The Armenian Genocide

“None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness. War leaves no victors, only victims” (Wiesel). Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “genocide” as “the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.” Genocides are not just considered murders—they are seen as inhumane massacres. Throughout history many genocides have occurred, ranging from the notorious Holocaust and the infamous Armenian Genocide, and to concealed killings such as the Darfur Genocide. However, no matter when or where, the underlying causes of genocides—hatred of minorities, their cultures, and their successes—have not changed.

The Holocaust,

beginning in January 30, 1933 and ending on May 8, 1945, was the systematic, state-sponsored slaughter of six million Jews by Hitler-lead Nazi Germany and its collaborators. Nazis also targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority,” and their political, ideological, and behavioral grounds. In Mein Kampf, a book written by Adolf Hitler himself, he writes about why Jewish minorities “should be hated.” “Today [the Jew] passes as ‘smart,’ but his intelligence is not the result of his own development, but of visual instruction through foreigners” (187). Hitler plants the seeds of suspicion and hatred in the readers of his book, implying that Jewish people only “steal” other people’s intelligence. Hitler’s desperate attempt to make people hate Jews for their intellect reflects his envy of their successes through their ingenuity. Hitler was trying to start a genocide through Mein Kampf, combining the powerful feelings of hatred and jealousy. In the novel Bearing Witness, by Hazel Rochman and Darlene Z. McCampbell, they quote a Holocaust survivor talking about his experience in a concentration camp: “They took from us our papers, our clothes, and our hair” (41). Prisoners were dehumanized in concentration camps; even their hair was taken from them. The minorities were treated like animals, which shows the extreme hatred towards Jewish people. This feeling of hatred makes it easier for the perpetrators to justify the dehumanization and killing of the Jewish minorities. This is again seen in Night, a memoir by Elie Wiesel. He writes: “The same day, the Hungarian police burst into every Jewish home in town: a Jew was henceforth forbidden to own gold, jewelry, or any valuables” (8). As the perpetrator’s detestment and envy of the Jewish minorities grows, they decide to act on these emotions. Thus, they tried to take everything valuable that they could from the Jews. Hitler encourages and helps these negative feeling grow by scorning Jewish people in Mein Kampf, writing: “Since the Jew was never in possession of a culture of his own, the foundations of his intellectual work were always provided by others” (138). Hitler again tries to make people detest the Jews by saying that they “stole” other people’s cultures. By writing about how “terrible” the Jewish culture is, Hitler is also manipulating people to hate that aspect about Jews as well. He manifests powerful emotions of jealousy and malice to make the public believe that slaughtering innocents is the right thing to do. Through Mein Kampf, Hitler was trying to spread his own hatred of Jewish minorities, their culture, and their achievements.
The Armenian Genocide was the rancorous massacre of Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire.

The Young Turk government during World War 1 lead a deliberate attempt to destroy the Armenian minorities, from 1914 to 1918. At the beginning of the 11th century, Armenian political independence was brought to an end by a wave of invasions and migrations by Turkic-speaking peoples, and in the 15th and 16th centuries the region that was mainly inhabited by Armenians was annexed by the Ottoman Turks, and became a part of the vast Ottoman Empire. “Armenians retained a strong sense of communal identity, however, embodied in the Armenian language and the Armenian Church. Life for Armenian villagers was difficult and unpredictable, and they often received harsh treatment from the dominant Kurdish nomads” (Britannica). Even though Armenians were a minority surrounded by the Ottoman’s lifestyle and culture, they retained their own identity. The Muslim Ottomans shunned other cultures, and when the Armenians did not change even after being annexed, the Muslims felt hostility and hatred towards the Armenians and their culture. “The prominence and influence of the well-educated and cosmopolitan Armenian elite had a drawback in that it became a source of resentment and suspicion among Muslims” (Britannica). As the Armenian minorities thrived, the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire became envious and resentful. This jealousy added “fuel to the fire,” and the Armenian minorities were even more in

danger of experiencing a genocide. “When the Armenians in the Sasun region refused to pay an oppressive tax, Ottoman troops and Kurdish tribesmen killed thousands of Armenians in the region. Another series of mass killing began when Ottoman authorities’ suppression of an Armenian demonstration in Istanbul became a massacre” (Britannica). In both situations, instead of discussing issues that were oppressing the Armenian minorities, the Ottoman government chose to attack and kill the people it detested. This killing eventually began to be seen as “normal,” which, along with the hatred of Armenians, their culture, and the jealousy of their successes, gave rise to the Armenian Genocide.
The Darfur Genocide was a campaign of terror carried out by the Sudanese government.

They were aided by hired Arab militias known as the Janjaweed, and targeted the “non-Arab black Africans”—minorities of Sudan’s Darfur region. Labeling the Sudanese government’s actions as genocide has been controversial, but the ruthless, one sided killing portrays these human rights violations as a genocide. “Eyewitness accounts describe how Sudanese government forces and Janjaweed militias swept villages on horse or camel back, wielding automatic weapons and firing indiscriminately at civilians. Homes, grain stores, and crops were destroyed, while women, children, and the elderly were whipped, raped, tortured, and, in some cases, ultimately murdered” (ABC Clio). The needless violence of the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militias shows how this massacre was not just an action of self-defense or fear, but hatred. Not only were the victims killed ruthlessly, but they were also “whipped, raped, and tortured.” The overexertion of violence and the destruction of personal valuables shows how the slaughter of the non-Arabs was deeply rooted and personal. The hatred of minorities in the Darfur region caused the mass slaughter and destruction of the Arab culture. “In the late 1980s, a coalition of Arab nomads initiated attacks against Fur (a tribe) sedentary farmers after the latter began fencing in land” (ABC Clio). When the Fur tribe began to become prosperous from farming their land,

Arab nomads became jealous of these minorities’ successes. Angry at the “non-Arabs” for their accomplishments, they brutally slaughtered many of the Fur people. “Due to the intermarriage, the distinction between Arabs and non-Arabs or “black Arabs” owes more to lifestyle differences and cultural affiliation than race” (ABC Clio). Even though the perpetrators state that they were attacking the “non-Arabs” or “black Africans” to justify their inhumane actions, the people they ruthlessly killed were not even of a different race; they simply looked a bit different and had deviating cultures. The Sudanese government and Janjaweed tribes committed atrocities against Arab minorities because of their jealousy and hatred of the “black Africans” and the “non-Arabs’” culture.
Genocides are dangerous and tragic occurrences that need to be prevented. A way to prevent genocides from occurring is by spreading awareness. George Santayana, a famous philosopher, once stated: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It is important to educate people about the immense negative effects genocides leave on the human race and the world. Otherwise, these tragic events will be repeated. The knowledge about genocides can help people understand more about why they should not be started, and encourage them to themselves promote awareness of genocides. Another way to prevent these horrific massacres is to keep an open mind, and raising children to be tolerant as well. Because a cause of genocide is cultural intolerance, teaching people to be accepting can lower the chances of another genocide happening because of this reason. Having a positive outlook may also effectively impact a peaceful future. Instead of being jealous of others successes, it may help to be encouraging, and perhaps, proud. To prevent future tragedies, the public must be aware of genocides and their effects.
There have been many genocides throughout history—the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, the Darfur Genocide—but all have been caused by the same reason: hatred of minorities, their cultures, and jealousy of their successes. Genocides impact the world in powerful ways, not just by exterminating an entire people, but also destroying an entire culture. By studying genocides, one can learn more about just how horrifying they are, and gain insight on how to prevent them. One can see how lucky they are to live in an area where there is no violent hatred of minorities, and people don’t live in constant fear for their life.