Holocaust Vs Rwanda Genocide Essay

Genocides happen when ethnic divisions become apparent. Many times, these ethnic divisions were due to colonization from people of different race. These cases are especially true in Africa when Europeans colonized their territory, with clear racial divisions between them (Gavin). These genocides go on because of nations acting on ignorance and refusing to help out the nations in turmoil, allowing the genocides to continue, without wasting their own resources. These nations purposefully ignoring the slaughter of people cause the nations to also be guilty of the genocide underway (“The Heart”). The genocide occurred in Rwanda in Central Africa during 1994. The decades of Tutsi oppression of Hutus and the assassination of President Habyarimana in 1994 led to the genocide in Rwanda.

“Why is the killing of 1 million a lesser crime then the killing of one

Viewing the perpetrators of vile deeds as motivated merely by evil is a gross oversimplification. In the introduction, Jean Hatzfield states that the story will follow the lives of the killers: the Hutu men who perpetrated the Rwandan genocide and murdered their Tutsi neighbors en masse. The narration style switches between chapters written in third person omniscient style and chapters composed of many short sections of first person narratives from the perspectives of the Hutu men interviewed by the author. The third person chapters provide context for the stories of the Hutus, while the numerous stories themselves add a personal element that reveals the thoughts and mindsets of the Hutu’s who participated in one of the largest and most

The blood of thousands of murdered Tutsi people ran through the streets of Rwanda on April 7, 1994. Until mid-July of 1994, Hutu supremacists eradicated thousands of Tutsi. Nearly fifty years prior, Nazis claimed the lives of millions of Jews. Within the years that followed, the Nazi forces slaughtered millions of Jewish citizens across Europe. Both massacred by people they once considered friends and coworkers, Tutsi and Jews faced great injustice, but those are not the only similarities between the two genocides. It is evident that during both the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide, the rest of society turned a blind eye to the horrors that both Tutsi and Jews were facing, only kept their best interest in mind, and that both groups faced

Although the Rwandan genocide and the holocaust began because of social tension, the Nazis were manipulated into their anti-semitism, whereas the Hutu and Tutsi had tension long before the killing started. During the holocaust, Nazis drove a wedge in between Jews and other races in

“How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don’t think” (Hitler, Mein Kampf). As time passed, there has been many times in history where a genocide has occurred. A genocide is a one-sided massacre from one party toward an ethnic or different group of people. As genocides occurred, questions such as “Why do people kill?” and “How can people allow these atrocities to occur?” are asked. There have been many theories made up as people researched the reason behind genocides. Throughout different centuries in history, genocides such as the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, and the Asian genocide, have occurred because of the negative psychological effects on the people caused by propaganda, corrupted leaders, and differences in ethnic groups.

Throughout history, there are different examples of how races were being oppressed, while the higher power does not intervene, and would almost act as a bystander, except that they have the power to stop it, and the point is that the higher power, should be the one to advocate on behalf of the oppressed. Some examples would be the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide, in which the higher power, or the government, would not interfere with the injustices really when they should have since a whole race could have been killed off. I do however, understand that some believe that the bystander, or the others that are standing by as this happens, should be the ones to stop it. Although this may be true, the others, for example civilians who are standing by, do not have as much power as let us say, governments who have the resources and the power to make a change to other countries in need.

The Hutus are now in the position of power; the Hutu officials began to carry out massive genocides on the Tutsis. According to Document 8 it states, “The Hutu officials who took over the government organized the murders [of Tutsis] nationwide…Meanwhile, when the murders started the RPF [Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front] in Uganda invaded Rwanda again.” This quote demonstrates the back and forth genocide each ethnic group is imposing on each other. The genocide in Rwanda was sparked by the death of the Hutu Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, when his place was shot down. Many Hutus blamed the Rwandan Patriotic Front and instantly started campaigns of slaughter. This also provided additional reasons why the Hutu had hatred against the Tutsis. According to Document 9a it states, “Over the course of the genocide nearly one million people were killed.” This shows how extreme the genocide was and how extensive the genocide

Now one of the most kenned and prospering genocides was the holocaust which was the Nazi intention of killing lesser amount of 6 million Jews kindred, this was during world war 2. Another prominent genocide is Rwanda, where an estimated 500,000–1,000,000 Rwandans were tragically killed during the 100-day period from April 7 to mid-July 1994

In 1994, genocide unfolded in Rwanda claiming the lives of more than 700,000 Tutsi massacred at the hands of Hutu extremist, while the entire world stood by and watched. Some would argue this event was a result of civil unrest between the Tutsi and Hutu stemming from ancient

Elie Wiesel himself struggled to maintain faith after witnessing all of the crimes that happened during the Holocaust. “What was there to thank Him for?” Wiesel asked himself as the other prisoners sanctified God’s name (33). Wiesel had become angry with God because He did not do anything to put a stop to the crimes that happened in all of Europe. He had lost his faith that God would do anything to help them. During the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the other Jewish prisoners decided to fast and pray. They thanked God and blessed His name, but Wiesel questioned, “ … why would I bless Him?” he did not believe that they should bless God in the midst of their suffering (67). Elie Wiesel did not pray or fast, because he did not want to waste the little food he had or pray to a God that he believed was not helping him. Wiesel had lost his faith because of his anger and disappointment in a God who stood

There are many similarities between the holocaust and Rwanda genocide. These were both horrible events in history. Both of theses tragic events had similarity's that cant be denied. They both had similar types of hate among groups of people. I think that this is what made them last as long as they did. Are all horrible events that different?

E. I have told you about the Rwandan genocide and how the Tutsi people suffered during the genocide. I will now share with you their struggles they continue to go through years after the genocide ended.

Propaganda was an elaborate and essential tool used extensively by Hitler and the Nazi's as well as the Hutu's during their terrorizing reign of Germany and throughout Europe and the Hutu's horrific acts of genocide that happened because of a culmination of deep ethnic tensions brewing over a century and intense political corruption. Not only was it used to promote and endorse the party and its leader's extreme racist values but also to mask the horrifying truths of what was to become known as the Holocaust and the Rwanda Genocides.

Genocide is a powerful word. International law requires intervention if something is deemed genocide. There is no doubt that the Holocaust is the most famous and most studied case of genocide, although there have been numerous throughout history. One of the more recent is the Rwandan genocide, in which 800,000 people were killed (United Human Rights). The two have several similarities and differences in their origins, exterminations and aftermath.