Pre-Writing Activity With someone sitting next to you, discuss the following questions: - What is genocide? - Where has it occurred? Record your and your partner’s answers on a sheet of paper that you will turn in at the end of the period.

Genocide The eight stages of genocide, as defined by Gregory H. Stanton, President, Genocide Watch Source: © 1998 Gregory H. Stanton. Originally presented as a briefing paper at the US State Department in 1996.

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

Stage One: CLASSIFICATION Insert Photo Here

Stage One: CLASSIFICATION Everyday, we speak in terms of “us” and “them.” Our team and their team. Americans and Iraqis. Christians and Muslims. Straights and gays. This is the first stage of genocide, though it does not mean that every society in which classification occurs will have a genocide. The more “bi-polar” the society is, the more likely a genocide will arise. The more separate the two groups are – physically and ideologically –, the more likely that one will attempt to exterminate the other.

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?

Stage Two: SYMBOLIZATION

Once groups are classified, they typically adopt symbols so that they can be distinguished from each other – either of their own volition to establish their identity or by force so that the dominant group can easily identify them. 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 physical features. Again, this stage is one that does not necessarily lead to genocide.

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? !

Stage Three: DEHUMANIZATION

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.

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?

Stage Four: ORGANIZATION

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Stage Six: PREPARATION

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.

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.

Stage Seven: EXTERMINATION The following slides show pictures of dead bodies. They are meant to be disturbing. If you do not want to look at these images, please do not. !

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.

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. The following image is perhaps the most disturbing of all. Please do look and consider why…

Stage Eight: DENIAL

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.

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?

Homework ON YOUR PAPER: How has your understanding of genocide changed during this class period? Assuming that I did not show you this to make you uncomfortable or sicken you, why did I share these stages and these images of genocide with you? Please write roughly half of a page. You will turn this in at the beginning of class tomorrow for two informal writing grades.

You can find the information in this presentation at 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 and various sources found through Google Images. Presentation created by Mr. Levandowski for use at Princeton High School.