Genocide_in_Cambodia

At the time of WWII, the infamous Holocaust was taking place. Groups all around Europe were being targeted by Nazi racism or anti-Semitism. Men, women, and children alike were being taken by the Nazis and put into concentration camps, where they were murdered or forced to perform unbearable labor. Once the Nazi reign ended in 1945, the United Nations made a new rule that defined genocide and swore it would never happen again. In Cambodia, however, between the years 1975 and 1979, the world experienced another episode of genocide that matched the evil during the holocaust. The Khmer Rouge, similar to the Nazis, hunted down and destroyed specific peoples based on race, religion and even intelligence. Thus, it is clear that the Holocaust genocide that occurred during WWII performed by the Nazis and the crimes against humanity executed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia are, according to the UN’s definition, acts of genocide. The first part of the UN’s definition stated that killing members of a targeted group is genocide. The Holocaust in Germany had countless examples of this part of genocide. During the holocaust, the Nazis were relentless when it came to killing Jews, Gypsies, Pols, homosexuals and mentally and physically handicapped. “Although the Jews, whom the Nazi deemed a priority threat to Germany, were the primary victims of Nazi racism, other victims included some 200,000 Romas (Gypsies). At least 200,000 mentally handicapped or physically handicapped, many Germans, were murdered in the so called Euthanism Program” (Holocaust Memorial). Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazis exterminated humans in unimaginable ways. Hitler used methods of extermination like hangings, or guillotine execution. The Nazis purposely used a thin rope so that they would be able to enjoy watching a prolonged death of the victim. “It was not unusual for prisoners to kick and struggle after suspension and to lose control of their bladders and bowels. The bodies could be left hanging for several days as a grim reminder to others.” (Execution of Women) Hitler also had a very twisted way of looking at things. Hitler wanted to have a world where everyone was blonde hair and blue eyed. This was known as the Aryan race. Hitler had no problem with wiping out large amounts of anyone who was not part of this group. “Hitler decided that, in the event of war, the nation would no longer be able to afford to keep all its sick and disabled people alive, and that mentally and physically disabled people would be put mercilessly to death” (Downing 37). The Nazis had actually developed concentration camps that were designed for exterminating people. In these concentration camps, people were tricked into gas chambers where they were executed. However there were other ways that the Germans killed people, “In occupied Poland, near Lodz, Chelmno extermination camp was operational. Jews taken there were placed in mobile gas vans and driven to a burial place while carbon monoxide from the engine exhaust is fed into the sealed rear compartment, killing them” (Holocaust Timeline). The Nazis, therefore, were part of the first part of the UN’s definition of genocide. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge eliminated all intellectual people that they were able to. The Khmer Rouge wanted to have a new era in their land where everyone would be a laborer. Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge’s leader, dreamed of a world where there was no currency, no schools, no books, no advanced technology just farmers and laborers. He believed that intellectuals, or people who had a background of school, should be eliminated. Anyone with a professional background such as an engineer, an architect or a teacher, were sent away to a camp for ‘reeducation’. Anyone who refused re-education were killed in the notorious place Tuol Sleng Centre also known as S-21. (). After these attacks, the Khmer Rouge began to take control over the government. The Khmer’s began to really start slaughtering all they thought were a threat to their country, while those killing were living a life of luxury, “The ‘old people’ were Khmer peasants who were living a life of luxury while the ‘original Khmers’ were being bombed and murdered” (Bergin 29). The intellectuals were not the only group targeted by the Khmer Rouge however. “The Khmer Rouge targeted, along with intellectuals, the Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai or anyone with these races ancestry. Nearly half the Cham Muslim population was killed and about 8,000 Christians were killed (GENOCIDE-CAMBODIA). So, it is clear that the Khmer Rouge targeted and killed specific groups and can then be considered part of the UN’s definition of genocide. The second part of the UN’s definition of genocide is when a group causes serious bodily or mental harm to members of a group. At the time of the Holocaust, there were several groups that received brutal, undeserving harm. The Germans made every Jewish person’s life a nightmare. “The Germans controlled and contained the Jews by moving them into small sections of towns and cities, called ghettos” (Bartel 19). The Nazi actually started to make laws that limited what the Jews were able to do and purposely tried to make life worse for Jews. “The Nuremburg Race Law revoked German citizenship of Jews, making it illegal for a Jewish person to marry a non-Jewish German. Judiasm was not viewed as a religion but as a race” (Bartel 17). Finally, the Jews were labeled by Nazis as an inferior group. “Jews were banned from the German Labor Front on January 24, 1934. Jews were not allowed health insurance and were prohibited from getting specific legal qualifications” (Holocaust Timeline). The Khmer Rouge assured that those deemed ‘intellectuals’ would be given harsh punishments. The Khmer Rouge decided that intellectuals would be harmful to their country. If the intellectuals were not sent to camps were they would be murdered then they were sent off to camps where they would be forced to do brutal labor. What is more is that Pol Pot, a prime minister in Cambodia at the time, who ran the Khmer Rouge, (Cambodian Communties), decided that his group of Khmers would be strong enough to destroy the Phnom Penh and seize hold of the government. The acts in Cambodia would go down as genocide based on the second part of the UN’s definition of genocide. In both Germany and Cambodia there were cases of one group trying to bring about the end of another group in whole. There were many cases of the Nazis trying to exterminate many groups during WWII. “Although there are no defining physical or genetic characteristics of all Jews, Hitler claimed that Jews were a racially inferior group” (Bartel 19). Because of this stereotype the Jews were treated bitterly by the Nazis and were sent off to death camps were they were eliminated in large amounts. The Nazis over several years spent their days making a Jewish person’s life miserable if not over, everyday. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge tried to give the intellectuals the worst possible living conditions. For example, “the Khmer Rouge’s specific orders to exterminate the Vietnamese provide compelling evidence that the ethnic Vietnamese were singled out for persecution. (Gale 59). The Khmer Rouge divided people up into very general groups, with very different fates. “People were divided into categories that reflected the trust that the Khmer Rouge had for them. The most trustworthy were called “old citizens.” The pro-West and city dwellers began as “new citizens” and could move up to “deportees,” then “candidates” and finally “full rights citizens.” (#2). Also, “Immediately after their victory the Khmer Rouge sought to expel the Vietnamese from Cambodian territory….In a matter of months, approximately 150,000 Vietnamese were driven from Cambodia” (Gale, 59). This is clear evidence that the atrocities in Cambodia were part of the UN’s third definition of genocide. In Germany, the Nazis had evil ways of preventing births of non-Aryan races. The mentally handicapped were a huge part of this sterilization. “Mentally and physically disabled people were sterilized, starved and killed by lethal injections as early as 1939” (Bartel, 20). This makes it clear that the Nazis were trying to prevent anymore births of the mentally handicapped because they thought that they were as “perfect” as the Aryans. Another part of the UN’s definition was forcibly transferring children. The Nazis during the holocaust took children. “Children were taken from their parents and placed in separate labor camps” (Peace Pledge). The Khmer Rouge did not think twice when they thought about transferring children. ““Children were separated from their parents; the old and infirm who could not keep up were left to die at the roadside.” (Cambodian Communities). While there is no clear evidence of the Khmer Rouge trying to prevent births, the Khmer Rouge killed women and children on site. Therefore it would not even be necessary for them to try to prevent births at the rate they were killing. But, overall, it was clear that both the Nazis and Khmer Rouge were part of genocide. To be considered a genocide each episode only needed to be part of one part of the UN’s definition and the acts in Germany during WWII and the acts in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 both had a least one part of this definition.