Sometimes this term, which has a sharply negative meaning for the entire civilized world, is confused with bursts of social aggression similar in nature. In this article we will consider what it really means, we will highlight its most vivid manifestations in its monstrosity.
Definition
So, genocide is a crime committed to destroy, to undermine as much as possible a certain group of people on the basis of:
- Aggressive beliefs that some human races prevail over others. Attempts to eradicate those who are not similar on biological grounds.
- The rejection of a number of nationalities, the recognition of their "lower" and "unworthy." Again wears an aggressive form, based on the belief that there should be no “second grade”.
- Rejection of religious choice.
Genocide is a phenomenon that, in addition to direct physical destruction, practices the creation of unbearable conditions in which the further development of the "enemy" is impossible.
For example, when it comes to religion, the practice of forcibly removing children from families. The widespread prevention of conception and procreation in some cases is also practiced.
History of the term
The official beginning of the recognition of the genocide was laid at the end of World War II. It was introduced by lawyer Rafael Lemkin, a citizen of Poland and a Jew by birth.
Members of his family became victims of the Holocaust, and it was with the term “genocide” that Professor Lemkin wanted to fully describe the monstrous atrocities of Nazi policies that killed many people not only from 1939 to 1945, but also the events that happened two decades before Togo. It is about how countless Armenians with the blessing of the Ottoman Empire were slaughtered in cold blood and purposefully in 1915.
The term "genocide" itself is based on the Greek word "genos", which means "genus", and the Latin "tsido", which means "kill".
Official recognition
In official documents, the word first appeared during the Nuremberg trials - the genocide of the people was included in the verdict, trying to more fully describe all the atrocities that the Nazis committed during the war.
However, this was not enough for the term to have legal force.
At the end of 1948, the UN adopted the Convention on Genocide Crimes. It most fully set out all the provisions that countries that accepted the Convention should have strictly adhered to. Genocide, regardless of its form and manifestation, must be prevented and severely punished. The only thing among the groups of people that could become potentially oppressed was that there was no place for those who were united by common political views. Because of this, over time, the genocide has acquired a "younger brother" - a politicide.
Armenian Genocide
At the end of April each year, the world recalls countless representatives of the Armenian people who fell victims of the Ottoman regime . The Armenian Genocide is a monstrous crime against humanity. From April 24 to the end of June, at least 1.5 million representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia were massacred in the Ottoman Empire. As a result, not a single native was left in the west of Armenia.
Before the outbreak of World War I , there were at least 4 million Armenians all over the world according to official figures, most of whom lived in the ill-fated Ottoman Empire. The ideology of the state, which is now called Turkey, did not tolerate representatives of non-Turkic peoples.
The Armenian genocide is the first open act of aggression that opened the way for others in the 20th century. It took place in 2 stages:
- Even before the outbreak of World War I, it was decided to destroy the commonality and clannishness of the Armenian people, however then robberies were of a local nature. Nevertheless, by the end of 1896, as a result of measures taken by the Ottoman Empire, more than 300 thousand Armenians lost their lives. Even then, many of them began to leave their homes, realizing that this was only the beginning.
- The second phase took effect as soon as 1915 arrived. The government decided that radical measures should be taken to eradicate the Armenian people. On the first day of the “cleansing operation,” April 24, about 8 hundred Armenians were killed. Between May and June, uncontrolled massacre came to the fore in the Ottoman Empire. The results are as follows: 1.5 million people were killed, almost as many were deported.
The Armenian genocide is the main reason that today the nation is dispersed all over the world, as people, saving their lives, have found a new home outside their homeland - who is where.
The genocide of the Jews. Holocaust
The end of the 19th century “gave” Germany ideas based on racial anti-Semitism, in which Jews were positioned as carriers of unfit attributes, which had a detrimental effect on humanity as a whole. It was racially motivated anti-Semitism that became the focus of those thoughts that Adolf Hitler carried to a grateful and attentive public. As soon as he gained power, he immediately began to fulfill his promises. Beginning in 1933, the Jewish people were persecuted, oppressed and destroyed by Nazi punishers.
At the end of July 1941, Goering verified and signed a special order, which was intended to finally solve the Jewish question.
The first step was the creation of Jewish ghettos, where they began to resettle, depriving property and homes.
In parallel with this, the widespread construction of death camps began , which by their design were not designed for the simultaneous residence of a large number of people. In fact, it was a terrifying conveyor of death, into which people entered and never returned.
In December 1941, the first camp began its activity - endless trains of those who lived in the ghetto and tried to hope for the best went to it.
In the first half of 1942, at least 300 thousand Jews who previously lived in Warsaw were killed. The monstrous death machine was only gaining momentum, and by the end of World War II, Jews lost about 6 million among the civilian population, but this is an approximate amount - the whole villages were burned by the Nazis, no information, no data, no way to identify the dead.
Kurdish genocide
Kurdish genocide is an act of aggression by the Iraqi government and with the blessing of its leader Saddam Hussein towards Kurdish tribal peoples. He went through several stages:
- The first phase was carried out in mid-1983, when all men and boys over 15 years old were killed. All deported Kurds that belonged to the Barzan tribe were taken out of the camp in an unknown direction, no one returned.
- The second stage of the scheme was similar to the first, but had a wider radius of destruction. That was Operation Anfal (Trophy), carried out by the Iraqi army for 2 years, starting in 1987. About 2 hundred thousand representatives of Kurdish tribes were killed or disappeared.
The full extent of the atrocities became apparent after the overthrow of Hussein - both mass graves and concentration camps were discovered in which at least 700 thousand people were imprisoned, who lost their freedom, but still managed to survive the Kurdish genocide. What did this give to Hussein? A sense of personal omnipotence and impunity, perhaps, but after the overthrow, this was quickly refuted. Nevertheless, about a million people became refugees, having lost their homes, not counting the dead.
Genocide is not only a threat from outside
Tragedies also occur within a single nation. This cup also did not pass Russia. The desire of leaders to nullify prosperity and the kulaks turned into human tragedies.
In the 30s of the twentieth century, dispossession without exaggeration wore the form of open robbery and bullying. All segments of the population shuddered - neither teachers, nor peasants, nor clergy were able to bypass the punishing finger of universal equality. What in this case means the genocide of one’s own people? This deprivation of all property, link, deprivation and speedy death.