I believe you are correct. There is a book on how the communist took over a country one village at a time. People were made examples of. The strongest we’re attacked, humiliated and destroyed very publicly and all the other fell in line. Fear can do that.
IIRC the book is called ELEANA. Written by a man who went in search of what happened to his mother. She had sacrificed her life to get the children out of the country.
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