Andrew Bangachon - "Mass Violence: History Repeated"

On April 6, 1994, a mass genocide began in Rwanda, killing 800,000 Tutsis by the Hutus (United Human Rights Council). These are two of many instances of mass violence throughout the world. Mass violence has occurred repeatedly in the past, and still, to this day, occurs in many countries around the world.

Mass violence continues to go on in other countries. Mass violence can be inflicted by a large group of people towards a small minority or an enemy. It can be organized by the              government, groups, or specific people. It could even occur spontaneously or randomly. However, no matter what time period or what region of the world it is, mass violence originates from prejudicial beliefs or hatred and anger towards another group because of one’s race, religion, culture, ethnicity, gender, or social class.

 Kristallnacht was sparked by the assassination of a minor German embassy official in Paris by the hands of Herschel Grynszpan, a seventeen-year-old Jewish boy (Berenbaum 49). When news of this incident reached Germany, what appeared to be a spontaneous outburst of national anger spread throughout Germany.   Violence erupted throughout all of Reich, which then included Austria and Sudetenland. All    synagogues were destroyed, an estimated 7,500 Jewish businesses were demolished, and Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, and houses were vandalized. Over 30,000 were then arrested. They were then forced into concentration camps (Bachrach 24). Not only were most of the victims arrested, but they were also charged with the reparations for the damages done. "The rubble of ruined synagogues had to be cleared by the  Jewish community. A fine of one billion reichmarks, four-hundred million in U.S. dollars, was imposed collectively on the Jewish community" (Berenbaum 49).

Never before had a "spontaneous" riot been so well organized and well planned. What appeared to be a spontaneous riot caused by the assassination of one of Germany’s government officials, was, in reality, orchestrated by the Nazis. When the news of the assassination had reached the Nazi Party leadership, Hitler gave the order that this incident was to serve as an excuse for a major pogrom, or an organized massacre. "The Nazis tried very hard to convince the German public that this pogrom was a spontaneous riot, caused by the wrath of the people" (Botwinick 122). The Nazis were an organization sponsored by Hitler and other    German government officials, the state. Therefore, this was state sponsored violence. The Nazis went on a rampage through all of Germany and Austria. Heinrich Muller, chief of police in    Germany, sent a telegram to all police units that actions against the Jews will take place, and that they are not to interfere with them; rather, they should arrest the victims. Fire companies were also told not intervene unless fire threatened adjacent non-Jewish buildings (Berenbaum 49). To the    Nazis, this was known as, "the cleansing of the Jews." Hitler and the Nazis sought to cleanse   Germany and Austria of all inferior races.  Hitler believed in a superior race called the Aryans.  Aryan refers to white men and women with blond hair and blue eyes. These Aryans supposedly had the best and most ideal qualities. He also believed that, "the race most fit to dominate had the natural right to mastery over lesser races" (Botwinick 59).

Kristallnacht was neither the first nor the last act of mass violence. Many others followed it. A more recent act of mass violence would be the genocide in Rwanda. Rwanda has two major ethnic groups, which are the Hutu and the Tutsi. These two ethnic groups have switched back and forth between the controlling and the oppressed, always competing for power. In 1990, the Hutus controlled Rwanda, but the Hutu president was forced by Tutsi rebels to sign an accord that allowed for the Hutus and the Tutsis to share power. (United Humans Rights Council). Ethnic tensions had risen significantly over the next four years. Propaganda had rallied the Hutus together to fight the Tutsis. On April 6, 1994, the Rwandan president’s plane was shot down, and within an hour, killings began (Coloroso 29,59). Genocide spread throughout the country. Hutu extremists began targeting prominent political figures, including moderate Hutu politicians and Tutsi leaders. Hutu militia armed with machetes, guns, and grenades started killing any and every Tutsi they could find. This genocide   continued without restraint for the next four months until Tutsi rebels banded together from neighboring countries and invaded Rwanda to stop the killings. The Tutsi death count accumulated to approximately 800,000 people. Rwanda’s population before the genocide was seven million people (United Human Human Rights Council).

In both cases of mass violence, the objective was to wipe out the minorities in those countries. They both despised their minorities. The Nazis made it impossible for the Jews to live in Germany and Austria by putting them in concentration camps, and the Hutus killed any Tutsis they came into  contact with. They were both state sponsored     violence. The governments of both countries had Nazis or Hutus carry out those actions, half of a government in Rwanda’s case. The Nazis were an organization controlled by Germany’s government, and later it became Germany’s military. German police did nothing about the  destruction of      property, and instead they arrested the victims. Fire companies did not intervene when Jewish buildings were burning down. The Hutu half of the government had its people revolt against the Tutsis. Both countries used propaganda through the media to get its people to band together against the minorities. This    included movies, cartoons, posters, television, and radio. Germans used propaganda to get people to believe in the Aryan race, and Hutus used propaganda to get other Hutus to think that the Tutsis were planning to kill them (Coloroso 59).

Though they had similar goals and objectives, their reasons were quite different. Hitler’s reason for Kristallnacht was to cleanse Germany and Austria of the Jews so that he could make a pure Aryan race. However, the Hutus’ reason was so that they could gain control of Rwanda. Also,   Hitler had almost total control of the situation. Everything during Kristallnacht was extremely well planned and organized whereas the Rwandan genocide was not very well organized or planned. During Kristallnacht, there was no restraint or force to hold back the Nazis.  However, during the Rwandan genocide there was the United Nations, who did not do much, and a Tutsi rebel army, who ended the genocide (United Human Rights Council). Lastly, the time in which these events took place was very different. The genocide in Rwanda lasted approximately four months whereas Kristallnacht and the Holocaust lasted years.