Modern Genocides

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Also, in both cases, ethnic cleansing was used alongside a cult of antiquity. In both nations, the leading party believed that the country could not sustain or achieve greatness unless they weeded out the lesser. Before European and other foreign involvement in Cambodia, the Khmer Empire was an empire that thrived on traditional Cambodian culture and ideas. When the Khmer Rouge took up revolution in Cambodia, they had the idea of restoring the Khmer ideology in Cambodia. To do that, they needed to express Khmer idealism while at the same time removing ALL foreign influence from Cambodia. Kiernan recalls, “we have until now followed too slavishly the paths traced by western civilization, and that has caused ascertain social problems, that of unemployed intellectuals, that of pure intellectuals who are much less competent citizens that the new men who are being formed in China” (545). Many Khmer Rouge leaders believed that they have been getting taken advantage of by the western world for too long, and that if they do not get rid of foreign influence now, they will continue to have social issues and problems. Similarly, in Nazi Germany the idea of ethnic cleansing was a well-accepted idea. Just like in Cambodia several decades later, Nazi Germany believed that preservation of Germany blood lines was necessary. The Law for Protection of German Blood and German Honor, which was put in to action in September of 1935 state, “the purity of German blood is a prerequisite for the continued existence of the German people” (440). Nazi’s sold the German people on cleansing and hatred of Slavs, Jews, Catholics and Communists by stating the German idea would seize to exist unless everything different was killed. Ethnic cleansing was one of the major ideas shared by the Khmer Rouge and Nazi regimes.

Although the genocides in Cambodia and Nazi Germany did in fact have a lot in common, they still varied in several ways. First off, the Nazi Party believed in a fascist, or “National Socialist”, while rejecting the idea of Communism. Richard Darre accounts, “Communist concepts of collective property in land, for instance, “developed from graving habits of nomads” not agriculturists” (426). One of the common themes for Pure Communism has always been social and economic equality for all and in Nazi Germany, any Liberalist ideas were shut out. On the other hand, Pol Pot sought inspiration from some of the great Communist leaders of history. “Reflecting its indigenous racist and Vichyite antecedents as well as its Stalinist and Maoist models” (549). The Khmer Regime was built on hatred for all things “different” which is a theme that can commonly be found authoritarian idealists. Although both regimes were very similar socially, they varied economically.

Another difference between the two genocides was that the genocide in Nazi Germany was a more complex and technologically advanced genocide. The genocide that took place in Nazi Germany literally could not have technologically took place any sooner than it did. Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman recalls, “the Nazi genocide of nearly 6 million Jews from 1941 to 1945 was an industrial, bureaucratic, totalitarian enterprise that could hardly have been conceived and accomplished before the twentieth century” (416). With the propaganda, gas chambers, records, and other advanced features used in the Nazi Holocaust the genocide could not have taken place any sooner, or even could be considered ahead of its time. The same cannot be said about the Cambodian genocide. The genocide took place in the mid and late 70’s and the technology and methods used by the Khmer Rouge were far outdated. According to WorldWithoutGenocide.org, “due to the Khmer Rouge’s anti-material stance they were far behind the accepted technology of the time.” The Khmer Rouge killed nearly two million people, however much of the killing was done by starvation, overworking, and disease while in Nazi Germany the killing was done in camps with poison gas. One of the main variations between the Khmer and the Nazi Genocides was the different technology used.

We look back on the past, and see a clear flaw in human nature. A flaw that perhaps can be stemmed ultimately from a fear of the unknown or misunderstood, and could, perhaps be attributed to racial notions and eventually genocide. It is very hard to change human nature, if possible at all, but what we can do is individually work on making ourselves better by not judging others and accept people from all walks of life. Nelson Mandela (RIP) once said, “instead of changing the world, perhaps we can work on changing ourselves.” Human nature cannot be changed as a whole, but individual character can be changed in a community for the better. In order to prevent further genocides, like the unfortunate ones that took place in Nazi Germany and Cambodia, we must all better ourselves. We cannot go back and change time to make the genocides in both countries never happen, but we all need to learn from the past and fully understand history, in order to better ourselves and ensure something like this never happens again.

Work Cited

Kiernan, Ben. Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur. New Haven: Yale UP, 2007. Print.

Walker, Luke. "Cambodian Genocide | World Without Genocide." Cambodian Genocide | World Without Genocide. Luke Walker Center for Genocide Research, 12 Dec. 2009. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.

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