to the disease the death. of young has provoked a wave of online mourning and anger towards the government over its treatment of the doctor who some see it has a you're. watching news from berlin coming up next our documentary film series reports on the children who grew up in china's cultural revolution in the 1960s. to get all the latest news information around the clock d.w. dot com i'm terry martin thanks watch. the time. it's all happening clutch of. news from africa the world nor link to exceptional stories and discussions kenya one comes to education program tonight from fun. easy town wow with sandy deputed comes from

africa join us on facebook w. africa. this in 1966 china was swept up by the rising tide of the cultural revolution in august more than 1000000 people gathered on chin on many square to celebrate. chairman mao tse tung launched a movement for the masses the aim was to weed out anyone who appeared eager to steer the revolution and people's 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 miles 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. for someone say you my father was born into an upper middle class jewish family in england. that you. 2 are but in 1028 my grandfather's business failed and he went bankrupt. was in my father moved to china in 1938 ounce to 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 zedong as a hero aims to save the poor and pursue social equality for the masses. stablished the base of the revolution and 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. and they're sure my father's 1st destination was john i don't see how he wanted to meet these great people and that he had read about them like mounted on enjoying life with the obviously there. in 1939 michael's father david met canadian born isabel brown they married soon afterward the couple worked for the communist regime as language teachers for diplomats and other officials.

my nama is mainly male that my name is mimi miller nine's 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 knives land since. 1933 the nazis seized power in germany after graduating from high school on 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 muller wanted to aid the fight against fascism and decided to put his medical skills to use in china. in $1039.00 after 5 months of travel here arrived at the base of the revolutionaries and immediately requested to work at the front. page on the way to yon was real it's harold s. sometimes they had to break through the enemy blockades in the middle of the night as one soldier suffered a ruptured your rethrow on the battlefield but there were very few surgeons in the area who were able to use modern surgical scalpels by mail and lesions my father operated on him using the scalpel he brought from switzerland so that's the surgery went well. and the people of the village started calling him the buddhist

saint of the west trying tylenol lad 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 as 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. there with the roy then the law 2. i was surprised to see a european dog in the communist island. yes it was hard for me to understand. that. at

1st conoco morrow was hesitant but she eventually found herself attracted to how. they fell in love and resentment. 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 am in october 1949 mounted on founded the people's republic of china and quickly became a hero to the chinese people. about 100 foreigners from the us in europe was subscribed to mao tse domes beliefs were given important positions and 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 yalit theology our economic situation was relatively good my parents got a higher salary than that chinese colleagues so you are an idiot oh yes sure it's always you know. 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 . children attended local schools and received the same education as chinese children. they soon became fluent in chinese. well shot that the eat you. the 1st phrase i learned in primary school was great for chairman mao you hall and the next were labor and farmer. my mother supported

me and was very strict in what she talked me the farmers are suffering from poverty and landowners are crooks. they would teach us these ideas in the form of fairy tales if we're going to get. i accepted this education without questioning it just as i sure sounded when that your shit on ship was. 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. when he was just you know my name is money chua i was going to mow say a 945. my father was an architect you know in the

1951 he decided to go to china to help with the country's development. but still. father laon was born in beijing in 1912 to a chinese father and a polish mother. studied in paris and married here i had a french woman during the 2nd world war he joined the resistance and fought against the german occupation. after the war leone worked as an architect and more say he had a good life in france but the opportunity to build up a new country appealed to him. my brothers saw china as his home and felt that socialism was going well but. my parents were both members of the french communist policy and. they decided to go to china to give their full support

to the country. in 1951 the family boarded a cruise ship and moved to china. leone's experience as an architect in france was valued highly he played a central role in beijing's urban planning designing a hospital highway bridges and many other structures. in there my mother worked at china radio international and became a pioneer of the french broadcasting establishment. the family's happy life soon came to an end in 1057 months father was caught up in an unforeseen development that you're going to be sure which we. my father pointed out that breaching city hall was 2 luxury us. in addition he submitted his opinion to the beijing institute of architectural design. all we did was provide advice on

technical issues but it resulted in him being put before a kangaroo court. so you know you think your ego. 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 did not stand 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 1056 he condemned some of those crimes committed under stalin and a 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. 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. play on while 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. 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 him in the face it happened pretty awful. i was angry that my father was dismissed as right wing so i was even angrier when they called me

a little. chairman mao want to china to become the leader of a communist world replacing the soviet union. he boasted that china would surpass britain within 15 years 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. would starve 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 woods cities off fenced off 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 party's 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 people's 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 school children and their red neckerchief remains to this day a symbol of pride and belonging. i was told that it was part of the national flag almost 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 with you. when i wore my red scarf and i felt

really on and. in 1966 miles 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 may 1966 mao's stablished the cultural revolution group centered on his wife jiang ching. the propaganda arm of the party and the people's daily newspaper wielded the effective power in the group they began to disseminate propaganda about the cultural revolution and mahler's ideology around the same time some middle school

students in beijing formed a group called the red guard. they said they wanted to combat so-called revisionist authorities and attitudes soon red guard units began emerging in schools across the country in the early stages of the cultural revolution pro-communist 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 mao's instructions nanda chinese were eventually around to participate in the revolution. as you young foreigners wanted to form a team of their own hugo one that since he they you that our parents encouraged us for so we built up a youth group for its youth group. that washerwoman even though we were teenagers we wanted to be critical as well yasha.

michael 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. it provided an introduction to his ideas and thoughts about the communist party and was originally published by the people's 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 tse dong it was regarded by mao's 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. if it says here it's a cello clip it was you know if you don't play del was a silly since you. 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 . well maybe the other policies they have other things still they get things like leaflets. i think i'll play being so the only serious injuries yes i one regard later said we were enthusiastic mahler's

but at the same time we were a people discontented with reality i mean from a little before we hear why did the teenagers actively participate in the cultural revolution and join the red gangster sure. it's. or. rebellious you. chairman mao san teenage is full of energy. so you go what's your the cheshire shit. at the rallies the leaders called for the red guards to destroy the 4 olt 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 muller's 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 mao's 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 will allow my father told be very clearly if you resort to violence do not come back home. so i try to limit my involvement what you'll find now long to always bundled

all god showed up. at the time reading people's 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 counter revolutionary activity. that again hopeful what's joyful and that my friend called me to search our classmates house mema mayor shahana show is counterfeited on phone this kind of thing was allowed back then so. huge huge and you know that's yeah. they've got 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 to 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 and i was confused to. just. i don't remember a thing which it is that they are my only memory is up a piece of gold rolling past me just the palm i don't want i. want to see the chick that's challenging jordan egyptian at the time i thought it was the right thing to do for the revolution i didn't have any doubts. to chanel's really get down and i didn't even think about why. that's the way sharma to do just like wearing the latest fashion as it was until we didn't ask for

a reason but the asian nation wanting chacha with their sounds out. of the show why should say. they sure have a question i was only 13 years old when the cultural revolution began to try me for low sure year i was very active. we broke into the offices of the art and music teachers it's really good to get one student tried to beat the teacher with a battle buddy but it was stopped by the other students. are you know what the trouble is i want went back to visit my former principal who i respected. you for your she'd been beaten by her students and had hired leg broken up she still had trouble walking when i visited her all those years later huge crowd of the sure if you know what you are you sure you were. one year before the cultural revolution began moni chua had returned to france to study at the sorbonne.

i found out that the cultural revolution was underway in china and when i knew there were reports about it in the newspaper this. year i wanted to go back and see what was happening but if i stayed in fronts i would never know the truth i think. i wanted to see it with my own knowing this. woman. 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 hello as yes i'm sure is and then why was there so much chaos. one time i saw someone being paraded around with her arms bound behind her back. an old woman who was forced to wear large cone shaped has

had an idea over there. and it's all about that whole i witnessed scenes like this all around the city look. tony the young people didn't have any sympathy so i would even make fun of them being with 100. gentil are well 2 short men. and a whole maybe i heard that in my school the red guards had basin and heat it to death i know that 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 monza dunk think this would lead. to. the revolution also spread to the workplace and 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 lucia 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 me on october 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 at the university before he was arrested on campus by rebel faction and taken to an unknown location. his family tried desperately to find out where he was.

and i came to appeal for his release. 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 there are children. in september not a 66 a lot of the slogans are about capitalist road reversion ists a year later it's all about traitors spy. running games it's not just about foreigners who might be spies it's about anybody who might have an enemy link with the fore.

so september $167.00 onwards there is a good rates which hunts. suzanna year a friend of michael's was born in beijing to a chinese father and an american actress. her father he. had been born in the u.s. to chinese expectorants and became a leading expert in metallurgy in 1951 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 yet you pay was diagnosed with late stage cancer but he continued writing his research papers trying to contribute what he could to china's progress as a suspected counter-revolutionary he was denied treatment and eventually died. trying to destroy my father when 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 she 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 mona introduced a new policy measure called the down to the countryside movement the young leaders of the cultural revolution were in the courage 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 like a 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 stowed in a line in front of mount saddam's paul try to. everyone how the little red book

sang a song to its. michael's 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. towards i was stunned and wondered what was going to happen. so what or. so down in confess your model you throw newspaper was chairman mao's portrait on this in the trash wrong that you know where you are you're both to defame chairman mao is to defame everyone you down the wall with 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 many example you that she had been taken away her sister katrine 14 years old at the time couldn't understand what was happening one day sure they were sharing a room and all my sisters belongings were seized you a woman you asked 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 but we didn't know what to do you know just how cool that. 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 i don't. why did your daughter then they told me that i was officially arrested. i couldn't believe it. i had signed exactly what they told me to. i wanted to scream but i couldn't so that is what happened so much happened all at once to their own daughter. and i had signed the warrant. now i was speechless. although she had done nothing when a question arj has 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 you're a criminal keep reading. you had the ha ha ha you know let me hear now so i had no choice but to read it so. eventually i began to deny the charges i was deceived by rebel faction and i signed the arrest warrant even though i'm innocent it's over shall i thought about china come up with a 10 every time i thought about it my entire body hurt finish and i was numb with

pain. my more time and. it continued like that for 3 years. i spent my time looking at the tree outside the prison all the time. made him kind of the fool i started talking to the tree see it all your. other than are looking at the tree and this cock reminds me of those days to go boy bush lawyers he salary cut all show has a sound on the bed. in 1971 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 so 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 china's international relationships improved foreigners who had been wrongfully accused and imprisoned were released including michael crooks parents. in 1973 state premier jo 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. that's a mirror michael cook and his brothers moved to their father's native britain they attended university there before michael returned to china. mounted on died in 1976 the man who had had such a drastic impact on the lives of the red children the so-called gang of 4 of elite political leaders including mao's 3rd wife jiang chain 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 the cheve what he wanted to achieve he's eliminated most of his i mean he's. he as asserted as

absolute authority and i also told ford has been written back into the constitution and there are no anime's left standing. to join and they see. i've tried to forget those painful memories. i don't want to remember the cultural revolutions and all russian. now. 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 1985 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 author's 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 it's in seattle were you there for a couple of weeks before my father passed away i went out to the suburbs with him on the fire the younger he took a look around and said he felt like a child much stronger found. a letter that chinese restaurant some day and have dinner with everybody the one at your high all so you know it's as if you've 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 chairman mao dies 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 face loss of trust in social relationships where people are obliged to denounce not only neighbors and colleagues but also their own family members but the entire social fabric is destroyed. in 1901 the communist party issued an appraisal of the country's modern history it said the cultural revolution had been a serious mistake but the mounts are dorms achievements outweighed his failures.

the idealists who travelled from overseas to help create a new china. and their red children who grow up amid g.o.p. evils of the cultural revolution. 2 generations whose lives work and delicately shaped by their experiences of red china. strong opinions clear position such international perspective such donald trump takes credit for the great american culture that speaking in the very room where congress held hearings to impeach him he declared america's union stronger than ever as election season starts is he i'm stuck to find out on to the fight to

point the to. keep 90 minutes on the w. . southern napalm 250 blinds people are about to see again lassie is one of them who put the pump up and improvised clinic is being set up in the temple complex. and to the next day. can you see me see anything that a reporter on the move with i'm a police officer just stopped to really to see the light starts february 8th on t w. b tell if it is for me. is. beethoven is for. beethoven is for. beethoven is for the 1st

place but he told 12020. 150th anniversary here on. the for. this is deja vu news live from berlin and anger in china over the whistleblower who for it 1st reported the corona virus outbreak when liang has now died of the virus that has triggered a wave of mourning and anger towards the chinese government over its treatment of the doctor who some see as a hero. also coming out germany's chancellor merkel had.