Genocide

There are a number of issues which must be understand to respond to the question regarding why world leaders seemingly ignored Hitler's "Final Solution" [Ger. 'Endlosung] regarding the Jews.

To begin with, the leaders did not ignore the plight of the Jews, and most were too well aware of at least some of what was going on despite intense efforts of the Third Reich to hide the mass exterminations of the Jews of Europe. The information regarding what was happening came from several sources:

1. International and National Intelligence Sources

2. Jewish 'watchdog' organizations

3. Journalists and other Media

4. The Red Cross [allowed into several of the camps to report on prisoners]

5. Information transferred by German soldiers and soldiers of Axis and Allied powers

6. References of the German government in the press

7. A few 'escapees' who managed to get back from incarceration in camps such as Auschwitz, along with church/dissident leaders imprisoned for a time who were released

8. Vatican reports including reports of nunciatures (offices of Vatican representation in the countries), and internal letters and reports, as well as 'lobbying' efforts in the US.

9. The convening of several conferences most notably the 'Evian Conference' to discuss the fate and possible resettlement of the Jews or 'political asylum' for some of the Jews.

The Evian Conference, attended by representatives of a number of nations though was not promising: only a few nations were willing to allow a few Jews refuge since many believed that any nation allowing large numbers of Jews to escape would incur the wrath of Hitler, and bring them into a war they did not want to enter. The US would only take about 900 refugees in Safe haven in Oswego, due to the efforts of a photojournalist, Ruth Gruber. The debate about the immigration of the Jews raged in Congress, with only a few advocates such as Senator Claude Pepper, but with an over-representation of German-heritage senators, most were opposed to opening the door to many Jews and some lobbied for complete closure of all immigration.

Costa Rica and Singapore agreed to take refugees but they still had to be able to get to safe haven, a very difficult task since any Jews wishing to leave had to check with their police departments for background checks to leave the country, and most of the police were SS shortly into the war. Even the US does not appear to have been as responsive as one would hope, since early in the war, viewing both the British and Germans as too imperialistic (we were also) the decision had not been made which side to ally with.

Hitler's army (Wehrmacht*) was one of the world's best trained and most systematic, and ruthless armies the world has known. The Reich would first send troops into an area to 'advise' governments and policing efforts, then set up puppet governments of their own people, and then send in troops so that few nations which were overtaken met with much in the form of resistance though many tried, such as the Netherlands, France, and Greece. The Germans did not readily adhere to any international law nor the Geneva Treaty, so there was no appeal when they came into an area, demanding the roundup of Jewish citizens. Hungary initially refused any aid in the endeavor, but the Reich army marched the Jews of Budapest to borders over which they had more control.

One remarkable little nation, Denmark, under King Christian when the Reich came to arrest the Jews, had almost the entire populace put on yellow stars making the Jews more difficult to detect and thwarting the efforts at least for a time.

It was not that the nations ignored Hitler's genocide, but that they were constantly wary of being brought into a war they had no resources to fight, afraid for their own general populations, and unfortunately, the Jews have always suffered from feelings of anti-Semitism in many countries, so that even the knowledge of their plight did not bring help.

There should have been much more help and protest than there was, but individuals, some churches and other agencies worked behind the scene in rescue efforts, but the effect was minimal: attempts to aid the Jews were met with violence against the Jews and those who tried to help, so it was like walking a tightrope to try to save as many lives as possible without making matters worse. This does not excuse the lack of support which could have stopped the war and genocide, but it helps one to understand their reasoning.

By the end of the war, by January of 1945 when Auschwitz was liberated by the Russians, and later when Nordhausen, Dachau and others were liberated by the US, it became clear that the Reich had committed atrocities unheard of in human history against innocent people on the basis of their religion and race.

There is yet one other unfortunate truth: many nations, the US in particular, had contributed to the Nazi war effort early in the war, and some large US corporations had benefitted from slave labor of the Jews, as had some churches. This very sad commentary on why the war against the Jews did not end earlier, is a lesson to be taken into account regarding what is important in the life of a nation.

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*The Wehrmacht was always the name for the German army. When Hitler took over, many SA members joined (brownshirts) and other Nazi party members. All of the soldiers were required to hold party membership and sign loyalty oaths.

Read more: Why_did_world_leaders_ignore_Hitler's_genocide_against_the_Jews_during_the_war

This answer was taken from a news article in the "Oxfam Press Release" dated March 30, 2004.

The genocide was the product of a political movement in Rwanda, rather than as was implied by some at the time, an outpouring of "ancient tribal hatreds". However, the roots of this movement stretch back into the country's history. Historical tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi groups had been exacerbated by the policies of Rwanda's colonial rulers - Germany from the 1890s, then Belgium from the First World War. Both reinforced the Tutsi's position of power within Rwandan society, exacerbating Hutu resentments. Rwanda was Africa's most densely populated nation; ninety per cent of its people are subsistence farmers and competition for land is intense. The majority of the population was illiterate and living in grinding poverty.

When the Hutu majority finally gained power after independence in 1962, many Tutsi fled to neighboring countries such as Uganda, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and Burundi. Their desire to return to their country became a major political issue in the region. An army of Tutsi exiles called the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) formed in Uganda in 1979 and invaded Rwanda in 1990, sparking a civil war.

In August 1993, the international community backed a power-sharing peace deal between the Rwandan government and the RPF, the "Arusha accords". The agreement paved the way for the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda, or UNAMIR, which was sent to monitor the ceasefire at the heart of the peace accords. But the warning signs were increasing of imminent violence against the Tutsi. With a concerted propaganda campaign, the Hutu Power movement was able to play on land hunger, lack of education and historical resentment to instill hatred for all Tutsi.

No it wasn't deliberate genocide. After months of bombing cities in Japan, the US issued an ultimatum called the Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945 demanding that Japan surrender. The Japanese government ignored this demand. The US dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6; then the second on Nagasaki on August 9. On August 15, Japan announced its surrender and on September 2, 1945 Japan signed an Instrument of Surrender, officially ending the war.

The US's official justification was that it would save many more lives than it cost by ending the war, but most people just wanted the war to end period. The secondary goal was to let it be known that it would be much too costly in lives to wage war in the future and hoped that the atomic bomb would be the ultimate deterrent.

Each night multiple 500 to 1000 plane incendiary bombing raids attacked Japanese cities resulting in similar fatalities per raid as each atomic bomb did! Far more Japanese died each night from these raids than died in the two atomic bombings. Without the atomic bomb, those raids would have continued for more than a year, Japan's population would have been far more than decimated.

• The "Young Turk" government of the Ottoman Empire
• The Armenians were the victims of the Ottoman Turks
• Pontic Greeks and Assyrians were also targeted by the Ottoman Turks

The actual campaign is usually called the Holocaust.

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There are many questions wrapped up in this. How did Hitler and the Germans come to hate the presence of Jews? How could they deceive themselves on the beliefs, ideals and history of Jews? How did Hitler proceed to exterminate them? His plan is stated in his autobiography, Mein Kampf. He was himself one-quarter Jewish, consulted a revered Jewish family doctor and was in physical appearance far from the model Aryan type. As a young man, he failed to gain admittance to art school, and blamed intriguing, including by Jews, against him. Like many Germans, he also sought a scapegoat for Germany's defeat in the First World War. A widely read piece of forgery presented the Jews as members of a worldwide conspiracy to dominate the world. This combination of factors fed a dangerously disturbed mind.

Hatred of Jews, jealousy and resentment against Jewish success, and opportunistic looting of Jewish property has recurred throughout European history. England in the 13th century committed the first European pogrom against them. Nazi Germany was the worst but not the last instance of the phobia against Jews. The German aim to cleanse their country's supposed racial purity extended to proscription of other races, like gypsies and Slavs, and to the mentally handicapped. It was based on ignorance. Hitler was atheistic but the church leaders were mostly tolerant of his antics, since the Catholic Church had not overthrown the hints in the Bible that Jews should forever bear responsibility for the death of Jesus. Of course, this is a false, wicked and indeed absurd, doctrine.

To organize the debate those opinions that hold that the Holocaust was a genocide will be shown first and those that hold that it was not will be shown second. This order has no bearing on the correctness of any of the views.

PART 1: YES - It was a genocide or genocides

Answer 1

Of course the Holocaust is considered genocide! From 1941 onwards the Nazis tried to kill every Jew that they could find. The fact that others, in addition to the main taget were included, doesn't alter the fact. What more, the word genocide was specifically created in 1944 to describe what the Nazis were doing to the Jews.

Answer 2

See Expert Answers.

PART 2: NO - It was not a genocide or genocides

Answer 1

No because Hitler wanted to eliminate the Jews, Gypsies, and people suffering from mental or physical disorders or handicaps, and the definition of Genocide is the mass killing of a certain race or ethnicity.

Answer 2

Of course the Holocaust is not considered genocide! Though the Jews that the Nazis could find were made up of a dozen different kinds of Jews, there was no possibility or intention to eliminate the entire group as there were parts of those groups in countries that the Nazis could not extradite them from. Though the word genocide was created to describe what the Nazis did, language and that word has evolved since then.

This issue and many others in relation to the Holocaust are a matter of personal opinion, though one school may be adamant that one interpretation is accurate, another school may be equally convinced of the opposite.

[Further discussion of this view is in the Discussion Section.]