Infamous Men in

Modern History

2012-2013

Literature of the Holocaust

Are there people qualified to determine whether someone is

just / moral or evil ?

Who are these people?Do they exist?

Is it hypocritical to pass judgment?

According to Dr. Gilbert in the movie Nuremberg, evil is the lack or absence of empathy. Do you agree or disagree?

What criteria can be applied to determine whether or not a person is good or evil?

With what part of you do you begin to establish this criteria (i.e.- spiritual, cognitive, environmental, etc.)?

So, who are the people that have

earned the dubious title as the ‘World’s

Most Evil Men’?

Pol Pot• Cambodia• Nicknamed the “Architect of

Genocide”• Was the Prime Minister (in a

dictator capacity) • In charge of the Khmer Rouge

(Politique Potentielle)• Within his circle of intimates,

was called “Brother Number One”

• A civil war with Lon Nol was unpopular. America aided Lon Nol. When the U.S. pulled funding, enemies joined together to take over the nation.

Pol Pot (cont.)

• Believing in the ‘noble savage’ ideal, he had his people move to the countryside. Those who would not move were shot.

• At the time, Cambodia was made up of the wealthy and the poor. There was no middle class (Penh sith, triem, and bannheu classes created).

• “The monarchy is a vile pustule living on the blood and sweat of the peasants.”

• “What is rotten must be removed.”– Created laws against the usage of foreign languages– No $$$, industry, towns, or education– No health care system

– Assassinated the Educated:• Monks, police, doctors, lawyers, and teachers• axes

• Due to the lack of bourgeois, peasants were the working class and, according to Pol Pot, the class to be revered.

• However, he misused them by creating camps where they were expected to work under horrid conditions. **

Pol Pot (cont.)

• If workers were not productive, methods were created and laws were enacted to ensure that his vision would reach fruition.

• Acts punishable by death were:– Not working hard enough

• Work days typically went from 4 AM-10 PM

– Complaining about living conditions• Diet=one tin of rice (180 grams) every two days

– Stealing food– Wearing jewelry– Unsanctioned sexual relationships– Grieving over the loss of relatives / friends ***

A Tyrant Falls• Vietnamese- deposed Pol Pot from his spot atop the

pyramid of power in Cambodia.• Lost control of the Khmer Rouge• Spent 17 years trying to get it back• Died of a heart attack on April 15, 1998 (73 years old)• At the time of his death, Pol Pot had eliminated

roughly one-third of Cambodia’s population (two million people).

• The movie The Killing Fields is a true-life inspired film chronicling life under his rule.

• His comrades in arms were never brought to justice.

Idi Amin

The Butcher of East Africa

His Excellency, President for Life

Lord of All of the Beasts of the Earth and the

Fishes of the Sea

The Last King of Scotland

GOD

Idi Amin • Uganda

• Trained by the British (began the military in a kitchen and assumed the highest position possible)

• Took Prime Minister Milton Obote out of power

• Was a soldier, not a politician

• Highly eccentric

• Polygamist:– Had seven wives over less than

fifteen years

– Fathered between 30-45 children

Idi Amin (cont.)• Seen as:

– Cannibal

– Killer and clown

– Big-hearted buffoon and strutting martinet

– Hypochondriac

– Schizophrenic

– Paranoid

• Former:– Swimmer

– Rugby player

– Light heavyweight boxer

Idi Amin• Created a State Research Bureau (killing and

experiment center)

– Not actual doctors (Most medical professionals had been executed due to the threat that their intelligence created.)

– Responsible for 1,000s of deaths

– Mangled victims in the name of medicine

– Paid directly from the national budget and stolen property of victims

• Expelled all Asians from Uganda

• So widely feared that Saudi Arabia bribed him not to hurt those of the nation of Islam.

• Multiple assassination attempts (by both foreign nations and his own people)

• Mass exodus of his people to neighboring nations

Idi Amin (cont.)

• Admired Hitler

• Mass slaughters of his own people.

– people of means would be taken to the countryside, killed, and their bodies dumped.

– Soldiers would send a telegram to the families, informing them of a loved one’s death.

– For a price, the bodies would be located, and the families would be brought to the resting place. Families were often willing to give up all of their worldly wealth simply to retrieve the bodies.

– If bodies were not claimed within two-three weeks, they were thrown into a river. Often times, the numerous bodies would create fish-kills and tainted water supplies.

• Loyalty and Disloyalty

– Forced white officers to pledge oaths of loyalty to him and S. Africa

– Punishments for treason:

• Slow killings

• Forced cannibalism

• ‘optional’ killings

• Dark, watery holes

• Castration / forced hysterectomies

– “Blood was often half an inch thick on the floors”

– “God has forgotten us.”

What happened to Idi Amin?

He was a guest of

the royal family

of Saudi Arabia

until his death

in 2003.

Kim Jong-il • Father (Kim Il-sung) was the founder of North Korea

• Educated in China (for safety purposes during the Korean War)

• Lacked military training yet heads the N. Korean military as a general– Led factions against S. Korea

• Like other modern leaders & tyrants, he demanded complete obedience from his subordinates.– No one was allowed to contradict

him or offer solutions to problems that he had already attempted to solve. Doing so was cause for immediate imprisonment or death.

Kim Jong-il (cont.)• Required by Korean law to hold elections to maintain his position of power but refused to acquiesce and do so

• Viewed as ‘godlike’ by his followers

• Terms of Endearment:

– Dear Leader (personal cult)

– Supreme Commander

• “Feats of radiance”:

– Invented the car

– Walked on the moon

– Hit three or four holes-in-one on a golf course

– Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound (just kidding)

Why did the United States view Kim Jong-il as a threat?

• After developing the idea of jujche (isolationism), Jong-il is believed to have stock-piled ammunitions in order to battle with other nations

• Created the Sunshine Policy to encourage positive relations with S. Korea only to work against his goals politically and economically

In 1994, North Korea and the United States created the Agreed Framework that had a “no nuclear weapons” clause in it. Jong-il broke this treaty in 2002 (according to American intelligence).

Why does America view him as a tyrant?• Gross human rights violations

– Constructed concentration camps that hold up to 50,000 people (Camp 22- the first)

– Gas chambers have been built

– Children were systematically executed.

• Created a nation comprised of famine, decay, and poor economy while he continued to live off the national budget.

– The average person in North Korea makes $900 a year. Jong-il spent $700,000 a year on cognac (Hennessy) alone.

Vladimir Putin• Former president of Russia (c. 1999)

• Holds power of the KGB (secret police-like the Gestapo in Nazi Germany); later named the FSB

• Didn’t like the national anthem- had it changed in December of 2000 to promote a sense of power and prestige

• Accused of laundering $93 million

Vladimir Putin • In Russian, the death rate is higher than the birth rate and immigration rate combined.

• Has been accused of extorting money to maintain his position (prostitution included)

• Country is in a state of extreme poverty

• 2007- anti-U.S. arms policy

• Chechnya- Muslim ethnic group wants to break free from Russia and become an independent nation (terrorist actions)

• Alleged alliance with former President Bush who called him “Pootie Poot”—caused concern