1. INTRODUCTION TO GENOCIDE

2. Quotes on Genocide There aren't just bad people that commit genocide; we are all capable of it. It's our evolutionary history. Morality binds people into groups. It gives us tribalism, it gives us genocide, war, and politics. But it also gives us heroism, altruism, and sainthood.

3. What are our goals today? Explain why the Holocaust is the most famous genocide Examine different definitions of the term ”Genocide” Compare and Contrast different definitions Define “Genocide” in our class

4. Why is the Holocaust the most famous Genocide? One of the most documented events in history Many materials on the Holocaust (books, videos, etc) Captured the interested of everyone Focal Point (Western Europe, place, and time) Many survivors still alive

5. Compare and Contrast different definitions of Genocide Working in a small group (3 people at most) read the different definitions of genocide. Compare and Contrast the different definitions. What do they have in common? What is different? Fill out the “Genocide Definitions” (second page) sheet using the definitions of Genocide for Part 1 Part 2 read over each scenario and decide if it is a genocide

6. Genocides of the 20 th Century 1904 - German government massacred over 81% of the population of the Hereros in southern Africa (65,000 out of a total population of 80,000). 1915 - Ottomans killed over one million Armenians attempting to completely eradicate (kill) all of the Armenians living in Turkey. 1919 - Ukrainians executed up to 250,000 Jews. Early 1930s - Stalin of the Soviet Union purposely starved to death up to ten million Ukrainian people. Late 1930s - Soviet Union shot and killed up to 500,000 people for political reasons (there is proof that in 1937-1938, sometimes up to 1000 persons were shot per day in Moscow alone). Early 1940s - Nazi Holocaust killed nearly six million Jews by firing squad, burning alive, and poison gas.

7. Genocides (cont.) Early 1940s - Germans executed up to 500,000 gypsies in an attempt to destroy them. 8. 1950s - China attempted to destroy Buddhism in Tibet and killed thousands. 1965 - Indonesia killed 600,000 people accused of being "communist.” Late 1960s - Tutsi killed up to 300,000 Hutus in African nation of Burundi. Since 1965 - over 100,000 Indians killed in Guatemala by military. Late 1960s - thousands of Ibos in Nigeria were massacred or starved to death by the government. 1971 - up to three million Bengalis killed by the Pakistan government. 1972-1973 - Thousands of Ache Indians were tortured, enslaved, or killed by the Paraguayan government. Late 1970s - up to three million Kampucheans killed by the Kmer Rouge. 1975 to present - up to 100,000 out of a total population of 600,000 East Timorans killed by Indonesian troops. 1980s - Thousands of Bahai have been tortured and killed in Iran and Middle East.

8. Could this happen at MTHS? In one school, a group of four boys began whispering and laughing about another boy in their school that they thought was gay. They began making comments when they walked by him in the hall. Soon, they started calling the boy insulting anti- gay slurs. By the end of the month, they had taken their harassment to another level, tripping him when he walked by and pushing him into a locker while they yelled slurs. Some time during the next month, they increased the seriousness of their conduct – they surrounded him and two boys, held his arms while the others hit and kicked him. Eventually, one of the boys threatened to bring his father’s gun into school the next day to kill the boy. At this point another student overheard the threat and the police were notified. (From Sticks and Stones by Stephen L. Wessler)

9. Triangle of Hate

11. Stage 1: Classification “Us versus them” Distinguish by nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion. Classification is a primary method of dividing society and creating a power struggle between groups.

12. Stage 2: Symbolization  Names : “Jew”, “German”, “Hutu”, “Tutsi”.  Languages.  Types of dress.  Group uniforms : Nazi Swastika armbands  Colors and religious symbols :

13. Stage 3: Dehumanization One group denies the humanity of another group, and makes the victim group seem subhuman. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder.. Kangura Newspaper, Rwanda: “The Solution for Tutsi Cockroaches” Der Stürmer Nazi Newspaper: “The Blood Flows; The Jew Grins”

14. Dehumanization Caption: Does the same soul dwell in these bodies? From a Nazi SS Propaganda Pamphlet:

15. Stage 4: Organization Genocide is a group crime, so must be organized. The state usually organizes, arms and financially supports the groups that conduct the genocidal massacres. (State organization is not a legal requirement --Indian partition.) Plans are made by elites for a “final solution” of genocidal killings.

16. Stage 5: Polarization Extremists drive the groups apart. Hate groups broadcast and print polarizing propaganda. Laws are passed that forbid intermarriage or social interaction. Political moderates are silenced, threatened and intimidated, and killed. Public demonstrations were organized against Jewish merchants. Moderate German dissenters were the first to be arrested and sent to concentration camps.

17. Polarization Attacks are staged and blamed on targeted groups. In Germany, the Reichstag fire was blamed on Jewish Communists in 1933. Cultural centers of targeted groups are attacked. On Kristalnacht in 1938, hundreds of synagogues were burned.

18. Stage 6: Preparation Members of victim groups are forced to wear identifying symbols. Death lists are made. Victims are separated because of their ethnic or religious identity.

19. Stage 7: Extermination (Genocide) Extermination begins, and becomes the mass killing legally called "genocide." Most genocide is committed by governments. Einsatzgrupen: Nazi Killing Squads

20. Stage 8: Denial Denial is always found in genocide, both during it and after it. Continuing denial is among the surest indicators of further genocidal massacres. Denial extends the crime of genocide to future generations of the victims. It is a continuation of the intent to destroy the group. The tactics of denial are predictable.

21. Denial: Deny the Evidence. Deny that there was any mass killing at all. Question and minimize the statistics. Block access to archives and witnesses. Intimidate or kill eye-witnesses.

22. Denial: Blame the Victims. Emphasize the strangeness of the victims. They are not like us. (savages, infidels) Claim they were disloyal insurgents in a war. Call it a “civil war,” not genocide. Claim that the deniers’ group also suffered huge losses in the “war.” The killings were in self-defense.

23. Is this a Genocide? The government declares that subversive groups have been undermining national security by using terrorist tactics against social institutions (military, educational, economic). A national emergency is declared and subversives are arrested, imprisoned and eventually many “disappear.” ARMENIA and UKRAINE AND UNITED STATES

24. Is this a Genocide Government policy of converting forests and surrounding areas into pastureland has produced conflict between indigenous peoples and new settlers. New settlers take action to expand their control over forestlands, and in the process eliminate not only the food sources but the economic livelihoods of the indigenous cultures. Indigenous peoples who resist are relocated, and some die in the process. Most significantly, survival of the indigenous culture is threatened. THE UNITED STATES

25. Is this a Genocide? In a society where ethnic tensions have long been a problem, a minority religious and ethnic group has long suffered at the hands of the majority ethnic group. Recent attempts by the majority group to solidify control of the national government through use of discriminatory legislation have led to violent uprisings by the minority ethnic group, which also has a distinct religious tradition. Military forces controlled by the majority ethnic group have retaliated and massacred elements of the minority group in isolated towns and villages. RWANDA

26. Is this a Genocide A revolutionary government has recently come to power and has begun to take reprisals against its opponents in this nation. Those opponents of the current regime who were in positions of high status or influence prior to the revolution are prime targets of the reprisals, and many have been deported, relocated into labor camps, or imprisoned. A policy of “re-education” of the young has been implemented by the revolutionary government, and all who oppose it are either exiled or killed by the revolutionary army. CAMBODIA

27. Is this a Genocide? The government of this country has determined that the most effective means for solidifying its control over the population is to identify a cultural group that has long been a target of prejudice and discrimination, and blame it for recent internal social and economic problems. Despite the support of a vocal minority of intellectuals and some outside pressure from sympathetic governments, the targeted group has received little aid in its protests against this policy. Forced relocation and denial of basic civil rights have already been imposed upon this group by the government, and some group members have fled the country warning of harsher measures to come. THE HOLOCAUST