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THIS DAY IN HISTORY - RAPHAEL LEMKIN WHO COINED THE WORD 'GENOCIDE' IS BORN
June 25, 2014
June 24, 1900, is the birthdate of Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-born
Jewish lawyer who coined the word "genocide" and who, in 1951,
almost single-handedly persuaded the newly created United Nations to
approve the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide.
Lemkin's memoirs detail early exposure to the history of
Ottoman attacks against Armenians (which most scholars believe
constitute genocide), antisemitic pogroms, and other histories of
group-targeted violence as key to forming his beliefs about the need
for legal protection of groups. As early as 1933, he was working to
introduce legal safeguards for ethnic, religious, and social groups at
international forums, but without success. When the German army invaded
Poland, he escaped from Europe, eventually reaching safety in the US,
where he took up a teaching position at Duke University. He moved to
Washington, DC, in the summer of 1942, to join the War Department as
an analyst and went on to document Nazi atrocities in his 1944 book,
Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. In this text, he introduced the word
"genocide."
"By 'genocide' we mean the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic
group. This new word, coined by the author to denote an old practice
in its modern development, is made from the ancient Greek word genos
(race, tribe) and the Latin cide (killing).... Generally speaking,
genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a
nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members
of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of
different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations
of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the
groups themselves. Genocide is directed against the national group as
an entity, and the actions involved are directed against individuals,
not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group"
(80).
He later served with the team of Americans working to prepare the
Nuremberg trials, where he was able to get the word"genocide" included
in the indictment against Nazi leadership. But "genocide" was not yet
a legal crime, and the verdict at Nuremberg did not cover peacetime
attacks against groups, only crimes committed in conjunction with an
aggressive war. While in Nuremberg, Lemkin also learned of the death
of 49 members of his family, including his parents, in concentration
camps, theWarsaw ghetto, and death marches.
He returned from Europe determined to see "genocide" added to
international law and began lobbying for this at early sessions of
the United Nations. His tireless efforts to enlist the support of
national delegations and influential leaders eventually paid off. On
December 9, 1948, the United Nations approved the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. Lemkin did not rest with the
UN document, but committed the rest of his life to urging nations
to pass legislation supporting the Convention. He died in 1959,
impoverished and exhausted by his efforts.
http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/41827
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
June 25, 2014
June 24, 1900, is the birthdate of Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-born
Jewish lawyer who coined the word "genocide" and who, in 1951,
almost single-handedly persuaded the newly created United Nations to
approve the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide.
Lemkin's memoirs detail early exposure to the history of
Ottoman attacks against Armenians (which most scholars believe
constitute genocide), antisemitic pogroms, and other histories of
group-targeted violence as key to forming his beliefs about the need
for legal protection of groups. As early as 1933, he was working to
introduce legal safeguards for ethnic, religious, and social groups at
international forums, but without success. When the German army invaded
Poland, he escaped from Europe, eventually reaching safety in the US,
where he took up a teaching position at Duke University. He moved to
Washington, DC, in the summer of 1942, to join the War Department as
an analyst and went on to document Nazi atrocities in his 1944 book,
Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. In this text, he introduced the word
"genocide."
"By 'genocide' we mean the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic
group. This new word, coined by the author to denote an old practice
in its modern development, is made from the ancient Greek word genos
(race, tribe) and the Latin cide (killing).... Generally speaking,
genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a
nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members
of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of
different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations
of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the
groups themselves. Genocide is directed against the national group as
an entity, and the actions involved are directed against individuals,
not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group"
(80).
He later served with the team of Americans working to prepare the
Nuremberg trials, where he was able to get the word"genocide" included
in the indictment against Nazi leadership. But "genocide" was not yet
a legal crime, and the verdict at Nuremberg did not cover peacetime
attacks against groups, only crimes committed in conjunction with an
aggressive war. While in Nuremberg, Lemkin also learned of the death
of 49 members of his family, including his parents, in concentration
camps, theWarsaw ghetto, and death marches.
He returned from Europe determined to see "genocide" added to
international law and began lobbying for this at early sessions of
the United Nations. His tireless efforts to enlist the support of
national delegations and influential leaders eventually paid off. On
December 9, 1948, the United Nations approved the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. Lemkin did not rest with the
UN document, but committed the rest of his life to urging nations
to pass legislation supporting the Convention. He died in 1959,
impoverished and exhausted by his efforts.
http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/41827
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress