What is Genocide?

1. What is Genocide?

2. Definition of Genocide Geno – race Cide – killing Genocide – acts committed with the intent to destroy in whole, or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. (This definition was created by the United Nations in 1948)

3. Where have genocides occurred? • The East Timor/ Indonesia Genocide (600,000) • The Mayan Genocide, Guatemala • Iraq/Kurdish Genocide (180,000) • The Bosnian Genocide (260,000) • The Rwandan Genocide (900,000) • The Darfur Genocide, Sudan, including the civil war (2 million and counting) • The Herero Genocide, Namibia (65,000) • The Armenian Genocide, Ottoman Empire (1.2 million) • The Ukrainian Famine (10 million) • The Nanking Massacre (1.1 million) • Holocaust (6 million) • The Cambodian Genocide (1.7 million)

4. Case Study of a Genocide - Holocaust Where? The Holocaust took place in Europe, mostly in Germany, Austria, and Poland. When? 1933 - 1945 What groups were targeted? Anyone who not of the “Aryan” race as defined by Hitler was targeted. This included Jewish people, people of Romanian and Eastern European descent, people with disabilities, and people who were homosexual amongst others.

5. Case Study of a Genocide - Holocaust Why was this group selected? This group was selected because Hitler believed that the Aryan race was the best group and anyone who was not Aryan was holding back the German people. He blamed non-Aryans for the financial problems in Germany after World War I, and the weak leadership of the post-war government. How was the genocide carried out? The genocide was carried out by sending people to concentration camps, where they were either worked to death or systematically killed.

6. Case Study of a Genocide - Holocaust Who was the leader/person responsible? Adolf Hitler, and leaders of the Nazi party were responsible for the genocide. Was the leader punished? Hitler committed suicide at the end of World War II so he was not punished. Several Nazi officers were sentenced to death at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946. Many suspected Nazi officers escaped the country and were never tried.

7. Case Study of a Genocide - Holocaust Three Facts: • Estimates of how many people were killed during the Holocaust range from 6 – 11 million. Approximately 2/3 of all Jewish people living in Europe were killed. • The Nazis came up with a systematic way to “liquidate” non-Aryan people and set up an elaborate labor/death camp system to make people work, die, and get the most value they could from the people themselves and their belongings. • There were around 200,000 survivors of the Holocaust when the camps were liberated by the Allied forces at the end of World War II.

8. Ukrainian Genocide Overview • Occurred from 1932 – 1933 in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union), and was led by Josef Stalin. • Josef Stalin intentionally caused a famine which killed 7 - 10 million Ukrainian people to keep them from starting a nationalist uprising.

9. Rwandan Genocide • The Rwandan Genocide was a result of a racial conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis (two different ethnic groups) that was made worse by the Belgian colonists. • Tutsis were treated better by the Belgians and this led to an extreme rivalry between the groups that resulted in the genocide in 1994.

10. Armenian Genocide • Took place in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 – 1918. • The Ottoman Turks were resentful of the Armenian people trying to gain influence and an independent nation-state and worked to systematically eliminate them.

11. Sudanese Genocide • The genocide occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan is a conflict between the native African farmers and a group an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed backed by the Sudanese government. • The government of Sudan refuses to address the human rights issues occurring in it’s country.

12. Kashmir Genocide • The genocide and continuous issues occurring in Kashmir are a result of British imperialism and struggles between Muslim and Hindu people on the Indian subcontinent. • India and Pakistan continue to struggle over control of Kashmir and the Kashmiri Pandit people are often killed as a result of wanting to be independent or not following the mainstream religion.

13. What will you be expected to do? • Select the three genocides you wish to study. • Complete three information sheets, one for each genocide. • Complete Level 1 activities until you’ve reached the desired amount of points. Then move on to the higher levels. You may work with a friend on Level 1 activities but everyone is expected to complete their own work and be able to demonstrate their knowledge of the information independently. All the layered curriculum activities must be completed about a genocide you studied on your own. YOU MAY NOT USE THE HOLOCAUST FOR ANY OF THE ACTIVITIES.

14. Things to consider • Genocides are very controversial topics for some cultures and people – the information you find on a specific genocide may vary greatly (some countries try to cover up what happened, etc.) • It is often difficult for historians to figure out exactly how many people were killed and/or how long genocides occurred so it is ok to give a range for this information (ex: 100,000 – 200,000 people were killed). • Be sensitive! Genocides are still occurring in the world today and many people have been impacted by them. Use as much factual information as possible when completing your layered curriculum activities, and be considerate when being creative.