Former Red Guards from China's Cultural Revolution era share candid testimonies about their participation in Mao Zedong's violent campaign. Many now acknowledge feeling exploited by propaganda and state manipulation, expressing deep remorse for their involvement in suppressing dissent. These personal accounts reveal how authoritarian regimes weaponize youth idealism to consolidate power, offering crucial insights into the mechanisms of historical manipulation and the lasting psychological impact on those who served as instruments of political repression during one of modern history's most turbulent periods.

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