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Genocide = the elimination of an entire population, based upon their common identity (i.e. race, ethnicity, religion)
The “Final Solution” = Hitler's plan to specifically exterminate all Jews from Europe.
Holocaust victims:
Approximately 6 million Jews (out of a European population of 9 million Jews)
AND
Another 5 million+ persons from assorted other groups: - Communists, socialists, political opponents - Slavs (Poles, Russians, other eastern Europeans) - Gypsies (Roma) - Jehovah's Witnesses - homosexuals - mentally & physically disabled (including German
citizens)
Over 11 million civilians systematically murdered
The Holocaust, 1939 – 1945Poland is divided into East & West by the Molotov-Ribbentrop line (Non-Aggression Pact).
WESTERN POLAND:• 1939-1941: Jews are rounded up
into urban ghettos, many starve or die of disease.
• Jan, 1942: Wannsee Conference results in decision for more rapid extermination using death camps.
• 1942-1945: Jews are “relocated” to labor & death camps.
EASTERN POLAND & USSR:• 1941-1944: Small towns & villages
are emptied of Jewish population, marched outside of town, stripped naked, and die in mass shootings into mass graves. Ghettos later established in larger cities, w/ eventual deportations.
Upon arrival at concentration camps... the “selection”:
Those well enough to work were assigned to be slave laborers, and were slowly worked & starved to death.
The old, young (under 15), and sick were immediately sent to gas chambers to be murdered.
Genocide: the systematic elimination of a particular group of people (usually of a specific ethnic identity). Examples of genocide in the 20th and 21st Centuries 1915 – 1918 Armenian Genocide (Turkey) est. 1 million deaths 1932 – 1933 Ukrainian forced famine est. 7 million deaths 1938 – 1945 Holocaust est. 11 million deaths 1975 – 1979 Cambodian “Killing Fields” est. 2 million deaths 1994 Rwanda est. 800,000 deaths 1992 – 1995 Bosnia est. 200,000 deaths 2003 – 2010 Darfur (western Sudan) est. 330,000 deaths
If you lived in Nazi-occupied Europe in the early 1940’s, which of the following would you have been: bystander, collaborator, or dissenter? Why?
Guilt, Morality,Reward Punishment
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------COLLABORATOR BYSTANDER DISSENTER
Contributing Factors of the Holocaust:
Demagoguery: an inspirational, charismatic speaker that plays on the fears and prejudices of the public (i.e. economic depression, humiliation of Treaty of Versailles)
→ appeals to emotion & prejudices, not intellect.
→ offers overly simple answers to complicated problems
→ offers hope and a sense of security in exchange for loyalty
→ effective use of PROPAGANDA
Jingoism:
ultra-nationalistic pride, blind loyalty; provides cover for dominant ethnic group to marginalize minority groups (“you're not like us”)
Concentrated Power (Autocracy!):
too much control in the hands of too few (dictatorship); no separation of powers or checks & balances
Fear & Coercion:
dissenters are threatened by lost rights, imprisonment, death (SS, Gestapo)
Ethnocentrism & Racism: Marginalizing subgroups; different = “inferior”; exclude from
any political or economic power & targeted for abuse
Economic Desperation: Too much competition for scarce resources or employment
opportunities, results in majority excluding minority groups.
Scapegoating: Falsely assign blame for problems to a minority group (Jews)
Dehumanize Others: Justify abuse of scapegoated group by denying them their
humanity; treat people as animals.
Incremental approach:
Discriminate → Segregate → Exterminate: treatment of scapegoated group gets gradually worse over time, small changes get less notice than big changes.
Denial + Apathy:
act as if atrocities against scapegoated group are not as bad as they are, or are not happening at all. Internationally: “not my problem”. “Not aware or don’t care”.
Review:
→ Demagoguery
→ Economic desperation & competition
→ Ethnocentrism & Racism
→ Scapegoating
→ Dehumanize others
→ Jingoism
→ Autocracy
→ Fear & Coercion
→ Incremental approach
→ Denial, Apathy
PrideIgnoranceGreed
HOW TO PREVENT FASCISM… AND GENOCIDE:
CREATE AND PROTECT A STRONG, DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION:
- CHECKS AND BALANCES & SEPARATION OF POWERS (NO AUTOCRACY!)
- FREE SPEECH, ASSOCIATION, PETITIONING
(BASIC RIGHTS OF 1ST AMENDMENT)
- EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW FOR ALL CITIZENS (14TH)
EMBRACE & SUPPORT LIFELONG EDUCATION
- READ! A LOT! (multiple, independent sources)
- THINK CRITICALLY, ASK CHALLENGING QUESTIONS
- RECOGNIZE PROPAGANDA AND DEMAGOGUERY
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT & ACTIVISM: SPEAK, WRITE, COMMUNICATE, VOTE,
AGITATE, DEMONSTRATE… HOLD ELECTED OFFICIALS ACCOUNTABLE
DEMAND ECONOMIC LAWS AND REGULATIONS THAT STRIVE FOR A
BALANCED & SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY!
How can YOU stop genocide that is already occurring?
Seek out and share AWARENESS & INFORMATION (you can’t care unless you’re aware)
Pressure political leaders with letters, phone calls, petitions
VOTE… MINDFULLY
Participate in a public demonstration
Donate to a charitable organization whose mission is to stop or prevent genocide
Kick those responsible in the wallet: - Boycott nations and businesses that are associated (directly or indirectly) with genocide
- DIVEST your money from nations and businesses associated (directly or indirectly) with genocide
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me.
- Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)
(German Lutheran pastor, pacifist)