8 Stages Of Genocide Essay

According to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum over 6 million Jewish lives were taken by German soldiers over the duration of the the Holocaust. This horrific event can be dated back all the way to 1939 and lasted over 5 years of torture for Jewish prisoners. This dreadful phenomenon can be considered one of the most violent acts of genocide known to man. People do not believe the Holocaust should be classified as genocide. The Holocaust should be considered an example of genocide based on the UN’s definition, the stages of genocide, and the specific evidence provided in the memoir Night. First, one reason Holocaust should be considered an act of genocide is because of the UN’s definition of the crime. In article one, corruption on prevention and punishment of crime of genocide …show more content…
The article 8 stages of genocide, written by Gregory H. Stanton, identifies dehumanization that can be found inside Holocaust while people of jewish descent were tortured, “One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are acquainted with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder. At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on hate radios is used to vilify the victims group”(pg. 3). In the memoir Night, Wiesel states, “ I had watched the whole scene without moving. I kept quiet. In fact I was thinking of how to get farther away so that I would not be hit myself. What is more, any anger I felt at that moment was directed, not against the Kapo, but against my father. I was angry with him, for not knowing how to avoid Idek’s outbreak. That is what concentration camp life had made out of me”(Wiesel 52). These quotes represent dehumanization due to genocide because of the official definitions in 8 stages article and also the descriptive change in character Elie wiesel in the memoir