27 January, 1945
International
Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
On January 27, 1945 the Soviet army entered Auschwitz and
liberated more than 7,000 prisoners of the Nazi regime. And while some were
freed, at least 1.1 of the 1.3 million people that were sent to Auschwitz
between 1940 and 1945 were murdered. In order to honour the memories of those
lost and publicize testimonies from that tragic period, the UN General Assembly
designated January 27 International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the
Victims of the Holocaust. Join us in acknowledging this day in order to prevent
future genocide and crimes against humanity.
About genocide on
the Global Issues
Prior to 1944, genocide was not even a word that existed.
It is a very specific term referring to mass violence committed against groups
of civilians with the intention to destroy their very existence. The word was
first coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer who aimed to describe
the vicious crimes the Nazis had done to the Jews during the Holocaust of World
War 2. “Geno” comes from the Greek word for race or tribe, while “-cide” is
part of the Latin word for killing. Therefore, putting the two together makes
“genocide”.
ETHNOCIDE
PERSPECTIVE
Ethnocide is synonymous to cultural genocide; a term that
is related to genocide, but particular to the destruction of a peoples’
culture, as opposed to the elimination of a race of people. This phenomenon is
marked by its negative, often destructive effects on an ethnic peoples’
culture, that being the disintegration or break down of language, customs,
religious beliefs, as well as political and societal structures. Direct or
indirect actions contributing to ethnocide have long-term effects, including
the interference with the transmission of education and culture upon younger
generations, and in some cases erasing a group’s identity and practices from
historical record. Intentional ethnocide cases have been provoked by a strong
belief in a manifest destiny, in other words, the belief that one supreme form
of governance and culture is suitable for all people. The repercussion of such
a vision to unite societies has led to the dissolution and exploitation of many
ethnic groups within multicultural states. In today’s society, with a greater
emphasis on universal human rights, as outlined by the United Nation’s
intentions to promote such rights, ethnocide is a clearly contradictory to what
the world is aiming towards.
INDIGENOUS
PERSPECTIVE
Residential School Legacy (1874-2008)
The Canadian Government introduced Residential Schools as
a component of the assimilation process to put an end to the “Indian
Problem”—the question to move or exterminate the “Indians.” Institutionalized
religion-based education was hoped to systematically eliminate Indigenous
culture, customs, and language, and to fully integrate the Native into
mainstream society. Following the Gradual Civilization Act of 1857, the
Canadian Government established a series of Residential Boarding Schools across
Canada under the complete control of the Roman and Anglican churches. By 1920,
there were 82 Residential Schools that were compulsory by law for Youth ages
5-16, many Youth were forcibly taken from their families by missionaries,
Indian agents, and police officers, and placed into isolated residential
schools. At these schools, children were forbidden to speak their native
language and were to speak English at all times; the religious values of a
colonized society were enforced by various disciplinary methods, and came to
replace their traditional belief and governance system. In 1996, the Gordon
Residential School in Saskatchewan was the last to close.
Many youth returned to their communities as traumatized,
displaced and disconnected from family, community, language, and customs. In
the 1980’s former students began to speak out on issues of abuse, violence, and
even on murders that took place in residential schools. An investigation of the
claims was tended to after an experiential statement of abuse made by Chief
Phil Fontaine. A public nation-wide apology was made by the Canadian Government
to Former Residential School Students on June 11, 2008.
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Since Lemkin
coined the term, genocide has been defined as a crime under international law
in the United Nations’ Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide (1951):
“Genocide means
any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in
part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
a)
Killing members of the group;
b)
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members
of the group;
c)
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions
of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
d)
Imposing measures intended to prevent births
within the group;
e)
Forcibly transferring children of the group to
another group."
This definition
has been criticized by some because it hard for prosecutors to prove “intent”,
the phrase “in whole or in part” is unclear, and political groups are excluded.
Despite some criticism and confusion, the Genocide Convention has been adopted
into national law by most states in the world.It was not until the mid-1990s,
when the United Nations created international tribunals for the Former
Yugoslavia and Rwanda, that individuals were prosecuted and convicted for
genocide.
Genocides have
occurred throughout history. Such events include the Roman annhilation of
Carthage in 146 BCE and the destruction of aboriginal communities in North
America and Australia during colonization. The twentieth century has also
witnessed a number of notorious genocide around the world, some of which
include:
Armenia
(1915-1918): 1-1.5 million
Germany
(1933-1944): 6 million
Cambodia
(1975-1979): 1.7 million
Bosnia
(1992-1995): 200,000
Rwanda (1994):
800,000-1 million
Darfur
(2003-Present): 200,000-400,000
Genocide is so
shocking because it kills hundreds of thousands of civilians, displaces many
from their homes, who then must become refugees. When genocide occurs, sexual
violence against women is perpetuated, and children become separated from their
families or are forced to join military groups. Even the physical resources of
a country are affected, as property, buildings, and land are stolen or
destroyed during the violence. When genocide ends, the government and victims
of violence often rely on the international community for support and to
rebuild.
References
Gradual
Civilization Act. Web Address:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_enfranchisement_in_Canada
Indian Residential
School Unit. Web Address:
http://www.afn.ca/residentialschools/history.html
Indian Residential
Schools Resolution. Web Address:
http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/rqpi/index-eng.asp
Video:
A Lost Heritage:
Canada’s Residential Schools. Web Address:
http://archives.cbc.ca/society/education/topics/692/
Residential School
Apology. Web Address:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAmUe17nUdY
Organizations:
Indian and
Northern Affairs Canada. Web Address:
http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca
