Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Eric Tolman
English 1010
July 31 2017
During World War Two horrible crimes were committed by the Nazi regime. Throughout
the war the Nazis acted upon an idea to cleanse the world of Judaism. The Holocaust accounted
for the death of more than 6 million Jews, all within the span of 4 years. The Nazis herded the
Jewish people that lived in Europe into concentration camps, or as some people refer to them,
death camps. After shipping the Jewish people to the camps most of the people were killed in gas
chambers, this included women, children, and the elderly. The rest were made to starve, or work
to their deaths with the Nazis having no intention of letting any of them survive.
These crimes are what humanity will question. People feel as if violating human rights is
a serious crime, and for people to actively do such a thing they can be seen as evil. The term
genocide came to be from the event of the Holocaust, even though things similar to it have
happened before. It is a social norm that the Nazis and their Holocaust is the most extreme
example of war crimes. Although from it there can be a question. Are there extremist groups that
It could be seen that during the First World War that the Armenian Genocide is what
influenced the Nazis. If it were not for the crimes committed by the Ottomans perhaps the evils
During World War One, the Ottomans had a genocide of their own. They targeted the
Armenian population, and planned the extermination of these people. The Ottomans massacred
Armenian men, and sent the rest of the survivors on death marches through the desert. Any
survivors were sent to concentration camps, similar to the Nazis and their Holocaust, simply to
die. Although the death count is less than that of the Holocaust, the number of 1.5 million still
holds its own value. It is unsure whether or not that count is even correct.
Less is known about the Armenian Genocide when compared to the Holocaust because
the Ottomans did all that they could to hide its existence. Many of the Ottomans deny that it
happened, and those that dont deny it believe that there was no wrong done. The act still,
remains shrouded in mystery - not least because modern-day Turkey refuses to acknowledge the
existence of its killing fields. (The Forgotten Holocaust) In 1920 the Ottoman ministers stated,
"These things were done to secure the future of our homeland, which we know is greater and
holier than even our own lives" they themselves praised and supported those who committed
Although the overall death count is less than what happened during the Holocaust, with
the information known, the crimes were still just as violent, where some could believe that Hitler
got his ideas from the genocide. Hitler stated in 1939, Who, after all, speaks today of the
annihilation of the Armenians? as if he were justifying the actions of his genocide by pointing
out that people didnt seem to care about the episode of the Armenian Genocide (The Forgotten
Holocaust). It can be comparable to the Holocaust just in the incidents of the trains used to
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transport victims where The Turks crowded 90 starving and terrified Armenians into each
wagon, this was, the same number the Nazis averaged in their transports to the death camps of
Instead of convincing their own people into committing these horrible crimes the
Ottomans released prisoners solely for killing Armenians. These killing squads of murderers
and thieves were to perpetrate the greatest crimes in the genocide. (The Forgotten Holocaust) A
Commander in the Turkish army even called them the "butchers of the human species" (The
Forgotten Holocaust)
A Jewish Lawyer, Raphael Lemkin, who was also a Holocaust survivor had studied the
Armenian Genocide prior to his quest to create the term genocide. He had believed that the event
was terrible enough that the Ottomans should be punished for their crimes. He believes this even
as a survivor of the Holocaust. After the First World War, the British also attempted to charge
the Ottomans with war crimes. They pushed for those responsible for the killing to be punished,
and in 1919 a war crimes tribunal was set up. (The Forgotten Holocaust)
Some people could see the Sudanese Government as being worse than the Nazis simply
because there is a genocide that is happening first hand, but people are refusing to acknowledge
its existence. Even with the severity of the Holocaust, the Genocide in Darfur is a modern issue
that people seem to ignore. This event and all its atrocities are happening in a current time, but
the Sudanese government is hiding the issue. This event has been happening since 2003, it is
longer than both the Holocaust, and the Armenian genocide combined. There have been far less
killed in the event, a number of around 300 thousand, but the real issue is the displacement of
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around 3 million refugees. These numbers are not supported by the Sudanese government, who
The Amnesty International report documented the use of chemical weapons against
civilians in Darfur's Jebel Marra region from January 2016 through August 2016. The report
contains photos of scarred children and accounts of people gasping for breath from "poisoned
air. (Gellar) The atrocities of the Sudanese government using chemical weapons on their own
people should concern people more than someone targeting another group. They are also not
using the weapons on regular people but innocent civilians. Even with the help of the UN
(United Nations) people are still being attacked, and the UN is unable to stop attacks on women
and other individuals venturing outside the camps in search of food, water and firewood.
(Gellar)
The issues in Darfur go deeper than just chemical warfare on civilians. The issue has
been going on since 2004. Though the Sudanese government is trying to silence, and like the
international humanitarian and human rights NGOs and national human rights organizations.
(Gellar) They are trying to remove any form of control from human rights organizations to
conceal their crimes easier. In this case the argument is that the Sudanese government is
supporting these crimes, and if the world allows it to go on longer the problem will grow.
The modern terrorist group Isis can be seen as a direct equivalent to the Nazis. Although
they dont have the governmental power or the genocidal focus on certain groups, the glory they
show in their crimes can scare people. These groups tend to attack people where they feel they
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are safe, which in most first world countries could be a serious issue. They have done things
from mass killings, to shootings in public places. They even have released videos of them
Father Desbois, who is a holocaust investigator, and he searches for the graves of the lost
victims of the Holocaust. Desbois compares Isis to the Nazis by stating, theres a direct line
between what the Nazis did more than 70 years ago and what ISIS is doing today. (Holocaust
investigator) he believes that the Isis fighters feel justified in their killings. He also feels that
society is just a witness, as if they were watching the Jewish people during the Holocaust being
rounded up to be sent to their deaths. Everyone is just watching the problem, and there is nothing
The Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott believes that the terrorist group Isis is worse
than the Nazis. He believes that because they boast about their actions that they feel no
remorse, or truly believe what they are doing is right (Sandhu). It can be scary to think that
people will commit terrible crimes, and glorify those actions. Where people like the Nazis, the
Ottomans, and the Sudanese tried to hide their crimes. Abbot stated, The Nazis did terrible evil
but they had sufficient sense of shame to try and hide it. These people boast about their evil, this
is the extraordinary thing. (Sandhu) Even worse is that these people can infiltrate peoples home
It is commonly believed that the Nazis are the ultimate evil. Hitler and his regime
committed atrocious crimes that popularized the term genocide. The extremity of their crimes is
Robert Goot, the President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, argues against
Tony Abbott. He agrees that the crimes of Isis are indeed horrific, but cannot be compared to
the systematic round-up of millions of people and their dispatch to purpose-built death camps for
mass murder. (Sandhu) The Germans focus on genocide is what most people would use to
Jay Winter, a history professor, believes Every man, woman, and child murdered or
abused by the Nazis had rights-indivisible rights-that defined their humanity. The leadership of
the Nazi state violated these rights, and no claim of obedience to order or to "sovereignty" could
be a legitimate defense. (Winter) He argues that everyone has rights, but the Nazis did not
believe that they deserved these rights. The Nazis had laid waste to the Jewish life and they
waged a cultural and biological war against a specific group. (Winter) It was very apparent that
The events of the Nazis led to Raphael Lemkin fighting to popularize genocide. After
surviving the Holocaust Lemkin spent his time to make extermination of an entire people
illegal (Winter). He wanted to make it such an extreme crime to keep it from happening again.
Even though people see these crimes as horrific and distasteful, they still struggle to enforce or
acknowledge these crimes. The Polish government is attempting to punish Michael Karkoc, who
was a commander in the SS-led Ukrainian Self Defense Legion (USDL). (Wood) The Polish
government have asked a local court to issue an arrest warrant for an American suspected of
ordering the 1944 killing of 44 Polish villagers. (Wood) Even many years after the incident,
Pre-meditation leads to a large factor in what exactly is evil. The idea that those who
showed shame tried to hide their actions, but then there are people who hid their actions just to
evade consequences. The events of the Armenian genocide influenced those of the Nazis.
Without this event it could be seen that perhaps the Nazis would have never had the ideas to
commit the crimes they did. The idea that history repeats itself is shocking, because in this case it
seems to be true. If it werent for the Armenian genocide it is possible the Holocaust have been
avoided.
As if it were a serial killer being copied, you must decide who is worse. The copycat who
uses someone elses idea in their own way, or the person who invented the idea. I believe that
those who lead by example are teaching evil to the world. People claim that humans are evil in
nature, but for someone to be able to add fuel to that fire is extremely dangerous. Those who lead
Works Cited
Gellar, Sheldon. "Genocide in Darfur, then and Now." Jerusalem Post (International), 14 May,
"Holocaust investigator on parallel between Nazis and ISIS." CBS News. CBS Interactive, 14
Sandhu, Serina. "Australian PM Tony Abbott criticised for saying Isis are 'worse than the
Nazis'." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 03 Sept. 2015. Web. 18
July 2017.
"The Forgotten Holocaust: The Armenian massacre that inspired Hitler." Daily Mail Online.
Winter, Jay. "The Genesis of 'Genocide'." MHQ, Mar, 2017, pp. 17, SIRS Issues Researcher,
https://sks.sirs.com.
Wood, Charlie. "Should a 98-Year-Old Minnesota Man be Extradited for Nazi War Crimes?"