Writing - Division II
Honorable Mention
"The Cycle of Genocide"
Rebecca Arnohalt
Grade 12, Firestone High School
Teacher: Tammie Ray

Few people in the world do not know what the Holocaust was. What people may not know is that it took some years to evolve from racism to prejudice and then genocide, as the torture of innocent people slowly worsened. Another thing people may be unaware of the extent of racism and genocide that continue today, and how similar these genocides are to the Holocaust, including the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. This paper reveals how the Holocaust is similar to that of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Throughout history there have been instances of prejudice against the Jewish people. That was the case after WWI when Germany was economically ravaged; Adolph Hitler seized the opportunity to rise to power. It was Hitler who sparked increasing hostility towards the Jewish population, using propaganda to scapegoat Jews for all of Germany’s problems ("The Knesset" 1).

At the beginning of Hitler’s Nazi reign, the goal was to "cleanse" Germany of Jews by persecuting them so they would leave the country ("The Knesset" 1). Jews were fired from their jobs and denied their rights as citizens. The children were segregated in their schools, and eventually expelled. Life was hard for the Jews. Then came "Kristallnact," the night of broken glass. Jewish synagogues and businesses were set on fire, and windows were broken. The saddest part is that it was the government who encouraged violence towards the Jewish people (Talbott 12). The purpose of government is to serve the people, not turn them against each other. To ensure that the Jews were treated poorly, new ridiculous laws, especially the Nuremberg Laws, were passed restricting Jewish rights (Russo 13).

The prejudice escalated. First, Jews had to have identification cards with a big, red "J" on them (Russo 14). Jewish literature, many, many books, were burned to stop the spread of Jewish ideas (Talbott 9-10). Next, Jews were made to wear a big yellow star wherever they went, but the persecution of the Jews continued to worsen. The Jews, whom the Nazis considered racially inferior, were corralled into ghettos, walled off sections of a city, and denied decent living conditions. These ghettos were disease ridden, overcrowded, and full of starving people; yet, there was worse to come. Slowly, Jewish prisoners were sent to work in labor camps.

Over time, as the Nazi Empire expanded, they had more Jews to "deal with." The labor camps evolved into death camps. Ghettos were emptied and Jews were packed into cattle cars and sent to the slaughter, their lives dismissed as hardly human. Bodies were burned in huge crematoriums.

Auschwitz survivor Flip Muller said that, "the red sky could be seen for miles," and the smell of burning bodies haunted the prisoners all day, every day (Muller 1). Despite all of this, there was hope. Thanks to the Allied Forces, the Nazi Empire was failing.

When it became evident that Germany was losing the war, the Nazis began to kill the prisoners at a more rapid pace, and destroy evidence to cover their tracks ("The Knesset" 2). Prisoners were taken on death marches through the snow, without food or drink, when the camp leaders heard word of advancing Allied troops. Anyone who stumbled or fell behind on those marches, (that were more like runs) would be shot mercilessly (Russo 30). These death campaigns continued until the Allied troops overtook them, but as a result, tens of thousands more Jewish lives were lost ("The Knesset" 2). There were many people to be freed, but some were beyond saving, sick or on the verge of death. Some were starved to death others died of exhaustion. One concentration camp liberator Glen Edward Belcher said, "we were all too shocked by the gruesome discovery to be anything other than immobilized" (Belcher 3).

The Holocaust was an unnecessary tragedy, and mankind should learn from its deadly mistake. As Belcher said, "The Jewish people and all the rest of us should try to encourage all of us to remember places like Dachau- despite my own constant push to repress that which is so horrible" (Belcher 4). Sadly, racism and genocide continue worldwide to this day.

For example, Darfur, Sudan was recognized as a "Genocide Emergency" by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004. "Emergency" is an understatement considering the state of desperation that Sudan is in; over 400,000 people have already died as a result of this crisis. There have been government soldiers (Janjaweed) fighting rebel groups in west Darfur since 2003, when a rebellion sprang up in Darfur, over the "underdevelopment and neglect from the central government" ("United Human Rights" 1). The government wanted to crush the rebellion, so that other groups wouldn’t follow their lead. As a result, the government is punishing the people. Darfur, Sudan has officially been named a genocide ("United Human Rights" 1).

First, the Sudanese government sends in their air force and military to attack their fellow people. The air force is ordered to bomb villages, and all those who try to escape. Originally the government denied organizing the attacks, but in July of 2004, Human Rights Watch sent out a report that showed government documents that armed and organized the Janjaweed troops ("United Human Rights" 1). To this day, the government doesn’t allow news reporters in, or agencies that wish to help the suffering natives, whom the Janjaweed continue to torture ("USHMM" 2). The government is sponsoring this genocide, just as the German government did in the Holocaust.

These Janjaweed soldiers enter the villages of the natives and burn huts and crops; they have chained men together and thrown them into burning huts. The Janjaweed have mercilessly raped women in front of their loved ones, kidnapped children, and performed mass murder on people of all ages. The heartless Janjaweed leave the villages desolate and destroyed.

Thankfully, the violence has gone down over the past few years, but genocide is inexcusable and it needs to be entirely stopped. The people of Darfur, Sudan deserve to live in peace, as did those murdered in the Holocaust. It is clear how racism evolves into the monster we call genocide. It is also clear that genocide repeats throughout history. Mankind needs to take action to put a stop to this cycle, before it is too late (USHMM 1-2).

Works Cited

Belcher, Glenn E. "Glenn Edward Belcher: Dachau Liberator." 05 Nov. 2007 <http://www.remember .org/witness/belcher .html>.

Knesset The, "The Holocaust- Historical Overview." www.knesset.gov. The Knesset. 24 Nov. 2007 <http://www .knesset. gov.ill / shoah/ eng/ ehashoah.html>.

Muller, Flip. "Auschwitz Survivor Flip Muller's Testimony." 05 Nov. 2007 <http://www .remember .org/witness/wit. sur . mul.html> .

Russo, Marisabina. Always Remember Me. New York, N.Y.: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2005.

Talbott, Hudson. Forging Freedom. New York, N.Y.: G.P. Putnam\'s Sons, 2000. United Human Rights. "Genocide in Sudan." www.unitedhumanrights.org. 28 Jan. 2008 <http://www. unitedhumanrights. org/ sudan _genocide_genocide _ in_sudan. php>.