02 May 2009

genocide histories


Komski's remembering the Holocaust(s). In September 2002, a swiftly retired German Foreign Minister made a comparison between the tactics of Adolph Hitler and George W. Bush. I won't speak to that event [it rather speaks for itself] but it led me to do some research on the Nazi era and the mass extermination of many peoples that occurred.
      Readers will note, however, that the list below isn't just about that era but also has links to other holocausts, atrocities and acts of genocide1 that have occurred in history. Humanity cannot afford to forget any of them.

 • remember.org. An extensive and frequently updated site detailing people's recollections of the Nazi extermination camps

 • Holocaust History Project. The Holocaust History Project is a free archive of documents, photographs, recordings, and essays regarding the Holocaust, including direct refutation of Holocaust-denial.

 • The Holocaust Chronicles. "...hatred carried to the nth degree. A human story with victims and perps, heroes and villains and far too many people around the globe who remained indifferent ...even as it was being committed..."

 • Web Genocide Documentation Centre.20th century atrocities compiled and documented by University of London professor Stuart Stein

 • statistics on 20th century atrocities. What nations, which world leaders, do democracies make war on one another?

 • holocaust and genocide studies. "...It is imperative that a greater understanding of the ...roots of human cruelty, mass violence, and genocide be developed. We need to ...examine the factors which enable individuals collectively and individually to perpetrate evil/genocide and the impact of apathetic bystanders as fuel for human violence...".

 • The Genocide Research Project. The stated purpose of the site is to provide: "...a useful set of links without duplicating others' work. The sites are chosen not only for the quality of their content and their perceived utility for genocide researchers and educators, but also for the quality and quantity of other links they provide..." There's a focus on solutions, too!

 • Wounded Knee Massacre 2. Americans genocide statistics may be under-represented on other links, but that's because they only looked at 20th century stats. Here's a site on one infamous massacre in the 19th century American frontier.

 • From Wounded Knee to Afghanistan The big friendly teddy bear ain't always what it seems to be. Just in case you thought that Wounded Knee was an isolated incident, even disregarding World Wars I and II, Z-net provides a list of American incursions.

 • The Bisbee Deportation of 1917. Phelps-Dodge executives and other copper company magnates sent 1197 miners into the desert rather than negotiate a fair wage3. Though the resulting court cases against the perps (Phelps- Dodge, etcetera) went all the way to the USA Supreme Court, no one was held accountable for the acts.

 • Atrocities in the name of Revolution. Evidently an anti-Castro website, but, still, the number of events beg the question.

 • The Corporate Crime of the Century. Mother Jones magazine reports on how chemical companies dump dangerous drugs, pesticides and toxic chemical products on to unsuspecting third world nations resulting in deaths, eco-degradation and personal sorrows. While the numbers may not be as easy to tally as other forms of murder, the numbers are there, nevertheless.

 • guerrilla news network. Bringing reports on corporate crime, human rights violations, the "drug and anti-terrorism" wars. All actions requiring our attention and review in combating future acts of genocide

 • Tiergartenstrasse 4. Bringing this page full circle, this link provides the text from the plaque in front of the Berlin house where the Nazi's euthanasia program began. And the first to be exterminated were the first people deemed "unworthy of living," namely, people who were disabled, mentally retarded and mentally ill5

It may seem a surprise to see connections between mass atrocities made by tyrants and corrupt leaders and the actions of corporate executives. But, truth is, those corporations are nations unto themselves, beholden to themselves; not the United Nations, the World Courts, nor to the citizenry of landed nation-states. As long as we fail to make that connection, corporate executives [21st Century feudal rulers in my book] shall continue to act with impunity, behaving as they are accountable to no one, not even to themselves.
subject footnotes:
1- UN Secretary General's Report establishing a Commission of Experts to examine and analyse information on the evidence of breaches of the Geneva Conventions and other violations of international humanitarian law in Yugoslavia
2- This is one page from First Nations remarkably extensive links website on Native Peoples and "Issues of Consequence." Well worth the visit.
3- Facts about Bisbee is not an easy site to negotiate | Even 90 years later, Phelps-Dodge and others apparently still weild enough power to make it difficult to get the facts about their involvement in deporting free citizens who disagreed with the company about their avarice and were forcibly removed from their families and livelihoods as a result.
4- recounts from survivors: Witnesses from the Holocaust; Bisbee; Freedom from Fear Tour; The Disability Social History Project
5- The Museum of Madding Beauty | Ironically, at the same time Hitler's regime was exterminating crazy people, a famous German psychiatrist, Prinzhorn, was collecting the creative art work of his patients, for he saw within them a redemption of the insane.

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