Ten Stages of Genocide Around the World

When you hear the word genocide, what do you think about?

When most people think about genocide, the first situation that they remember is the Holocaust unless another genocide applies to them or their family. Genocides have happened all around the world, yet many genocides and the steps that led to them are not spoken about often. 

The Ten Stages of Genocide

1. Classification: People become divided.
2. Symbolization: People are forced to identify themselves.
3. Discrimination: People begin to face systematic discrimination. 
4. Dehumanization: People equated with animals, vermin, or diseases. 
5. Organization: The government creates specific groups to enforce the policies.
6. Polarization: The government broadcasts propaganda to turn the populace against the group.
7. Preparation: Official action to remove / relocate people.
8. Persecution: Beginning of murders, theft of property, trial massacres. 
9. Extermination: Wholesale elimination of the group. This is not considered murdered because the people are not considered human. 
10. Denial: The government denies that it has committed any crime. 

The Cambodian Genocide

Although the Cambodian Genocide can be linked to the 1970s, the decade leading up to it was filled with warning signs regarding the destructive politics that were happening. Khmer Rouge, a group headed by Pol Pot, led the Communist Part of Kampuchea starting in the 1960s and led a military coup in 1970 to become the better political leader. Khmer Rouge believed and sold the idea of an "us versus them" mentality, even causing a civil war between the right-leaning military and those supporting the alliance of Prince Norodom. 

Cambodians trying to avoid the rockets launched by the Khmer Rouge Army.

In 1975, Khmer Rouge rose to full power after invading and taking control over the main city. Rouge designated labor camps for farmers to produce food, but ultimately the camps led to starvation, disease, or damage to their bodies. This falls under preparation and discrimination by forcing the farmers to do these jobs. Pol Pot ordered the execution of anyone it had deemed enemies of the state, intellectuals, or potential leaders of a revolutionary movement. Intellectuals were deemed to be those who wore glasses or could speak a foreign language. These decisions exemplify the extermination of those unworthy to live under his rule. There is also a film that illuminates the genocide and brings a deeper understanding to the genocide and the lead up, The Killing Fields. If you want to learn more about the film please look at the following website.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide has also been referred to as the Armenian Holocaust and occurred from 1915 to 1923 with the Ottoman government as the persecutors. Within 3 years one million of the Armenian population had perished at the hands of the government and hundreds of thousands were forced to become homeless and stateless refugees - similar to the Jews during the Holocaust. By 1923, almost the entirety of the Armenian population had been murdered. There were deportations sanctioned by the government that were said to be "a resettlement program," when in reality it was to eliminate the population quietly and under the radar - similar to Adolf Hitler's camps. Looking at the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust it becomes clear that the two leaders had similar takes on how to accomplish a large scale genocide - which may be the reason that both were successful in removing and murdering most of the intended populations. Armenian soldiers in the Ottoman forces were disarmed and were typically worked to death or outright murdered. Since this genocide aimed to remove Armenians, they were able to separate them from others, relocate them, create propaganda against them, and continuously murder and "eliminate them". The Turkish government refuses to admit that the Armenian Genocide was a genocide at all, instead they call it an "incident". 

In Conclusion... 

Now, with great respect to those who fought and endured these genocides, it is easy to see with clear hindsight how these atrocities occurred and the stages that were obviously leading to something larger. It is important that when we remember these situations to remember that the situations are more dire when you are in them and can feel more like the truth when you're being persecuted. Could the Jews and the Armenians have taken over small amounts of soldiers? Absolutely, but they didn't have the support or mental understanding to know what they were being told was wrong. So, in conclusion, many genocides including ones not mentioned, such as the Bosnian Genocide, have occurred and every perspective should be reviewed during these times. Also, in hindsight it is easy to see the ten stages present themselves prior or during all of these atrocities. If you find the time, look through the websites and become more aware of what has happened around the world!

Please be aware, the websites used to formulate this post are hyperlinked to the sections they provided information for!

By: Veronica Levinson