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The question I am most often asked by people when they find out I have a nonprofit that works on genocide or that I am getting a PhD in Holocaust and Genocide Studies is “Why?” People have a very difficult time wrapping their head around why anybody would want to study genocide. But there are actually several very good reasons to do so and they affect the global community. Although one can certainly make the case that there is a moral reason to study genocide, there are practical reasons as well.

A glaring reason to study genocide is that it is sadly not a crime of the past. Modern genocide began in Southwest Africa and has continued through the Holocaust up until today. Recent genocides include the Rohingya in Myanmar and the Yazidi in Iraq. How many people are even aware that this is still happening? We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to those that still suffer from this most heinous of crimes.

That brings us to the other practical reason to study genocide. Only by studying genocide can we hope to prevent its occurrence in the future. By studying genocide, scholars can see factors that are common among genocides. These so-called risk factors are things that make genocide more likely to occur. If such factors can be identified, an early warning system can be developed.

• The National Museum of the American Indian features an index of resources (organized by geographic region), classroom lessons, and online access to the museum's collection. PBS developed lesson plans for elementary, middle, and high school students about slavery and the making of America.
• It includes 6 one page readings on genocides in history (the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, Stalin's Great Purge, Cambodia, Rwanda, and Darfur) along with a chart students complete on each genocide's info. This can be completed as a station activity, in groups, or individually.
• In a sidebar titled 'Uncle Sam's Continuing Medical Genocide,' Mr. Kamen cited American ground troops' ingestion of the defoliant Agent Orange in Vietnam (see 'Poison of the Mind,' PRIORITIES, Vol. 18-21), American soldiers' exposure to chemical weapons during the Gulf War (see 'Operation Illness? `Gulf War Syndrome.

Why is the development of an early warning system important? Such a system is important because it means that the international community could intervene before lives are lost with what are called upstream prevention measures. Early prevention is much less costly in terms of money and lives lost. Of course, political will is needed for early prevention to occur, but that is a separate post. Early prevention measures include things like publicly calling out the genocidaires, economic sanctions, and talks between conflicting parties.

There are some early warning systems out there already, but much improvement is still needed. According to a 2002 paper written by Barbara Harff, professor emeritus at the U.S. Naval Academy, most warning systems predict genocide too late in the process. Dr. Harff has played a key role in helping identify commonalities among genocides and developing an early warning system. Many of the current models give false positives. Although it may be better to be cautious when predicting genocide, we also can’t constantly raise false alarms lest we be accused of crying wolf. What is also needed for a good early warning system is a solid definition of genocide, something Marcus Steiner covered in a previous post.

Study of genocide is critical, not just so that we don’t forget what happened in the past. It certainly is not something that is for the faint of heart. I truly believe that those of us who study genocide feel called to do so in some way. We must also be able to not only recognize when genocide is occurring, but eventually be able to predict its occurrence. Only in this way can we hope to be rid of the scourge of evil that is genocide.

About the author:

Christi Yoder is the Executive Director for the Center for Genocide Research and Education. Her research specializations include risk factors, sexual violence in genocide, and geographic information systems. She holds a M.A. in International Human Rights from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies and is currently a Ph.D. student at Gratz College in Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

Genocidemr. Becker's Classroom Supplies

“Can the story be told?” Jorge Semprun asked after his liberation from Buchenwald. The question is addressed from many angles in this volume of essays on teaching about the Holocaust. In their introduction, Marianne Hirsch and Irene Kacandes argue that Semprun’s question is as vital now, and as difficult and complex, as it was for the survivors in 1945. The thirty-eight contributors to Teaching the Representation of the Holocaust come from various disciplines (history, literary criticism, psychology, film studies) and address a wide range of issues pertinent to the teaching of a subject that many teachers and students feel is an essential part of a liberal arts education. This volume offers approaches to such works as Jurek Becker’s Jacob the Liar, Roberto Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful, Anne Frank’s diary, Daniel Jonah Goldhagen’s Hitler’s Willing Executioners, Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah, Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz, Cynthia Ozick’s The Shawl, Dan Pagis’s “Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway Car,” Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, Elie Wiesel’s Night, and Abraham Yehoshua’s Mr. Mani. To the challenge “How do we transmit so hurtful an image of our own species without killing hope and breeding indifference?” posed by Geoffrey Hartman in this volume, the editors respond, “Only in the very human context of classroom interaction can we hope to avoid either false redemption or unending despair.” (By the publisher)