Sometimes this term, which has a sharply negative meaning for the entire civilized world, is confused with outbursts of social aggression similar in nature. In this article, we will look at what it really means, highlight its most striking manifestations in its enormity.
Definition
So, genocide is a crime committed with the aim of destroying, undermining as much as possible a certain group of people on the basis of:
- The aggressive belief that some human races are superior to others. Attempts to eradicate those who are not biologically similar.
- Rejection of a number of nationalities, their recognition as "inferior" and "unworthy". Again, he wears an aggressive uniform, based on the conviction that there should be no “second class”
- 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, it is practicedforcible removal of children from families. Prevention of conception and childbearing is also practiced universally in a number of cases.
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 Polish citizen and a Jew by origin.
Members of his family became victims of the Holocaust, and it was the term "genocide" that Professor Lemkin wanted to fully describe the monstrous atrocities of the Nazi policy, which killed many people not only in the period from 1939 to 1945, but also the events that occurred two decades before. It is about how cold-bloodedly and purposefully in 1915 countless Armenians were slaughtered with the blessing of the Ottoman Empire.
The term 'genocide' itself is based on the Greek word 'genos' meaning 'genus' and the Latin 'cido' meaning 'I kill'.
Official recognition
In official documents, the word first appeared during the Nuremberg trials - the genocide of the people was included in the sentence, trying to more fully describe all the atrocities that the Nazis committed during the war.
However, this was not enough for the term to become legal.
At the end of 1948, the UN adopted the Convention on crimes motivated by genocide. It most fully outlined all the provisions that the countries that adopted the Convention had to strictly adhere to. Genocide, regardlessfrom its form and manifestation, must be warned and severely punished. The only thing among the groups of people that could become potentially oppressed, there was no place for those who are united by common political views. Because of this, over time, genocide acquired a "little brother" - politicide.
Armenian Genocide
At the end of April every year, the world remembers the countless representatives of the Armenian people who fell victim to the Ottoman regime. The Armenian Genocide is a heinous crime against humanity. From April 24 to the end of June, at least 1.5 million representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia were massacred on the territory of the Ottoman Empire. As a result, not a single native inhabitant remained in the west of Armenia.
Before the start of World War I, there were at least 4 million Armenians worldwide, according to official figures, and most of them lived on the territory of 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 start of the First World War, it was decided to destroy the community and clan system of the Armenian people, but then the robbery attacks were of a local nature. Nevertheless, by the end of 1896, as a result of the measures taken by the Ottoman Empire, more than 300,000 Armenians lost their lives. Even then, many of them began to leave their homes, realizing that this was only the beginning.
- The second stage came into effect as soon as 1915 came. The government decided that it was necessary to take radical measures to eradicate the Armenian people. On the very 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 the same number were deported.
The Armenian genocide is the main reason why today the nation is scattered all over the world, as people, saving their lives, found a new home outside their homeland - who is where.
Jewish genocide. Holocaust
The end of the 19th century "gave" Germany ideas based on racial anti-Semitism, in which the Jews were positioned as carriers of unfit traits that have a detrimental effect on all of 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 received power, he immediately set about fulfilling 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 that was intended to finally resolve the Jewish question.
The first stage was the creation of Jewish ghettos, where they began to be resettled, depriving them of their property and homes.
In parallel with this, the widespread construction of death camps began, which, by their design, were not designed for simultaneousa lot of people living there. In fact, it was a terrifying death conveyor that people entered and never returned to.
In December 1941, the first camp began its activities - endless echelons of those who lived in the ghetto and tried to hope for the best went to it.
During the first half of 1942, at least 300,000 Jews who previously lived in Warsaw were killed. The monstrous death machine only gained momentum, and by the end of World War II, the loss of Jews amounted to about 6 million among the civilian population, but this is an approximate number - entire villages were burned by the Nazis, no information, no data, no way to identify the dead.
Kurdish Genocide
The Kurdish genocide is an act of aggression by the government of Iraq and with the blessing of its leader Saddam Hussein against the Kurdish tribal peoples. It went through several stages:
- The first stage was carried out in mid-1983, when all men and boys over 15 were killed. All the deported Kurds who 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 went missing.
The full scale of the atrocities became apparent after the overthrow of Hussein - both mass graves andconcentration camps, in which at least 700 thousand people were imprisoned, who lost their freedom, but still managed to survive the genocide of the Kurds. What did it give Hussein? The feeling of one's own 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 people. This cup has not passed even 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 was in the form of open robbery and bullying. All segments of the population shuddered - neither the teachers, nor the peasants, nor the clergy could not escape the punishing finger of universal equality. What does the genocide of one's own people mean in this case? This is deprivation of everything on the basis of property, exile, deprivation and quick death.
