Genocides, Past and Future: the Armenian Genocide

Jack Schwartz once said: “Genocide is an attempt to exterminate a people, not to alter their behavior.” Genocide is wrong no matter the reason, no matter the size, no matter the situation. Throughout history there have been uncountable instances of genocide, big and small. Whatever the excuse we know that they are wrong, and we must ensure that they will never again occur. To do this we must look at specific genocides to try to find a solution to the bigger issue.

One genocide we can learn from is the Armenian genocide. In this genocide Muslim Turks who occupied Armenia killed Christian Armenians. Some of the causes were religious intolerance, Armenian nationalism, and conflicts over the land. Armenians became Christians in the 4 th century and have been oppressed by the Muslim countries surrounding them ever since. Their land has been disputed for a long time as well. It used to be part of the Ottoman Empire; however, Russia also laid claims to it. Because of this there have been frequent wars and infighting in Armenia. In the early 1900s there was a rise in Armenian nationalism, they demanded equal treatment, which threatened the Turks. After that measures were put in place for the genocide. In the beginning there was just discrimination, such as Armenian schools being closed and unfair treatment and wages. Then the government began to start systematic massacres of the Armenians. On April 20, 1915 the genocide officially began. Armenians were either killed or force-marched into the desert until they died. Of the 1.7 million Armenians in Armenia at least a million were killed.

However, the genocide was not acknowledged by Turkey and was only brought to attention when the first Holocaust Day took place and the national Assembly of France decided to acknowledge the it. Turkey does not admit it to this day. The fact that Turkey still does not admit it shows that the world is still not on the right track to stop genocide. To stop genocide in the future we need to learn from our past, and to do that we need to acknowledge it.

While this genocide is not as well known as others that does not mean it is any less horrible. This genocide may not be comparable to the Holocaust in numbers, but for each and every person who died it was just as bad. One American witness of this genocide wrote in 1915 about how the Armenians were being exterminated:

“We hear, in fact, that the course of their route and the stream of the Euphrates are littered with the corpses of exiles, while those who survive are doomed to certain death, since they will find in the desert neither house, nor work, nor food.” –Anonymous.

The measures taken against the Armenians were just massacre in disguise, since the government deporting Armenian men, women, and children into the desert, where they would surely die.

During the Holocaust Jews were systematically rounded up, sent to concentration camps, and killed. In Armenia similar things occurred. Armenians were rounded up, sent to labor camps, prisons, sent on death marches, or just shot. Witnesses also report many other acts of hatred:

“The remainder - old men, women, and children - were placed at the disposal of the Muslim population. The highest official as well as the simplest peasant chose the woman or girl who caught his fancy…” –Anonymous.

These deportations and killings of Armenians are very similar to those of the holocaust, except even more brutal because of lack of technology and resources. Overall the Armenian genocide was a horrible atrocity that while not as recognized as the holocaust will still be a black mark on humanities record forever.

While there have been many genocides in our past that doesn't mean we cannot stop them from happening now and in the future. To stop genocides we must eliminate the causes and the ability to carry them out. Some of the causes of genocide are racial and religious intolerance, and fear of a group. To stop intolerance we have to educate ourselves. We need to start programs to teach our children about the other culture and have mixed, never separate, facilities. These measures would start to integrate the cultures so that they find it harder to hurt each other, and also harder to think of people from the other culture as a group, not as individuals. Programs like this have been used by the UN and various organizations and make a huge difference in a society. We can also prevent genocide by putting in place laws preventing laws that discriminate against a certain group from being passed. As well we can create laws that limit the power of a leader, and create ways for them to be removed if they violate any rights of the people. However, we must actually stop genocide going on now through diplomacy or military force before we can put in place measures to prevent it in the future. Once these measures are put in place we can create stable societies immune to genocide.

Overall, the causes of individual genocides are global and need to be prevented everywhere. Genocides cannot be ignored either, no matter their size. We must put preventive measures in place and put a stop to genocide once and for all. There can be no excuse for genocide, or even any possible way for it to occur if we are to create a stable world.

Works Cited

Anonymous. “Witness”. Genocide Page . Peace Pledge Information. http://www.ppu.org.uk/genocide/g_armenia3.html

By: Gigi Mesch