the worst human tragdey Essay

Submitted By oliviaroman
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The Worst Human Tragedy in History The Holocaust that occurred in Germany during World War II remains the worst historical event impacting all aspects of society. Other genocides have occurred in the world, but pale in comparison to the Holocaust. One other significant genocide was in the country of Rwanda in 1994. While some similarities between the German Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide are evident, the differences are apparent. In comparison with the Rwanda Genocide, the Holocaust was a more brutal event and had the most far reaching effects on society. Rwanda is a country in eastern and central Africa with a population of 11.46 million as of 2012. There was a long history of tension between to Hutu and Tutsi people in Rwanda. Even though the two groups shared a common language and had cultural and religious similarities, the conflict and tensions seriously increased between them during the Belgium control until 1961(Anderson, Belgium in Rwanda). The wealthier class, the Tutsi, became more powerful than the Hutu, who were considered the poor and unskilled labor class. In 1990, the Hutu-backed government authorized a massacre of hundreds of Tutsi (Anderson, Belgium in Rwanda). On April 6, 1994 the long time Hutu leader, Juvenal Habyarimana was traveling in a plane that was shot down. The new interim government started planning for the genocide of the Tutsi (Anderson, The Violence Increases). The United Nations decided not to intervene in the internal affairs of Rwanda but only evacuated the foreigners. During the next three months an estimated 500,000 to one million Tutsi were killed by the Hutu (Anderson, The Violence Increases.) The Genocide ended on July 4, 1994. The wide spread violence and mass killings against the Tutsi were well documented and catastrophic. However, in comparison to the German Holocaust the overall impact was less. The time period of the Rwandan genocide was limited to three months; the extent of human life lost was, at maximum estimations, 1 million or lower and only involved one country of people, two specific tribes. The Rwandan genocide was minuscule contrasted with the Holocaust. Yes, the Rwandan genocide did wipe out a majority of the Tutsi people but the Holocaust killed millions upon millions of people. Generations, races and cultures were being destroyed from the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the mass murder or genocide of approximately six million Jews and other cultures during World War II. The Holocaust was a murder program that was endorsed by Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler. Hilter’s motives behind the Holocaust initially were to make a superior race. He believed that Jewish people and other groups of people were inferring with that goal. He felt that “Jews were like a virus that couldn’t be contained” (Rosenburg Understanding Hitler’s Motivates). Unfortunately this involved the Nazis destroying everything they had including them. Windows, doors, possessions, livestock of homes, stores and other properties were all destroyed when the Nazis assaulted and captured “inferiors” (Perl 27). The German Holocaust involved an estimated five different cultures: Jews, Roma Gypies, disabled, Homosexuals, and Jehovah Witness’s (Smith Remembering: Voices of the Holocaust). Prisoners were tattooed with a number, issued striped uniforms, and accurately photographed to preserve their identities, upon arrival at a main camp (Perl 20). During the war, Hilter made one of the most efficient extermination factories the world has ever known (Perl 23). Upon arrival at the concentration camps in Germany, if there was an over flow of Jews, Hilter would order to sort the people into two groups. One group was the ill, elderly and women with children under the age of fourteen. Then, the Nazi’s put another group of together of healthy men, women, and children over the age of fifteen. In this process they separated brothers, sisters, and friends, children from their