Similarities Between Genocide And Ethnic Cleansing

In 1944, Raphael Lemkin wrote, "genocide refers to a coordinated plan aimed at the destruction of the essential foundation of life of national groups." It was in his book, Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, that the word genocide first appeared, but the concept had been used many years prior to the naming. Similarly, ethnic cleansing had also been carried out by leaders for several decades and is defined as "the elimination of a group based on ethnic/racial factors." These two terms share many similarities, but differ greatly because ethnic cleansing does not necessary mean the killing of a race, but rather can be accomplished by deportation or forced emigration. However, genocide clearly is the planned extermination of a racial group. Both concepts
are seen through history being used by the powerful leaders of their time. It was during the 1930's that the terms ethnic cleansing and genocide were introduced to the world.
Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party, came to power in Germany and had hopes to take over the world. One of Hitler's main goals was to create the perfect society. Hitler's belief was that Aryans were a superior race whose nation had been weakened by racially undesirable groups. Hitler in his quest to take over the world began to target many groups such as the Jews, Gypsies, Polish intellectuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals. He first put to use the concept of ethnic cleansing by emigrating many of the groups into ghettos and taking away their natural-born right. For instance, Poles were moved to small areas inside Poland and many Jews were moved out of Germany into Poland. The aim of the Nazi Party was to blame these people for Germany's depression and the loss in World War
I. Soon after moving them into ghettos, concentration camps were developed and the Nazi Party now planned a genocide, a mass murder of the "inferior population." Many countries arose in fury over Hitler's actions and went to war with Hitler, but the killing of millions in the concentration camps was kept secret by the Nazis. Moreover, Hitler considered the war a good and necessary step towards racial purity and expansion German living space. Eventually, the war in Europe came to an end and though many were freed from the camps, over 11 million died under Hitler's rule. Much of Hitler's horrendous acts were released to the world after the Axis powers had lost and many only became aware of the massive murder after the war had ended. Secondly, in 1975, another genocide occurred in Cambodia.
Years later it became known as the Killing Fields, but initially it was an attempt by the Khmer Rouge to rid of their political opponents. The Khmer Rouge was a communist organization led by Pol Pot and they wanted to rid of any enemies of their regime. There were three waves of Killings in Cambodia and the first was purely against anyone associated with the LonNol regime. Second, in 1975 the killings were against intellectuals or anyone who was a threat to them. These people included professionals and civil servants. In addition, anyone who revealed incrimination details of the past when writing autobiographies for new rulers or denounced prisoners were killed during the early months of 1975. Finally, the last killing was in 1976 and swept through all the classes of the new society and was carried out with painful murders including axes, poles, hammers and babies swung against trees. Those not killed were forced into social communes and were forced to work several hours of the day with little food. In total 2 million died during the killing fields. The regime ended though in the 90's when Khmer Rouge became illegal and Pol Pot was charged and sentenced to house arrest for his whole
life. In conclusion, in both cases in Cambodia and the Holocaust many people were killed due to the rise of fascist leaders with cruel plans. Thankfully, their was an end to the rise of these leaders when European leaders stepped into rescue those being persecuted, but it wasn't until many years later that the whole story was released to the public about the party's actions. In the world today there are still people who believe in a creating a perfect race, but their plans of ethnic cleansing or genocide are prevented by the current super powers, those who believe in a democracy.