Genocide

Genocide is the systematic killing of substantial numbers of people on the basis of ethnicity, religion, political opinion, social status or other particularity. The most widely known example is the Holocaust of 6 million Jews during World War II; although the Nazis also killed millions of Christians and Gypsies. Lesser known in the West are Stalin's forced starvation of Ukrainian farmers, or Mao's murder of 20 to 60 million Chinese.

Genocide in history

Main article: Genocides in history

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Genocide appears to be a regular and widespread feature of the history of civilization. The phrase "never again" often used in relation to genocide has been contradicted up to the present day.

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Determining which historical events constitute genocide and which are merely criminal or inhuman behavior is not a clear-cut matter. Furthermore, in nearly every case where accusations of genocide have circulated, partisans of various sides have fiercely disputed the interpretation and details of the event, often to the point of promoting wildly different versions of the facts. An accusation of genocide is certainly not taken lightly and will almost always be controversial.

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