Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
Ancient Genocides
The Armenian Genocide
The Holocaust
Apartheid
Rwanda
Ethnic Cleansing in Yugoslavia
Darfur
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism Project
Choose one of the topics from below and
watch the movie and read a/the book
associated with it. Write a research paper
that incorporates ideas from the movie
and book with outside primary and
secondary source material.
Holocaust – Schindler’s List; Diary of Anne
Frank or The Hiding Place or Night
Rwanda – Hotel Rwanda; Left to Tell or
Shake Hands With the Devil
South Africa – Invictus; Cry the Beloved
Country
http://www.yale.edu/gsp/index.html
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
• What is the United Nations definition
of genocide?
• What acts constitute genocide?
• How does it differ from the charge
“crimes against humanity?”
• What is the difference in the view of
academics and human rights activists
toward genocide?
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
• How should genocide be dealt with?
Should it be on a national scale,
regional, or global? What is the role of
transnational organizations such as the
United Nations?
• Write down your opinion now, and
then compare it to your opinion upon
completion of this unit.
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
• How does genocide affect societies,
groups, and individuals?
“All that is necessary for the triumph of
evil is that good men do nothing.”
--Edmund Burke
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
Ancient Genocides
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: Ancient Genocides
• Deuteronomy 7 and 20
• Joshua 6 and 8
• Thucydides – The History of the
Peloponnesian War – Chapter X
Genocide and the Bible
• For what reason did God order the
complete destruction of the cities of
Jericho and Ai?
• Is it possible to reconcile the atrocities
performed in the name of God, and
attributed to God in the Old Testament
with the messages of love,
compassion, and forgiveness found in
the New Testament?
Sparta
• For what reason did God order the
complete destruction of the cities of
Jericho and Ai?
• Is it possible to reconcile the atrocities
performed in the name of God, and
attributed to God in the Old Testament
with the messages of love,
compassion, and forgiveness found in
the New Testament?
Sparta
• For what reason did God order the
complete destruction of the cities of
Jericho and Ai?
• Is it possible to reconcile the atrocities
performed in the name of God, and
attributed to God in the Old Testament
with the messages of love,
compassion, and forgiveness found in
the New Testament?
Roman Destruction of Carthage
• For what reason did God order the
complete destruction of the cities of
Jericho and Ai?
• Is it possible to reconcile the atrocities
performed in the name of God, and
attributed to God in the Old Testament
with the messages of love,
compassion, and forgiveness found in
the New Testament?
Roman Destruction of Carthage
• For what reason did God order the
complete destruction of the cities of
Jericho and Ai?
• Is it possible to reconcile the atrocities
performed in the name of God, and
attributed to God in the Old Testament
with the messages of love,
compassion, and forgiveness found in
the New Testament?
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
The Armenian
Genocide
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: Armenian Genocide
• Readings
– DPs: Europe’s Displaced Persons
– Fires of Hatred
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: Armenian Genocide
• Why was the Armenian genocide
perpetrated?
• How many people died in the
Armenian genocide?
• How did the Turks implement their
plans?
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: Armenian Genocide
• Why was the Armenian genocide
perpetrated?
• How many people died in the
Armenian genocide?
• How did the Turks implement their
plans?
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: Armenian Genocide
• Why was the Armenian genocide
perpetrated?
• How many people died in the
Armenian genocide?
• How did the Turks implement their
plans?
Armenia
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: Armenian Genocide
• Why was the Armenian genocide
perpetrated?
• How many people died in the
Armenian genocide?
• How did the Turks implement their
plans?
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: Armenian Genocide
• Why was the Armenian genocide
perpetrated?
• How many people died in the
Armenian genocide?
• How did the Turks implement their
plans?
Armenia
• The Turk who takes the fortunes (of
others)
• A saigneur is someone who makes
another bleed – may be a play on
words: seigneur means lord
Armenia
Armenia
• Removal of the bodies from the streets
of Gacata
Armenia
• Massacres of Christians in Turkey
Armenia
• New massacres in
Armenia – Mobilization
in Greece
Armenia
Armenia
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: Armenian Genocide
• “We did not commit genocide we
defended the country”
• Why has the Turkish government
continued to deny the Armenian
genocide?
• How does this denial affect the
relationship between the United States
and Turkey?
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
The Holocaust
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: The Holocaust
• Benchmarks
– SS.912.W.7.8 Explain the causes, events,
and effects of the Holocaust (1933-1945)
including its roots in the long tradition of
anti-Semitism, 19th century ideas about
race and nation, and Nazi dehumanization
of the Jews and other victims.
• Readings
– DPs: Europe’s Displaced Persons
– Fires of Hatred
Foundation for Genocide
• Why were the Jews blamed for
Germany’s defeat in World War I?
• What role did the Armenian genocide
play in Hitler’s plans to destroy the
Jews in Germany?
• What factors contributed to Hitler’s
drive to implement the “Final
Solution”?
Anti-Semitic Propaganda
•
•
•
•
Cover: "When you see this symbol..."
Page 2: "Remember what the Jews have done to
our people." The page reviews World War I, for
which the Jews are held responsible, then states:
"Now for the first time, World Jewry openly
says what it wants: 'Germany must die!'"
Page 3: "And you can read the Jew's solution in
the booklet The War Aim of World Plutocracy."
A review of Kaufman's proposal follows. "The
German Wehrmacht will ensure that World
Jewry's terrible plan, as proclaimed by the Jew
Kaufman, will never become reality.
Page 4: "You must ensure through your
behavior that Jewry never again has even the
slightest influence on our people."
Anti-Semitic Propaganda
•
•
This is the cover to the most infamous
issue of Der Stürmer, the 1934 issue
accusing Jews of practicing ritual murder
to secure the blood of Christians to use in
Jewish religious rituals. The headline
reads: Jewish Murder Plan against Gentile
Humanity Revealed. The issue actually got
banned by the Nazis after it had been out
for a while, not because of anti-Semitic
content, but because it compared alleged
Jewish ritual murder with the Christian
sacrament of communion.
“The Jews are our misfortune!”
Foundation for Genocide
• What is the definition of the word
holocaust?
• What was the Holocaust?
• Which groups did the Nazis include in
the Holocaust?
Foundation for Genocide
• Free Saxony from Marxist trash!
• 1930 or earlier - poster for a provincial
election in Saxony
Foundation for Genocide
• What was Kristallnacht?
• What was its purpose?
The SS
• Who were the SS?
• How is it that the SS was able to inflict
such punishment and torture on the
prisoners within the camps?
Foundation for Genocide
• How were individuals identified in
European cities?
• What steps were taken by the Nazis to
implement the “Final Solution”?
The Ghetto
Transport
Distribution of Labor and Death Camps
Auschwitz-Birkenau
The Auschwitz Death Camp
• What did the “selection” process
consist of?
• Why were the prisoner’s heads shaved
upon arrival at the camp?
Survival in the Camps
– “…on the average, only those prisoners could keep alive
who, after years of trekking from camp to camp, had lost
all scruples in their fight for existence; they were
prepared to use every means, honest and otherwise, even
brutal force, theft, and betrayal of their friends, in order
to save themselves.”
» Victor E. Frankl
The Auschwitz Death Camp
• What were the capabilities of the gas
chambers and crematoria?
• What agent was used in the chambers?
– How does that particular agent
kill?
– What is its modern use?
The Auschwitz Death Camp
• What conditions existed within the
camps in terms of accommodations?
• How were prisoners treated?
The Psychology of the Camp
• Three stages or periods of camp life
– Admission
– Entrenchment in camp routine
– Release and liberation
The Psychology of the Camps
• What was the mindset of a newly
admitted prisoner to the camp?
The Psychology of the Camps
• What was the most common form of
suicide in the camps?
• How was it determined that someone
was about to commit suicide?
• How would other prisoners try to talk
this person down from these thoughts?
The Psychology of the Camps
• What was the second phase prisoners
would go through after admission to
the camps?
• What actions manifested during this
period?
• How did the prisoners view time?
The Psychology of the Camps
– “This body here, my body, is really a corpse already.
What has become of me?”
» Victor E. Frankl
The Psychology of the Camps
• How did the body and mind respond to
the brutality of the camps?
“First They Came”
– When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
– When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
– When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
“First They Came”
– When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
– When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
»Pastor Martin Niemoller
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
Apartheid
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: Apartheid
• DPs: Europe’s Displaced Persons
• Fires of Hatred
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
Rwanda
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: Rwanda
• Benchmarks
– SS.912.W.9.3 Explain cultural, historical,
and economic factors and governmental
policies that created the opportunities for
ethnic cleansing or genocide in Cambodia,
the Balkans, Rwanda and Darfur and
describe various governmental and nongovernmental responses to them.
• Readings
– DPs: Europe’s Displaced Persons
– Fires of Hatred
Colonialism
• Why did the Belgians divide those in
their colonies into different groups?
• What were the names and
characteristics of those groups?
– Why did these classifications
make little sense?
• How did King Leopold maintain
control among the African colonists?
United Nations in Rwanda
• How were the plans of the Hutu
leadership communicated to the
Interhamwe?
• How were the Tutsis dehumanized?
– Why was this approach taken?
United Nations in Rwanda
• What event led to the withdrawal of a
majority of UN troops?
United Nations in Rwanda
• What event led to the withdrawal of a
majority of UN troops?
United Nations in Rwanda
• What event led to the withdrawal of a
majority of UN troops?
United Nations in Rwanda
• What event led to the withdrawal of a
majority of UN troops?
Emmanuelle Ilibigazi
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
Ethnic Cleansing
in Yugoslavia
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: Ethnic Cleansing in Yugoslavia
• Benchmarks
– SS.912.W.9.3 Explain cultural, historical,
and economic factors and governmental
policies that created the opportunities for
ethnic cleansing or genocide in Cambodia,
the Balkans, Rwanda and Darfur and
describe various governmental and nongovernmental responses to them.
• Readings
– DPs: Europe’s Displaced Persons
– Fires of Hatred
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
Darfur
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: Darfur
• Benchmarks
– SS.912.W.9.3 Explain cultural, historical,
and economic factors and governmental
policies that created the opportunities for
ethnic cleansing or genocide in Cambodia,
the Balkans, Rwanda and Darfur and
describe various governmental and nongovernmental responses to them.
• Readings
– DPs: Europe’s Displaced Persons
– Fires of Hatred
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Racism
United Nations Policy
Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing: United Nations Policy
• Benchmarks
– SS.912.W.9.3 Explain cultural, historical,
and economic factors and governmental
policies that created the opportunities for
ethnic cleansing or genocide in Cambodia,
the Balkans, Rwanda and Darfur and
describe various governmental and nongovernmental responses to them.
• Readings
– DPs: Europe’s Displaced Persons
– Fires of Hatred
The Role of the United Nations
• Why was the response of the UN in
Rwanda so ineffective?
• The UN provides the legal framework
for prosecuting criminals
• What is the four-step process followed
by the UN when dealing with real or
perceived genocides?
The Role of the United Nations
• What should be done if the United
Nations is unwilling or incapable of
acting to stop a genocide?
• Should a state like the US or UK step
up and take leadership?
• Should a coalition of local states
“patrol its own neighborhood?”
• Should the UN, NATO, or some other
transnational organization be counted
on to step in?