Response to Genocide - 906 Words

After Elie Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, he gave an acceptance speech reflecting upon the true meaning of his novel and reflecting upon the crimes in our history. He revealed how â€Å"silence encourages the tormentor† while â€Å"indifference [is] the most insidious danger of all.† I find a lot of truth in these words and I agree with his assertion. Individuals tend to get overwhelmed by desperation, a sense of helplessness and fear in the face of acts, such as oppression and genocide. During these times, it is the responsibility of the world community to step in. This is proved to be true by the novel Night, the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and by the article called â€Å"A Secret Life.† In the novel, Night, by Elie Wiesel†¦show more content†¦Now, he can focus solely on his own survival. During the movie, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, many scenes displayed Bruno’s helplessness and inability to help neither the Jew s, nor himself in the end. For instance, Lieutenant Kurt revealed to Bruno’s mother about the concentration camps without the knowledge of Bruno’s father. This enraged him so he sought for his revenge by putting Lieutenant Kurt on the spot with the topic of his father, who was said to have left the country in opposition to the German ways. Lieutenant Kurt then released all his anger and frustration on Pavel, a kind Jew who tended to Bruno’s injury after falling off his swing in the beginning of the movie, right in front of Bruno’s eyes. Later, the clueless Bruno found out that he was beaten to death when his sister said that Pavel will never be coming back. Then, there was another scene where Shmuel, Bruno’s new Jewish friend who was also eight years old, was temporarily called out from the concentration camp because they Germans needed a pair of small hands to dry and polish all the glassware at Bruno’s house. Knowing how Shmuel is always h ungry, Bruno gave him a few cookies. Right after, Lieutenant Kurt came into the room and found Shmuel eating so he automatically assumed that he stoleShow MoreRelatedGenocide in Rwanda: international response3465 Words   |  14 PagesRwandan genocide. It was the fastest, most efficient killing spree of the twentieth century. My thesis is that the international community utterly failed to prevent and stop this atrocity. I will focus on numerous interconnected aspects that led to international inaction and also on the main actors, Belgium, the United Nations Secretariat, the United States and France, that knew that there was genocide underway in Rwanda - therefore, they had a responsibility to prevent and stop the genocide, but lackedRead MoreCombating The Genocide Prevention Task Force Essay1416 Words   |  6 PagesCombating Future Genocide â€Å"I believe the only time we call for intervention is when there is an ongoing genocide† – Bianca Jagger. Looking at the world’s response to the persecution of specific groups of people, the past shows us there is something wrong with how the world views genocide. Of course, any viable human conscience gawks at the news of the most recent minority being wiped out by a ruling power, but this tardy response does nothing to combat the atrocities. Currently, the only response the worldRead MoreThe Cambodian Genocide Essay971 Words   |  4 PagesThe Cambodian Genocide took place from 1975 to 1979 in the Southeastern Asian country of Cambodia. The genocide was a brutal massacre that killed 1.4 to 2.2 million people, about 21% of Cambodia’s population. This essay, will discuss the history of the Cambodian genocide, specifically, what happened, the victims and the perpetrators and the world’s response to the genocide. The Cambodian Genocide has the historical context of the Vietnam War and the country’s own civil war. During the Vietnam WarRead More Compare and Contrast Between Rwanda and Darfur Genocide, from the Constructivism and Realism Perspectives1508 Words   |  7 PagesThe analysis of the genocides that took place both in Rwanda and Sudan’s Darfur region exhibit some similarities as well as differences. The character of violence was similar in both cases, but in Rwanda the violence was more intense, participatory, and extraordinary. The violence in these two places took place in an environment that had experienced civil wars. It was a period of political transition which was further aggravated by ethnic nationalism and a conflict of ethnic populations that wereRead MoreThe Holocaust And The Bosnian Genocide1310 Words   |  6 PagesThe Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word â€Å"genocide† as â€Å"the killing of people who belong to a particular racial, poli tical, or cultural group† (Merriam). But aren’t genocides much more then that? Over the past hundred years, there have been several attempted genocides around the world. Two of the most well-known genocides are the Holocaust (the Nazi’s attempt to destroy the Jewish people) and the Bosnian genocide (the Serbians attempt to destroy the Bosnian population). This paper analyzesRead MoreRwandan Genocide : A Dark Moment1008 Words   |  5 PagesGatti Research Writing Rwandan Genocide Research Paper The Rwandan Genocide was a dark moment in the modern history of the African continent when long-standing ethnic tensions brought an entire nation to a state of chaos and carnage, in which the government attacked its own people and one neighbor attacked the next. The world, which was slow to respond, allowed many more deaths in Rwanda than what should have happened. After the world’s greatly needed but delayed response, there are many things thatRead MoreWhat Caused the Darfur Genocide? Essay894 Words   |  4 Pagesmarginalization of the area in Darfur. Darfur is a region in the western part of Sudan, where it is home to 6 million people from around 100 tribes. In response to the attack, the Janjaweed, which is the government-supported Arab tribesman, raided non-Arab villages in Darfur to create a Pan-Arab state by eradicating all the non-Arab farmers from the land. The Darfur genocide arose when the Sudan Liberation Movement and the JEM, which is the largest rebel group in Darfur, entered Al-Fashir, the capital city ofRead MoreSudanese Government And State Sponsored Militia Carried Out The Darfur1641 Words   |  7 Pageslocated in the western region of Sudan, adjacent to Chad and Central Africa. In early 2004, the Sudanese government and state sponsored militia carried out the Darfur genocide. The targets of the genocide were black African tribes. The genocide in Darfur has claimed approximately 300,000 lives and displaced over 3 million people. In response to these mass atrocities the international community took action, but many were dissatisfied with what seemed to be a lack of effort. Of the groups taking actionRead MoreThe End Of The Cold War1069 Words   |  5 Pagesof Yugoslavia, Slovenia and Croatia, declared their independence after the fall of the Berlin Wall. This sparked a lengthy and lethal conflict within the territory. The a trocities that allegedly had been committed included but were not limited to, genocide, rape, and enslavement. Many of the victims were civilians. Because of this the ICTY was created during the war as an international criminal court that applied humanitarian law. It’s purpose was to gather information, create an account of eventsRead MoreThe Rwandan Genocide899 Words   |  4 Pageshold within them the lessons and wisdom that should be used to prevent similar disasters. The 1994 Rwandan genocide resulted in over 800, 000 deaths of the Tutsi people, at the hands of the Hutu; the genocide, and the international response to it, is a lesson about the humanitarian responsibilities, successes, and shortcomings of the United Nations. The events leading up to the Rwandan genocide began decades earlier. There has been a long history of â€Å"ethnic† tensions, though it is really a matter of