The Age of Genocide Worse Than War “We will never learn from crimes from the past, instead we will use them as blueprints for the future.”

A crime that was without a name… “We are in the presence of a crime without a name.” - Winston Churchill describing the brutality of the German forces occupying USSR, 1941.

“More than 100 million innocent people were systematically murdered in the past 100 years – this is the century of mass murder.”

“In sheer numbers, these and other killings make the 20th century the bloodiest period in human history.” “There have been more deaths than all the combat deaths in all the wars of the 20th Century.”

Genocide geno = meaning race/tribe/family cide = meaning killing/to kill The word genocide was coined in the midst of the Holocaust by Raphael Lemkin.

The 1948 U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defined genocide as: Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, gendered, or religious group

20th + 21st Century Genocides With the definition of genocide in mind, try to list/brainstorm as many 20th Century (1900s) + 21 Century (2000s) genocides as you can.

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The First Nations of Canada Genocide 1600s/1800s-Present Death toll: Population declined 80-90% in the first 100 years, death in the millions

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The Native Americans of USA Genocide 1492-Present Death toll: Population declined 80-90% in the first 100 years, death in the millions

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The Tibetan Genocide 1949-Present Death toll: Over 1 million

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) Communist China’s Land Reforms (Great Leap Forward + Cultural Revolution) Early 1950s + Death toll: Over 5 million

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The Herero Genocide/Namibian Genocide 1904-05 Death toll: 60,000 (3/4 of the population)

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The Armenian Genocide 1915-23 Death toll: Up to 1.5 - 2 million

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The Ukrainian Famine/Holodomor (USSR) 1932-1933 Death toll: 7+ million

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) Soviet Union Political Executions/Labour Camps 1917-1989 Death toll: 20+ million

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) Stalin’s Collectivization and Industrial Policies 1930s + Death toll: 4+ million

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The Nanking Massacre/Rape of Nanking 1937-1938 Death toll: 300,000+ (50% of the population)

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The Holocaust 1942-45 Death toll: 6+ million Jews, and 11+ million of others including Poles, Roma, homosexuals, and the physically and mentally handicapped

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The Cambodian Genocide (Khmer Rouge) 1975-79 Death toll: 2+ million

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The Timor-Leste (East Timor) Genocide 1975- 1999 Death toll: 120,000+ (20% of the population)

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The Mayan Genocide/Guatemalan Genocide 1981-83 Death toll: 200,000+

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) Iraq/The Kurdish Genocide 1988 Death toll: 50,000-100,000+

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The Bosnian Genocide 1991-1995 Death toll: 8,000+

Major Genocides of the 20th + 21st Century (not a complete list) The Rwandan Genocide 1994 Death toll: 800,000+ (in 3 months)

Major Genocides of the 20th/21st Century (not a complete list) The Darfur Genocide (Sudan) North Sudan 2003-Present Death toll: debated = 100,000? 300,000? 500,000?

Major Genocides of the 20th/21st Century (not a complete list) The Rohingya Genocide Myanmar 2016-Present Death toll: debated/unknown + 600,000+ fled

GENOCIDE Happens everywhere and to any type of person. Genocide is often understood as worse than war.

GENOCIDE Genocide is a process that develops in ten stages that are predictable, but not inexorable. At each stage, preventive measures can stop it.

THE STAGES OF GENOCIDE Classification Symbolization Discrimination Dehumanization Organization Polarization Preparation Persecution Extermination Denial There are TEN stages of genocide according to Dr. Gregory Stanton:

GENOCIDE Perpetrator = a person who perpetrates, or commits, an illegal, criminal, or evil act. Victim = a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action. Bystander = a person who, although present at some event, does not take part in it; an observer or spectator.

WHY GENOCIDE? Reasons for Genocide: Choice Leaders choose to initiate killing People choose to participate Those who have the power to stop it choose to do nothing If it happed in our country we would not accept it; apparently different if it happened elsewhere; not in national interests/do not care

WHY GENOCIDE? Reasons for Genocide: Leaders The decision to begin a genocide is the decision of the leader or a small group of leaders = it is a choice to maintain their political goals Genocides are mutinously planned not spontaneous The people committing these atrocities are not crazed – they know, feel that they are right, and act (they are conscious/sane)

WHY GENOCIDE? Reasons for Genocide: Elimination It is about the elimination of a targeted group not about killing Genocide is part of a larger phenomenon - eliminationism

WHY GENOCIDE? Reasons for Genocide: Non-Human The targeted people are seen as less worthy, less than human Because the instigators of genocide do not see the human in the other it is possible to kill; they kill with zeal because they see the others as a threat/as dangerous

WHY GENOCIDE? Reasons for Genocide: Prejudice Tap into pre-existing prejudice = state that these people are threats + are non-human Technology is not needed to kill = it is the will not the way

WHY GENOCIDE? Reasons for Genocide: Cruelty Cruelty is at the heart of Genocide Brutally far exceeds the need to kill the targeted people Overkill = killing in excess – women and children especially targets Rape is a component of genocide = getting rid of a particular group

Genocide is preventable PREVENT GENOCIDE Genocide is preventable Remember and acknowledge the deaths from genocides and understand that democracy dies if you do not work for it Be on the alert

PREVENT GENOCIDE Gain the knowledge = with the knowledge you have the responsibility/obligation as a human being to act, speak, and mobilize the international community to stop genocide! Have hope and react!

WHY TEACH ABOUT GENOCIDE? Discuss