The Holocaust vs the Armenian genocide
What do the death of over six million Jews and the death of over one and a half million Armenians have in common? Genocide. Genocide is one of the ultimate crimes in modern society and in humanity. While all genocides are horrible events in history they do have some distinct differences from one to another. Genocides tear apart families, ethnicities, and countries while they are are happening and for many years to come. Genocides have eight stages that cause damage in their own ways: Classification, Symbolization, Dehumanization, Organization, Polarization, Preparation, Extermination, and lastly denial. The Armenian genocide and Holocaust are very similar, caused seven and a half million deaths, yet are different in their own way.
To begin with, the two genocides are mostly similar in the stage of classification but slightly different in the stage of symbolization.
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Dehumanization is the psychological process of demonizing the enemy, making them seem less than human and hence not worthy of humane treatment. The Nazis that punished the Jews in the Holocaust dehumanized them by instituting the Nuremberg laws. These laws removed the rights of the Jewish people in the sense of being able to marry whom they wanted too along with many other activities. Meanwhile the Armenians were dehumanized by the increased taxes, and the Armenians too had laws placed to restrict them. Organization is the act of government officials organizing a group of people to further the plan of genocide. The Jews were organized by the Schutzstaffel or the members of the SS army (Wiesel) . The Armenians were Put into groups by turkish officials that captured and raided houses. Both atrocities: the Holocaust and Armenian genocide were similar in their third and fourth stages of Dehumanization and
The Dehumanization of Jews Dehumanization is the process by which the Nazis gradually reduced the Jews to little more than things. In Night By, Elie Wiesel, Eliezer, his father, and the other Jews were dehumanized over time to they became nothing to the SS officers. In the first part of Night Moshe the Beadle was thrown onto the first load of cattle cars and sent off. ( Night pg. 6) “They stopped the cattle car that Moshe was on, and the officers made the Jews dig a big trench and then the shot and killed them.
During both the Holocaust people that were jews were shown and during the Salem Witch Trials people were shown. Both groups ended up killed for what they were whether it was true or not. During the salem witch trials even if you said you weren’t a witch but you were accused of one you would still be hanged if they considered you apart of witchcraft. The Holocaust were alike and different in many ways.
Hitler is known to have been the leader behind the Holocaust and he admits that he took inspiration from the Armenian Genocide to conduct his own plan for the Jewish people. In document 8 we can directly see the use of military soldiers to enact the killing of Armenians. This is a prime example of the use of soldiers by the government in a genocide. It also shows us the government using the law to their advantage. If anyone else had done something like this, especially in public, they would be tried for their crimes but because the victims are Armenian, it is seen as
The second key point is Propaganda, Propaganda is the spreading of political ideas, information in a way. The last key point is the Inhumane Outcome, the inhumane outcome is cruel and heartless. The genocide in Armenian was similar to the Holocaust because the oppressors used tactics of dehumanization and successful propaganda; both of which led to the inhumane outcome of each genocide.
They were murdered in either massacre and individual killings, or from systematic ill-treatment, exposure, and starvation. In the novel Forgotten Fire, the main social issue, the Armenian Genocide, compares to the Holocaust as they both were caused by a hatred of a specific race, they both resulted in extreme violence and immense casualties, and they both had many heroes who made considerable sacrifices on behalf of those being persecuted. The Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide were sparked by the hatred of a specific minority race, the Jews, and the Armenians. The leaders of the countries involved in genocides often promoted them and contribute to the heinous crimes.
Dehumanization is the process in which Nazis gradually and slowly degrade jews to little more than “things” because they don't see jews as humans. The Nazi’s felt this process was necessary due to the fact that jews were inferior to them. Jews were dehumanized at concentration camps constantly, many times the entering of the camps involved this. When Eli arrives at Auschwitz he is branded in a sorts. “I became A-7713.
The Armenian Genocide caused generations of pain and loss of the rich heritage of the Armenians. Not only did the genocide cause major human losses, but also caused a major psychological and moral blow at the attempt to exterminate the Armenian nation from the root. The Armenian Genocide resulted with around 1.5 million Armenians massacred, with only around half a million surviving the genocide. The loss of family, friends and the Armenian community, the genocide had a staggering blow on the Armenian race. The survivors escaped with merely their lives and the horrid memories of the cruel and inhumane nature of the Young Turks.
How many people really die in a genocide? The answer, millions. The Holocaust, Rwandan Genocide, and Armenian Genocide are among the many genocides which have killed a countless number of people. The Holocaust, one of the biggest genocides in the world killed around 5,900,000 to 11,000,000. The Rwandan Genocide killed from 500,000 to 1,000,000 people, while the Armenian Genocide killed 800,000 to 180,000.
Rahul Mone Mrs. Marsden ELA Honors I 4 February, 2016 The Cambodian Genocide The genocides of Cambodia and the Holocaust were two major genocides that have changed the history of the world forever. The Cambodian genocide started when the Khmer Rouge attempted to nationalize and centralize the peasant farming society of Cambodia (Quinn 63).
A genocide is the the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation, the Holocaust and the Cambodian Genocide are examples of this. After the Holocaust, in 1945 the United Nations realized that genocides were a continuously happening. They realized they needed to prevent genocides and global conflict in general. The Holocaust began on January 30, 1933 when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany and ended May 8, 1945 when the war officially ended.
War and genocide have historically been closely related and even described as Siamese twins. Genocide can occur without war but war cannot occur without some elements of genocide as the distinction between legitimate war and genocide is not clear. War is defined as an armed conflict between different nations or groups within a nation. Scholars who have studied the relationship between war and genocide have argued that they are one in the same. It is a very convincing argument especially when examining the UN Convention on genocide.
For instance, one difference is where they took place. The Holocaust was mostly in Europe and the Rwandan genocide was in Africa (Rwanda). The fact that they were so far away from each other proves that genocides can happen anywhere. Some just because one person doesn't like a group (Hitler in reference to the Holocaust). Both groups took their “victims” by surprise per-say.
The Holocaust v. Armenian Genocide Genocide is defined as “the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation” (Dictionary.com). Genocide has eight stages:classification, symbolization, dehumanization, organization, polarization, preparation, extermination, and denial. Genocide has taken place many times throughout history. Two prominent genocides are that of the Armenians and that of the Jews and other minority groups during the Holocaust. There are considerable resemblances between the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust, especially in the nature of the genocides, a skewed view of the group persecuted by the governing group, and the ‘purposes’ behind both, but these mass killings
Taking all of this into consideration, I personally believe that the actions of the Turks in 1915 is genocide, and I also believe that the Armenian’s as a people should be compensated for their ancestor’s misery.
Balakain explains that although the Holocaust involved a more organized final solution, the two genocides both caused great damage to an ethnic group. Although the Genocides have much in common, the two share one main difference. For example, the Armenian mass-killings that took place in Turkey were known to the entire world, while the dark realities of the Holocaust were kept in the dark for most of World War 2. Despite this difference, both genocides are often denied in the media. In addition to comparing the Armenian Genocide to the Holocaust, Balakain expresses his belief that the denial of the Armenian Genocide encouraged the Nazis to execute the Final Solution.