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Causes and consequences of genocide
Colonialism as cause of the war in Sierra Leone
Colonialism as cause of the war in Sierra Leone
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When someone hears the word genocide, they usually think of the holocaust, where millions of Jews were tortured, experimented on, and executed simply because of their religious beliefs. However, there is more than one example of that word, eight genocides have occurred alone in the 20th century. (An estimated 170 million men, women and children have lost their lives to mass killings) Among those killed, Sierra Leone contributed over 50,000 of them. The terror, pain, and displacement caused by Sierra Leone and the Holocaust are unforgivable and unforgettable. Although Sierra Leone and the Holocaust are both genocides, the targets, goals, and leaders were polar opposites. The first contention is the victims targeted. As many people know, the …show more content…
Most Jews were killed with gassing chambers, the others died by starvation, dehydration, hypothermia, disease, cruelty of officers, etc. Although mainly Jews were killed, there was also many others that were deemed unworthy to have a place in the new Reich. The deportation of the Jews and other “unworthy” subjects was by train, often 100 or more were jam packed into one car. Unlike the Holocaust, the Sierra Leone genocide targeted the civilians. The civilians of Sierra Leone were subject to terrible acts of mutilation, some having limbs cut off, others raped, and they were even used as human shields. Entire families were gunned down in the street, children and adults had their limbs hacked off with machetes, and young ladies were taken into rebel bases and sexually abused. “Sierra Leone”, an article by Encyclopedia Britannica explains, “There were …show more content…
First, the main goal of the Holocaust was to rid the world of all the “inferior” races, and make it more productive with the superior races. He did specifically target the Jews, but that is because Hitler blamed them for the loss of WWI and some personal grudges he held against them. As mentioned in the paragraph above, they were very efficient in killing mass groups of people, and the Nazis killed without mercy. The Nazi extermination camps were dotted all throughout Germany and Poland. “The Holocaust Just Got More Shocking”, published by The New York Times, reports “You literally could not go anywhere in Germany without running into forced labor camps, P.O.W camps, or concentration camps. They were everywhere.” (n.pg.). Researchers cataloged around 42,500 ghettos and camps throughout Europe, spanning from France to Russia between 1933 and 1945. In contrast, the main goal of the Sierra Leone genocide was to force the government into submission. The entire start of the genocide was from the civil war, after an initial attempt to overthrow the Sierra Leone government. The first year of the civil war, the RUF took over vast amounts of land, including the Sierra Leone diamond mines, which they used to fund the organization. In 1996 the rebels were pushed back to the Liberian border, but they did not give up. It was around this time that the genocide began, the rebels attacked the city of Freetown, maliciously killing
In 1996 the war in Sierra Leone was becoming a horrific catastrophe. Children were recruited to be soldiers, families were murdered, death came easily, and staying alive was a privilege. Torture became the favorite pastime of the Revolutionary United Front rebel movement, which was against the citizens who supported Sierra Leone’s president, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. I was in the grips of genocide and there was nothing I could do. Operation No Living Thing was put into full effect (Savage 33).
Nothing good ever comes out of violence.Two wrongs never make it right, but cause harm. Contemporary society has not responded enough legacies of historical globalization. This essay will cover the following arguments such as residential schools, slavery and the Sierra Leone civil war.
During the 1900’s two deadly wars were raging on, the civil war in Sierra Leone and the genocide in Rwanda. The civil war in Sierra Leone began in March 1991, while the genocide began in 1994. Combined these two wars killed upward of 1,050,000 people, and affected the lives of all the people that lived there. The conflicts in Sierra Leone and Rwanda occurred for different major reasons, but many little aspects were similar. Politics and Ethnicity were the two main conflicts, but despite the different moments rebellions and the murder of innocent people occurred in both places.
In Rwanda, if the Hutsus saw a tutsis walking down the street, you would be killed immediately. For this genocide, the Hutsus didn’t hold the Tutsis in a camp, make them sleep in horrid conditions, burn them alive, make them work or even put them in gas chambers leading to death. However, the Holocaust was different, if you were a Jew you would be treated this way. Hitler would take the Jews into a concentration camp to be worked, starved, and tortured until they become weak and ill, proceeding to death. In conclusion, there are several differences between these two genocides.
The Holocaust was one of the most tragic and harmful things to befall the human race. Yet not a lot of people understand just how terrible it was. But if we don't know about it, how will we know if history will ever repeat itself or not? We need to know because we can't let it happen ever again. There is so much to know as well. From the life of Anne Frank to World War II as a whole, there are so many things involved its unbelievable. But what exactly is the full depth of the Holocaust, and what was all a part of it.
The Holocaust tends to be a bitter memory and an unpleasant subject to discuss. Although this event took place many years ago, repercussions are still present in the twenty first century. Especially in Germany, the Holocaust not only influences patriotism, but it also influences education and immigration policies. In contrast to other countries where nationalism is common, Germany has been forced to lessen the sense of nationalism in order to dispose false beliefs some individuals have of German racism. By allowing people from other countries to become German citizens, Germany avoids transmitting the sense of being a better and a cleaner race. A further sector influenced by the Holocaust is the education system. Approaches to teach about this event are difficult since the Holocaust is a sensitive issue and continues having vital importance in numerous families. Although the Holocaust continues conveying negative influences, the Holocaust also led to positive medical and technological improvements. In fact, numerous improvements are unknowingly implemented in societies today. Therefore, the Holocaust is one of the most horrific and influencing events in history whose repercussions are still felt in Germany today. However, in spite of the horrific occurrences, the associated medical findings and technological improvements make it intricate to look at the Holocaust as plainly evil. Thus, societies should view the Holocaust with a broader perspective.
Firstly, they both fall under the correct definition of a genocide. Both occurred on a massive scale, destroying entire generations of people, leaving a horrible legacy. Racism was a common motivator in both cases. The Anti-Semitic views and policies of Nazi Germany are paralleled with the colonial views and policies of whites as the superior race. Mechanically, military forces were used as tools to enact the genocide (the S.S. of Nazi Germany and the Force Publique of the Congo Free State). There are many places where the two genocides are similar, however, there are major differences. The aim of the Holocaust was an “ethnic cleansing” of Jews and other undesirables, total extermination was the goal of the Hitler and the Nazi party. Genocide became an official state policy and was run in a very pragmatic manner under heavy state control. It was direct and focused extermination, exemplified by the concentration camps. This contrasts the lack of state control in the Congo Free State, which the Belgian government had little control over. The genocide in the Congo was a by-product of colonial rule, the people were victims of Imperial greed. This shows that the Congolese genocide was less direct in nature when compared to the
They were deported on packed trains. Many people died on the trains from hunger, disease, thirst, and suffocation. The Jews could be on the trains for months at a time. Soon after Germany separated from Austria in March 1938, the Nazi soldiers arrested and imprisoned Jews in concentration camps all over Germany. Only eight months after annexation, the violent anti-jew Kristallnacht, also known as Night of the Broken Glass, pogroms took place.
Africa has been an interesting location of conflicts. From the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea to the revolutionary conflict in Libya and Egypt, one of the greatest conflicts is the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan Genocide included two tribes in Rwanda: Tutsis and Hutus. Upon revenge, the Hutus massacred many Tutsis and other Hutus that supported the Tutsis. This gruesome war lasted for a 100 days. Up to this date, there have been many devastating effects on Rwanda and the global community. In addition, many people have not had many acknowledgements for the genocide but from this genocide many lessons have been learned around the world.
In every genocide, minorities and those who were seen as "different" or as the "other" were targeted and blamed for massive systemic issues in society. This includes religious minorities, or groups of people with religious beliefs different from the mainstream. In the holocaust, the main group that people think of getting murdered are Jewish people. A lot of Polish people were also killed within the holocaust. This includes ethnic and racial minorities, or groups of people who look and and sometimes dress differently in terms of skin color, and sometimes clothes. It is known that Hitler and the Nazis wanted to promote an “Aryan” race, an all-white all-German society. It is clear that he was willing to commit genocide on the basis of race, as well. In the Armenian genocide, the Ottoman empire killed people on the basis of being Armenian. This also actually includes members of the LGBT+ community. During the holocaust, Hitler and the Nazis also gathered up
What is genocide? “Genocide is a deliberate, systematic destruction of racial cultural or political groups.”(Feldman 29) What is the Holocaust? “Holocaust, the period between 1933-1945 when Nazi Germany systematically persecuted and murdered millions of Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and many other people.”(Feldman 29) These two things tie into each other.The Holocaust was a genocide. Many innocent people were torn apart from their families, for many never to see them again. This murder of the “Jewish people of Europe began in spring 1941.”( Feldman 213) The Holocaust was one of the most harshest things done to mankind.
To start off with, what is genocide? Genocide is the killing of a massive number of people of in a group. Genocide has not only been practices in the present day, but it has been practiced for m...
The Holocaust and the Bosnian genocide had many similarities and differences in their course of events. Unfortunately, genocides like the Jewish Holocaust and the Bosnian genocide still continue to happen today. Jews were constantly persecuted before the Holocaust because they were deemed racially inferior. During the 1930’s, the Nazis sent thousands of Jews to concentration camps. Hitler wanted to wipe out all the European Jews in a plan called The “Final Solution to the Jewish Problem” (World History).
Various schools of thought exist as to why genocide continues at this deplorable rate and what must be done in order to uphold our promise. There are those who believe it is inaction by the international community which allows for massacres and tragedies to occur - equating apathy or neutrality with complicity to evil. Although other nations may play a part in the solution to genocide, the absolute reliance on others is part of the problem. No one nation or group of nations can be given such a respo...
Print. The. Hymowitz, Sarah, and Amelia Parker. " Lessons - The Genocide Teaching Project - Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law." American University, Washington College of Law. American UniversityWashington College of Law Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, 2011.