1. Genocide The eight stages of genocide, as defined by Gregory H. StantonGregory H. Stanton

2. What are the eight stages of genocide? Classification Symbolization Dehumanization Organization Polarization Preparation Extermination Denial

3. Stage One: CLASSIFICATION Insert Photo Here

4. Stage One: CLASSIFICATION The action of arranging things according to shared qualities or characteristics. Everyday, we speak in terms of “us” and “them.”: our team/their team. Americans/Iraqis. Christians/Muslims. Straights/gays. Does not mean that every society in which classification occurs will have a genocide occur. The more “bi-polar” the society is, the more likely a genocide is to occur. The more separate - physically and ideologically - these two groups in a society, the more likely that one will attempt to exterminate the other group.

5. Stage One: CLASSIFICATION ON YOUR PAPER: Think of one way in which we separate people in our culture. Do you think this is likely to lead to a genocide? Why or why not?

6. Stage Two: SYMBOLIZATION

7. Once groups are classified, they typically - either of their own volition to establish their identity or by force so that the dominant group can easily identify them - adopt symbols so that they can be told apart. In some cases - particularly where race or ethnicity is concerned - symbolization occurs even before classification, as the symbols that suggest they belong with a certain group are innate, such as the color of their skin or their physical features. Again, this stage is one that does not necessarily lead to genocide.

8. Stage Two: SYMBOLIZATION ON YOUR PAPER: Do groups you identified for the last stage have symbols that allow them - or others - to tell them apart? If so, what are they?

9. Stage Three: DEHUMANIZATION

10. One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of that group are equated with rodents, insects, other vermin, and even diseases. If this stage takes hold, it becomes more difficult to stop the progression of genocide.

11. Stage Three: DEHUMANIZATION ON YOUR PAPER: Why is it necessary for a dominant power to dehumanize the victims of a genocide? Why would it be impossible for a genocide to accomplish its goal without this stage?

12. Stage Four: ORGANIZATION

13. In order for the final stages of genocide to take place, organization must occur. The group that organizes in preparation is typically part of the state due to the amount of financial support required. It can, however, be a terrorist group; because of the amount of organization required, though, any group that successfully organizes a genocide is usually sanctioned - at least to some extent - by a state. To a certain extent, you should think of this stage as the proverbial “calm before the storm.” The roots of the final stages are beginning to take hold, but very little is actually being done to the victimized group yet.

14. Stage Four: ORGANIZATION ON YOUR PAPER: What specifics would have to be worked out by the enactors of a genocide?

15. Stage Five: POLARIZATION “Go where you wanted me to go, you evil spirit.”

16. Stage Five: POLARIZATION During this stage, the groups are driven even further apart ideologically. Hate groups begin broadcasting propaganda with greater frequency, and laws typically are enacted to forbid any sort of relations between the two groups. At this stage, it is not just the victimized group that suffers. Any “sympathizers” or moderates are either threatened or attacked by the dominant, oppressing group.

17. Stage Five: POLARIZATION ON YOUR PAPER: Have you ever seen a piece of propaganda intended to polarize groups? If you have, please describe it. If you have not, please try to imagine what it might look like.

18. Stage Six: PREPARATION

19. Whereas in the previous stage the victimized group was separated ideologically from the dominant group, in this stage the victimized group is separated physically from the rest of the society. The victimized group or groups are gathered together, either in ghettoes or concentration camps. At times, they are even forced into a famine-struck area and starved, beginning the seventh stage of genocide. At this stage, the world typically becomes aware of what is going on, whether they actually step in or not.

20. Stage Six: PREPARATION ON YOUR PAPER: Assuming that at this stage, the world cannot help but notice that the victimized group is being forced from their homes in preparation to be slaughtered, why wouldn’t this be the stage where every genocide ends? This is not a rhetorical question.

21. Stage Seven: EXTERMINATION This is the stage where this process legally becomes genocide. Mass killings occur quickly and systematically. When genocide is sponsored by the state, as it almost always is, the armed forces typically work with well-organized militias to exterminate the victims.

22. Stage Seven: EXTERMINATION ON YOUR PAPER: What previous stage or stages allow(s) extermination to happen so quickly? If you think that the answer is “all of them,” please identify which stage or stages most enable the rapidity of the execution.

23. Stage Eight: DENIAL

24. If intervention does not occur during the seventh stage of genocide, denial always follows extermination. Mass graves are dug up and bodies are burned; the evidence that the genocide ever occurred is systematically eradicated. Witnesses are bribed, intimidated, or killed. Investigations into the crimes are blocked by the government that committed the atrocities. Typically, the victims of the genocide are blamed for their fates if their disappearance is brought up.

25. Stage Eight: DENIAL ON YOUR PAPER: Think about the psychological factors that would contribute to the effectiveness of the denial. How could someone who witnessed or took part in a genocide come to believe that a genocide had not occurred?

26. Homework 1.Essay: How has your understanding of genocide changed with the identification of stages? Does it make sense? Is it logical? Why or why not? 2.Come up with an acronym for the 8 stages of genocide. 3.Vocabulary definitions

27. You can find the information in this presentation at www.genocidewatch.org/8stages.htm. This website also contains suggestions about how to stop genocide at each of the stages. Thank you to Ms. Volz, formerly of Princeton High School’s History department, for this resource. Images taken from http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/sturmer.htm and various sources found through Google Images. Presentation created by Mr. Levandowski for use at Princeton High School.