When it comes to mass crimes in which large numbers of people were murdered, there are usually certain persons trying to deny or play down such mass murder, be it because they were involved in it or because they for some reason sympathize with the perpetrators and/or share the perpetrators' loathing of the victims.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Comparing Genocides and other Category Killings
A question that recurs in genocide studies is whether or not the crimes of Stalin and Mao can be classed as genocides. In the strictest sense, it would be difficult to justify such a classification, because the millions of victims murdered by these regimes were chosen on political and economic grounds, not ethnic or racial in most cases. However, a continuity between these killings and genocide can be found in the theme of pollution. I have already applied this concept to the Nazis here and to the Khmer Rouge here.
As Eric Weitz has noted, the revolutionary, utopian nature of Stalinism and Maoism, and their ultimate origins in world wars, made them prone to seek cleansing missions. Whilst such cleansing did not seek partial or total biological extermination in the Nazi sense, it had the potential to be unlimited in its effects, as occurred ultimately with the Khmer Rouge. I would argue that exploring these connections may be more fruitful than confining the field to events that fit a definition of genocide.
As Eric Weitz has noted, the revolutionary, utopian nature of Stalinism and Maoism, and their ultimate origins in world wars, made them prone to seek cleansing missions. Whilst such cleansing did not seek partial or total biological extermination in the Nazi sense, it had the potential to be unlimited in its effects, as occurred ultimately with the Khmer Rouge. I would argue that exploring these connections may be more fruitful than confining the field to events that fit a definition of genocide.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Mass Graves at Nazi Extermination Camps
What is arguably the most frightful episode of Nazi mass murder took place in four camps on Polish soil that were exclusively built for and dedicated to the systematic killing of human beings – a phenomenon without precedent in human history. According to the most recent data available, these four camps accounted for the deaths of about 1,538,000 human beings[1]. All known evidence indicates that the remains of most of these camps' victims are still lying in the soil of Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka, in what is left of the huge pits that were used to bury the corpses of those murdered before it was decided to cremate them.
What is known about these mass graves, which are probably the largest ever made?
What is known about these mass graves, which are probably the largest ever made?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)