Holocaust vs. Darfur
After the Holocaust ended in 1945, no one thought that more genocides would occur, killing mass amounts of people. By the 21st century, people thought that nothing like the Holocaust would happen again. However, other genocides took place after the Holocaust, and even in the 21st century, the occurrence of these devastating catastrophes continues. The genocide in Darfur is occurring present day and has been occurring for the last 11 years.
The Holocaust was mostly religious-based, and it took place from 1933 to 1945, killing over 11 million people. This genocide mainly targeted Jews, as well as Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah’s witnesses and the disabled. Led by Hitler, this crisis took the lives of 6 million Jews and 5 million others. Hitler was already in control of Germany when the Holocaust started, as he was elected even though Germans knew his views and beliefs. He convinced the Germans that Jews were the cause of many of Germany’s problems and that eliminating Jews could allow Germany to claim more land. They also believed that Germans were the ‘master race,’ and to do create this race, the Germans made a Final Solution, which was to eliminate all Jews in Europe. Concentration camps are most commonly remembered as how Hitler’s followers, the Nazis killed Jews, but before these camps, Nazis killed with bullets. 1.5 million people were killed by the Nazis ordering them to dig huge graves, and then being shot into the ditches. To make the mass killing easier, Nazis made 42,600 concentration camps throughout Europe, including the six extermination camps that were created to kill Jews by gas chambers and burning them. Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps in cattle cars, where they traveled for days without food or water. They then became prisoners in concentration camps, with cruel living conditions and forced labor. Inside the camps, many died of starvation, overcrowding and disease. The Jews were not treated as people; they were stripped of any comfort they attempted to hold on to. They were separated from their families and lost all of their personal items they had with them. In this scheme of torturous processes, a Nazi doctor, Dr. Josef Melgene performed terrible experiments on prisoners, such as attempting to change someone’s eye color. Overall Holocaust victims had to suffer a torturous event that is considered one of the worst genocides in history.
The Holocaust, however, did not stop more genocides from happening later in time. Currently, a racial based genocide is occurring in Darfur, a region in Sudan, Africa. Over 480,000 people died, which is significantly less than the Holocaust, but the genocide in Darfur is still happening, so more people could die. This genocide started 70 years after the Jewish Holocaust, which means that 70 years later, genocides are still going on. The genocide in Darfur has gone from 2003 to present day, almost as long as the Holocaust, but this genocide could go on longer if not resolved. Darfuri men, women and children are all targeted by the Janjaweed, a group of Arab militias, which roughly translates to “devils on horseback.” The Janjaweed burn villages, steal economic resources, pollute water and murder and torture Darfuri people. After they kill people, they throw dead bodies into wells to pollute water sources, and they bomb villages, forcing everyone still alive to evacuate. Over 2.8 million people have been displaced so far from these attacks from the Janjaweed. Darfur was the target of genocide because of government neglect. This differs from the Holocaust because Hitler was already in control of Germany when he started the Holocaust. The president is given most of the blame because he has previously supported pro-government militias. The US officially declared this conflict a genocide in 2004. Two years later, President George Bush sent more international troops to Darfur in attempt to resolve the crisis. The same year, the British Prime Minister called for a unified response, naming the genocide “the greatest humanitarian disaster the world faces today.” As allies with the Sudanese government, China and Russia have tried to appease the government without violence. The genocide has affected about 3.2 million people, with the Holocaust affecting around 11 million. The genocide in Darfur was the first genocide in the 21st century, and hopefully, it is also one of the last.
In conclusion, the Holocaust and the genocide in Darfur have different details but are overall the same concept of genocide. They both happened for different reasons and affected different amounts of people, but in both, innocent people died because of prejudice of some kind. Unfortunately, humanity didn’t learn its lesson from the Holocaust, and genocides continued to occur throughout our history and to present day.
The Holocaust was mostly religious-based, and it took place from 1933 to 1945, killing over 11 million people. This genocide mainly targeted Jews, as well as Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah’s witnesses and the disabled. Led by Hitler, this crisis took the lives of 6 million Jews and 5 million others. Hitler was already in control of Germany when the Holocaust started, as he was elected even though Germans knew his views and beliefs. He convinced the Germans that Jews were the cause of many of Germany’s problems and that eliminating Jews could allow Germany to claim more land. They also believed that Germans were the ‘master race,’ and to do create this race, the Germans made a Final Solution, which was to eliminate all Jews in Europe. Concentration camps are most commonly remembered as how Hitler’s followers, the Nazis killed Jews, but before these camps, Nazis killed with bullets. 1.5 million people were killed by the Nazis ordering them to dig huge graves, and then being shot into the ditches. To make the mass killing easier, Nazis made 42,600 concentration camps throughout Europe, including the six extermination camps that were created to kill Jews by gas chambers and burning them. Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps in cattle cars, where they traveled for days without food or water. They then became prisoners in concentration camps, with cruel living conditions and forced labor. Inside the camps, many died of starvation, overcrowding and disease. The Jews were not treated as people; they were stripped of any comfort they attempted to hold on to. They were separated from their families and lost all of their personal items they had with them. In this scheme of torturous processes, a Nazi doctor, Dr. Josef Melgene performed terrible experiments on prisoners, such as attempting to change someone’s eye color. Overall Holocaust victims had to suffer a torturous event that is considered one of the worst genocides in history.
The Holocaust, however, did not stop more genocides from happening later in time. Currently, a racial based genocide is occurring in Darfur, a region in Sudan, Africa. Over 480,000 people died, which is significantly less than the Holocaust, but the genocide in Darfur is still happening, so more people could die. This genocide started 70 years after the Jewish Holocaust, which means that 70 years later, genocides are still going on. The genocide in Darfur has gone from 2003 to present day, almost as long as the Holocaust, but this genocide could go on longer if not resolved. Darfuri men, women and children are all targeted by the Janjaweed, a group of Arab militias, which roughly translates to “devils on horseback.” The Janjaweed burn villages, steal economic resources, pollute water and murder and torture Darfuri people. After they kill people, they throw dead bodies into wells to pollute water sources, and they bomb villages, forcing everyone still alive to evacuate. Over 2.8 million people have been displaced so far from these attacks from the Janjaweed. Darfur was the target of genocide because of government neglect. This differs from the Holocaust because Hitler was already in control of Germany when he started the Holocaust. The president is given most of the blame because he has previously supported pro-government militias. The US officially declared this conflict a genocide in 2004. Two years later, President George Bush sent more international troops to Darfur in attempt to resolve the crisis. The same year, the British Prime Minister called for a unified response, naming the genocide “the greatest humanitarian disaster the world faces today.” As allies with the Sudanese government, China and Russia have tried to appease the government without violence. The genocide has affected about 3.2 million people, with the Holocaust affecting around 11 million. The genocide in Darfur was the first genocide in the 21st century, and hopefully, it is also one of the last.
In conclusion, the Holocaust and the genocide in Darfur have different details but are overall the same concept of genocide. They both happened for different reasons and affected different amounts of people, but in both, innocent people died because of prejudice of some kind. Unfortunately, humanity didn’t learn its lesson from the Holocaust, and genocides continued to occur throughout our history and to present day.
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