When they were the right then the uk. 2 i was surprised to see european dogs in the communist ani. One yes it was hard for me to understand some whole week i think you think. At 1st coco not them are always hesitant to eventual they found herself attracted to hans muller 2 they fell in love and were then mary they joked about how to german fascism and japanese fascism met and got married in the Chinese Communist army after the war they stayed in china and in 1950 mamie was born in beijing i am in october 1949 mounted on founded the peoples republic of china and quickly became a hero to the Chinese People. About 100 foreigners from the us in europe who subscribe to mao tse domes beliefs were given important positions and they enjoyed generous privileges. Foreigners were few and far between in china at that time the families of red children received special treatment but also began to integrate into Chinese Society foreign ones our Economic Situation was relatively good my parents got a highest salary then that chinese colleagues say you are an idiot or youre sure you go with. Most of the red children and their families were provided with accommodation in the form of dormitories or rooms in what was called the Friendship Hotel in beijing. Compared with Chinese People the foreigners enjoyed good treatment but they were still subject to the control of the communist party and faced restrictions on moving freely to different provinces and choosing their jobs. Read children attended local schools and receive the same education as chinese children they soon became fluent in chinese all shot at the each year. The 1st phrase i learned in Primary School was her grade for chairman mao. Hall and the next were labor and farmer. My mother supported me and was very strict in what she taught me the farmers are suffering from poverty and landowners are crooks. They would teach us these ideas in the form of fairy tales if were getting into i accepted this education without questioning it just as i showed him in the church that i was the 100 chains on the job. In the 1950 s. A Development Boom began in the urban areas of beijing. With the cold war dividing europe and the west the communist party actively recruited experts from around the world for their professional and technical skills. Just you know my name is money. I was going to mow so you 945. You know my father was an architect you know in 1951 he decided to go to china to help with the countrys development. Needs father laon was born in beijing in 1912 to a chinese father and a polish mother. Last study didnt perish and married here than a french woman during the 2nd world war he joined the resistance and fought against the german occupation. After the war laon worked as an architect and more say he had a good life in french but the opportunity to build up a new country appealed to him. My brothers to china as his home and felt that socialism was going well there. My parents were both members of the french communist party. They decided to go to china to give their full support to the country. In 1051 family boarded a cruise ship and move to china. Leones experience as an architect in france was valued highly he played a central role in beijings urban planning designing a hospital highway bridges and many other structures. My mother worked at China Radio International and became a pioneer of the french broadcasting establishment. The familys happy life soon came to an end in 1057 months father was caught up in an unforeseen development. You know it you know if you should which we yet i dont what my father pointed out that beijing city hall was too low julius. In addition he submitted his opinion to the beijing institute of architectural design. All he did was provide advice on technical issues but it resulted in him being put before a Kangaroo Court so. If you dont yet. At the time china was engaged in an anti Rightist Movement scholars and intellectuals who criticized the communists were branded as members of the right wing. They were denounced and forced to undergo reeducation and state sponsored manual labor programs. The roots of the movement can be traced back to the soviet Union Following the death of stalin in 1953 his successor Nikita Khrushchev launched a series of political reforms in 1956 he condemned some of those crimes committed under stalin and the cult of personality that had surrounded him. Seizing the opportunity intellectuals in hungary poland and other communist countries in Eastern Europe encouraged uprisings in hope of bringing about reforms the soviet union responded by dispatching its military to crush the opposition. Mounted dome was wary about the prospect of similar events in china he cracked down on intellectuals who criticized the party and branded over half a 1000000 people as right wing radicals. They are and why i was among them he was removed from his position as supervisor of a Major Development project and forced to work on the construction site for a year after her father was branded a rightist monique also suffered repercussions. Oh national washouts when i was in Junior High School i got into quarrels with my classmates they called me a little rightist. I got back at my classmates by slapping them in the face but it happened pretty awful. I was angry that my father was dismissed as rightwing so i was even angrier when they called me a little right. So. Chairman mao i want to china to become the leader of a communist world replacing the soviet union. He boasted that china would surpass britain within 15 here and in 1958 he launched the great leap forward the entire nation was expected to participate in agricultural and industrial development. The farming system was to be collectivized by placing it under the direct control of what were called peoples communes. Banned private sector farms and strictly rationed Food Distribution around the country. Between 158160 2 at least 45000000 people. Worked starved beaten to death during the great leap forward food is forcibly taken from the countryside in order to see people in the cities and other words cities off friends thought and they live in the bubble all information is strictly controlled. Very difficult for ordinary people never mind foreigners to actually know what is happening in the countryside. Following collectivization and the destruction and collapse of Agricultural Production Food Shortages began to reach the cities. But the communist party regulated the media so the public was initially unaware of the situation. In 1962 the Party Leadership assessed the progress of the great leap forward. She was heir apparent inspected the grim reality of rural areas and admitted the partys failure you reintroduced some capitalist policies that mao had eliminated. Mao feared that this failure could be used to undermine his authority the result was the cultural revolution shortly after the founding of the peoples republic in 1949 the communist party had also set up a nationwide Youth Organization called the Young Pioneers. It sought to train the new generation to become the communist leaders of the future joining the Young Pioneers was effectively mandatory for schoolchildren and their red neckerchief remains to this day a symbol of pride and belonging. To what you should i was told that it was part of the National Flag of his died in the blood of the motss of the revolution. My parents were very happy that i joined tonight took me on a trip to the great wall. Read scaf and i felt really honest. And down the. In 1966 mali launched the cultural revolution in order to realize his ideal communist state he launched a nationwide campaign to eliminate dissidents and reeducate the Chinese People. Relied primarily on loyal young activists who had been steeped in his communist philosophy since childhood. They were highly motivated to overthrow any leaders of the communist party that might have had capitalist leanings. In main 1966 maoist stablished the Cultural Revolution Group centered on his wife jiang ching. The propaganda arm of the party and the peoples daily newspaper wielded the effective power in the group they began to disseminate propaganda about the cultural revolution and mahlers ideology around the same time some middle School Students in beijing formed a group called the red guard. They said they wanted to combat socalled revisionist authorities and attitudes soon red guard units began emerging in schools across the country. In the early stages of the cultural revolution procommunist foreigners were not allowed to assume active roles most of them were forced to remain in the Friendship Hotel and were placed under the supervision of the state administration of foreign experts affairs. Following chairman maos instructions nanda chinese were eventually around to participate in the revolution. As you young foreigners wanted to form a team of their own. Hugo woman since you say you got our parents encouraged us for so we built up a youth group for. Us. That washerwoman even though we were teenagers we wanted to be critical as well. Michel crook like other chinese teenagers believed in the political ideals of the cultural revolution at the time young people always carried a Little Red Book called quotations from chairman mao tse tung. That provided an introduction to his ideas and thoughts about the communist party and was originally published by the Peoples Liberation army in 1964. During the 10 years of the cultural revolution an estimated 1000000000 copies of the Little Red Book were printed and sold in china together with the selected works of mao zedong it was regarded by maos supporters as one of the treasured read books. At school and in the workplace everybody read it. Miles thoughts had infiltrated the public consciousness. In the summer of 1966 a series of events was organized to advertise the cultural revolution the rallies were captured on government propaganda film. It says he played the cello clip if i was lucky if you dont play del was a silly since you gentlemen. Granted Free Transportation for all participants over 1000000 Young Students from all over china attended a series of rallies. Also ordered the gatherings to be broadcast in theaters around the country to promote the movement and create an appealing image of the red guards. Or maybe the other policy label things still things like please listen to this. Lady is still the only serious injuries yes i one regard later said we were enthusiastic mauers but at the same time we were a people discontented with reality i knew from a little before were from a 4 idea why did the teenagers actively participate in the cultural revolution and join the red gangster sure. Sooner or. Rebellious you. Chairman mao san teenage is full of energy so you go whats your thats for sure sure joe with you. At the rallies the leaders called for the red guards to destroy the 4 old its old customs culture habits and ideas which they regarded as remnants of feudal and borzois society. The red guard soon set about destroying traditional temples buddhist statues and other Cultural Treasures anything deemed to symbolize the old authority. Meanwhile the land owners and wealthy citizens believed to be capitalists were subject to do show trials scholars writers and artists were assaulted and in some cases beaten to death the police stood by silently. Mimi mullers chinese friends became red guards and took part in the cultural revolution she also read the Little Red Book every day on the bus and was proud to spread chairman maos doctrine. But her father hans muller who had helped to build the new china started to have doubts about the cultural revolution old comrades who had fought alongside him now found themselves coming under fire. Well you may rely on my father told be very clearly if you resort to violence do not come back home. So i try to limit my involvement what youll find now in wont always. At the time reading peoples homes had become a popular pastime among the red guards they would break into the homes of suspected capitalists searching for Hidden Assets and any papers to prove ownership of land which were held up as evidence of counterrevolutionary activity which. You can hire for what you did at your show and that my friend called me to search our classmates house mema and their show on the show is down to shit on phone this kind of thing was allowed back then so. Shoot shoot shoot charge and you know they. Will show you they filed us mail but to my father this acts as an forgivable gesture of a father so it was difficult for me to make a decision that sounded bad. After some consideration i decided my father was wrong in this case. And i talked to him and he said much if you join say any violent activities you must leave this household. So. So i only took part on one occasion. I watched without saying anything. When i broke into the house i was confused to. Just. I dont remember a thing which it is that they are my only memory is up a piece of gold rolling past me. On. What you see that challenge jordan at the time i thought it was the right thing to do for the revolution i didnt have any doubts. And i didnt even think about why. Thats up your way sharma to do just like wearing the latest fashion is built into we didnt ask for a reason but the asian nation while they were shot through with our sounds out. Of the wash and say. They sure had make wish i was only 13 years old when the cultural revolution began to try me for law for year i was very active. We broke into the offices of the art and music teachers because its really good the good ones too tried to beat the teacher with a battle buddy but it was stopped by the other students. I know what oh oh where the trouble is i want went back to visit my former principal who i respected. You for your shed been beaten by her students and had hunted leg broken up where she still had trouble walking when i visited her all those years later huge crowd of the sure you know what you are you sure you were. One year before the cultural revolution began moni chua had returned to france to study. I found out that the cultural revolution was underway in china when i knew there were reports about it in the newspaper as. You and i wanted to go back and see what was happening if i stayed in fronts i would never know the truth i think. What i wanted to see it with my you know nice. Woman. But. In the summer of 1967 monique dropped out of university and returned to china believing that helping the cultural revolution was a once in a lifetime opportunity but what she witnessed there was different from what she had imagined. So hero as you are to be sure is and then why was there so much chaos. At one time i saw someone being paraded around with her arms bound behind her back. An old woman who was forced to wear a large cone shaped house had an idea of. Its own its all about that whole i witnessed scenes like this all around the city. Tony the young people didnt have any sympathy so i would even make fun of them. So until marta went to shore. And the whole way by heard that in my school the red guards had basin and heated to death. The house. That teacher was a very unassuming person. Situation on the water i started to have doubts about the cultural revolution and where did miles i dont think this would lead. To. The revolution also spread to the workplace beyond local Government Special red guard factions sprang up everywhere and anyone who opposed them would be punished senior managers and political figures were replaced one after another. Eventually the purges reached the top of the government in 1987 she was dismissed as president summarily tried and placed under house arrest. Following severe maltreatment his health deteriorated he died in prison and was cremated in secrecy. You would see knocked over the 17th 1967 a rebel faction of the beijing Foreign Studies University seized my father and accused him of being a foreign spy when i was told. Michael crooks father david taught at the university before he was arrested on campus by a rebel faction and taken to an unknown location. His family tried desperately to find out where he was. A mother and i came to appeal for his release from she said to the rebels you are wrong to detain my husband david and i are not just married we are comrades and partners of the revolution. She was then also seized by the rebel faction. A lot of the foreigners were targeted during the cultural revolution. The wrongful capture of my father is just one example of your money. Its a coming on to 66. 00 a lot of the slogans are about capitalist road reversion ists a year later its all about trade to spy. Running. Its not just about foreigners who might be spies its about anybody who might have an enemy link with the for so september 9th is 67. 00 onwards there is a good rates which. A friend of michaels was born in beijing to a chinese father and an american actress. Her father. Had been born in the u. S. To chinese expectorants and became a leading expert in metallurgy in 1950 he went to help with establishment of the new china and became the director of an Important Research laboratory. Because you had to pay came from the us and had an american wife he was criticized by a rebel faction within the laboratory and he was violently denounced. In 1968 he was held captive for a year in a cabin near the laboratory although he was the director he was not permitted to continue his work instead he was ordered to clean the toilets. After his release he ate you pay was diagnosed with late stage cancer but he continued writing his Research Papers trying to contribute what he could to chinas progress as a suspected counterrevolutionary he was denied treatment and eventually died. Trying to destroy my father. He could have done so much for china. Just by all he went through he went back to help the Chinese People. In 1967 and 68 a power struggle emerged among various rebel groups in cities around the Country Armed guards continued to turn around and kill one another. In shanghai chong ching and other places rebel factions seized weapons from factories the cultural revolution devolved into a massive armed struggle. To combat this in december 1968 mount introduced a new policy measure called the down to the Countryside Movement the Young Leaders of the cultural revolution were in the urge to move from the urban to rural areas. Under the pretext of learning true values from poor farmers some 16000000. 00 people were relocated to rural labor programs for several years. Be urban use proving unsuited for farm work but their removal did help to reduce the violence committed by red guards in the cities michael crook and many of the other foreign red children were not sent to rural areas or ordered to work in factories in beijing michael worked in an Agricultural Machinery factory that tried in the factory we stood in a line in front of mount saddams paul try to. Everyone how the Little Red Book sang a song to. Michaels reeducation in this factory continued for 2 years then he worked at a car repair factory for another 2 years in late 1968 the rebel faction at the Radio Station where monique was mother worked arrested monique without warning they had tapped her phone and had been monitoring her behavior. Door to time i was stunned and wondered what was going to happen. So what are you mad so down and confessed your model you throw newspaper was chairman maos portrait on this in the trash wrong that you know where you are your ball to defame chairman mao is to defame everyone you down the wall there was no one will forgive you. Changed your opinion if you do not confess your parents and your brother and sister will have no future. For. Me because i knew i was threatened like this day after day which are in the many candles or do you know. No one told money example you that she had been taken away her sister katrine 14 years old at the time couldnt understand what was happening. They say they were sharing a room and all my sisters belongings were seized you a woman youd last for a while i had no idea where my sister went oh. My gosh my mother was crying every day. My father was also very worried what you see what we didnt know what to do you know. Monique was subjected to intensive questioning for more than a month she was told that if she confessed to her crime she would be released. So she signed her arrest warrant she did not know what was to come. Her and they dont. Why did your daughter then they told me that i was officially arrested. I couldnt believe it. So i had signed exactly what they told me to. I wanted to scream but i couldnt so that is what happened so much happened all at once to their own daughter. I signed the warrant. Now i was speechless. And. Although she had done nothing when a question are judged as a foreign spy man sent to a prison in beijing that held people accused of political crimes. But i told them what i was sure for the 1st couple of months they gave me a book quotations from chairman mao and. She how they are for all of those and yet when i said i wanted to read Something Else they asked me whether i understood the entire book yet. Also i said most of it was. Topic i told me i was an insolent person youre a criminal keep reading. You had your heart can you let me hear so i had no choice but to read it. Eventually i began to deny the charges i was deceived by rebel faction and i signed the arrest warrant even though im innocent its over shall at home to. China come up i 10 every time i thought about it my entire body hurt finish and i was numb with pain of my more. Volatile it continued like that for 3 years although i spent my time looking at the tree outside the prison all the time. Made him. A fool i started talking to the tree see it all your. Other than are looking at the tree in this talk reminds me of those days to a local lawyer at. The salary cut ill show has the sound on the yes. In 1701. 00 monique was sent to a labor camp she was released one year later there is no evidence of money ever being a spot. In the meantime a shift was underway that would have a profound impact on the lives of the red children. Amid rising tensions between china and the soviet Union Beijing sought to resume diplomatic relations with japan and the west this pave the way for a visit by u. S. President Richard Nixon in 1972 a historic event that ended 25 years of hostility and shift the balance of power in the cold war. As chinas International Relationships improved foreigners who had been wrongfully accused and imprisoned were released. Including michael crooks parents. In 1973 state premier joe and ally spoke at a gathering of foreign citizens to apologize on behalf of the government for their treatment during the cultural revolution. Maybe muller who had joined in at least one house raid left her factory in beijing after 2 years and reenrolled in university she married a swiss man and left china in 1976. Susan a yeah who had lost her father who left china for the u. S. In 1973 she still lives in san francisco. Thats a mirror michael cook and his brothers moved to their fathers native britain they attended university there before michael returned to china. And died in 1906 the man who had had such a drastic impact on the lives of the red children the socalled gang of 4 of elite political leaders including maos 3rd wife jiang chaney were arrested on charges of conspiracy against the state and party the cultural revolution had come to an end. The key must be that mao at this point has pretty much achieved what he wanted to achieve hes eliminated most of his i mean hes. He has asserted as absolute authority now its a tone for what has been written back into the constitution and there are no animes left standing. Ive tried to forget those painful memories. I dont want to remember the cultural revolution and all. Now that. I feel chinese inside i feel this is my country looking back on the cultural revolution i think it was a. It was a soul stirring event. Money quad returned to paris in 1975 and worked as a chinese teacher until her retirement she published a set of chinese textbooks that became very popular in france and are still in print. But few readers were aware of the authors difficult early life in china. Eventually her parents also came back and spent their later life in france but the 3 of them never managed to reflect upon their life together in china so you know i thought oh well you know for a couple of weeks before my father passed away i went out to the suburbs with him. And he took a look around and said he felt like a child much too often. Hey lets go to that Chinese Restaurant someday and have dinner with everyone the one that youre. So you know we just if youve forgotten all the painful memories in this young of the. Cultural revolution in terms of death is actually not all that exceptional probably only up to about 2000000 people actually lost their lives between 19661976 when cham in melbourne lies but the key to understanding the damage done during the cultural revolution to ordinary people is not to look at death but to look at loss of trauma loss of faith. Loss of trust in social relationships where people are obliged to denounce not only neighbors and colleagues but also their own family members where the entire social fabric is destroyed. In 1901 the communist party issued an appraisal of the countrys modern history that said the cultural revolution had been a serious mistake but that mounted tomes achievements outweighed his failures. The idealists who travelled from overseas to help create a new china. And their red children who grow up amid d. O. Peoples of the cultural revolution. 2 generations whose lives were indelibly shaped by their experiences of red china. Genuine to fix a. Decent. Photo Editing Software distorts what is real. Possibilities for an. Endless. Truth. 21. 30 minutes. This is some dope story a stubborn rice farmer from thailand. Is problem past. His crew go no chemicals. His wife thought he was crazy. And the time was. Still. Students or the players dont stand a chance. To name successful. To. Start to lead to some of. The above. Reasons e. W. News a live from berlin President Donald Trump a stokes division on u. S. Independence day as a record surgeon coronavirus cases casts a shadow over celebration in a speech at Mount Rushmore attacks protesters toppled monuments honoring slave owners and the president has promised a special evening as july 4th festivities moved to washington d. C. Also coming up on the show the 1st times are being called in england after of coronavirus shut down as brisk walk to the pubs