The Great Wrongs Of Genocide

The Great Wrongs Of Genocide

By

Travis Dunmall

Nine to eleven million minorities were killed in the Holocaust, a major genocide that took place in World War II. Genocide, by definition, is the mass killing of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Genocide is the occurrence of millions of people dying for what they like, agree with, or have been raised with culturally. Much genocide has taken place in history and still is occurring around the world. The Holocaust is probably the most well known genocide that has taken place, but much genocide has taken place in many countries from the United States to Africa and from Africa to China. Genocide is the worst crime a person can commit or participate in.

Genocide is a crime that not only involves hurting or, most likely, killing people but it also hurts the victims that survive for the rest of their life. Survivor stories from the Holocaust, tell us not only about people watching friends and family die of starvation, but it also tells us how, after the Holocaust, the surviving victims are animals because that's how they were treated and lived while they were in side concentration camps. "In the camps we'd been treated like animals, and now we had begun to behave like animals and had to be rehabilitated." "But after six years of horrifying experiences it was hard to acclimatize. I found it difficult to eat with a knife and fork: we only had spoons in the camps, or ate with our fingers. We were quite wild, too. We weren't used to proper social behavior." [From Abraham's story on ppu.org.]

Genocide isn't just a tragic event that occurred before and during World War II. Genocide has occurred recently and is still occurring in some African countries. In the African country of Rwanda, starting in April 1994, at least eight hundred thousand Tutsis and moderate Hutus were