The Horror of Genocide

Wouldn’t it be scary if someone suddenly decided that you should disappear because he thinks you do not have the right to live because of your race or religion? Scary yes, but definitely possible. The word genocide, which is also known as ethnic cleansing, is certainly not uncommon to anyone living in this not so perfect world, full of violence, hatred and discrimination. Throughout the decades, genocide has taken place in more than one occasion, causing wars, slaughters and mass destruction of cities and towns. I think that genocide is by far the worst crime in humanity. Hatred, superiority and personal memories are all behind genocide.

Everyday, I get more surprised on how some very powerful leaders can act so cruelly and kill thousands of innocent people just because of their ethnicity, race or religion. The political leaders who committed genocide do not seem very smart to me because strong and powerful countries do not differentiate between colour and religion. Equality is the most important aspect leading to a united, strong country despite the different races or religions in that country. Instead of killing, chasing and dividing up their countries, these leaders should have created a powerful and united country.

To fully understand genocide, one must first try to define it. Genocide is “the effort to destroy the essential foundations of the life of national groups whose objectives would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups” (Charny 2). The crime of genocide dates from a very long time ago. The first time a genocide crime happened is not dated or even remembered and it is “lost in antiquity” (Charny 41). That raises the issue that maybe humans were created with all that hatred inside them. But again there is no evidence about this.

Personally, when I first heard the term genocide, the first picture that came up to my mind was the picture of the German dictator Hitler. Hitler hated Jews and saw them as the reason behind every disaster in the world. In his biography on Hitler, Schramm wrote that there is a theory explaining the reasons behind Hitler’s hatred towards Jews, he said t...

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..., yet the US acts like one strong country. Never have I heard that the Mormons in the state of Utah want their independence or that the US wants to get rid of them just because they are a minority. Also, more and more countries are joining the European Union and that is the best example on how a united continent will increase in power.

Genocide does sound like a nightmare, but unfortunately it happens all around us and it is hard to prevent it. Nazis, Turks and Serbs are just mere examples of how all human beings can act selfishly. God created all men and women equal. It does not matter whether I am black, white, Muslim, Jewish or even Buddhist. This is one world, one place and it is about time people start collaborating and live in peace despite their differences.

Works Cited

Chaliand, Gerard and Ternon Yves. The Armenians: From Genocide to Resistence. London:Zed, 1983.

Charny, Israel W. Genocide: A Critical Bibliographic Review. London: Mansell, 1988.

Harff, Barbara. Genocide and Human Rights: International Legal and Political Issues. Denver: University of Denver, 1984.

Schramm, Percy Ernst. Hitler: The Man and the Military Leader. Chicago: Quadrangle, 1971.