By Kyle Egbert
The Exponent Online
Staff Reporter
04/12/2010
More than six million people from 22 countries died in the Holocaust, which caused many people to question how such an atrocity could happen.
The Rwandan genocide was not as deadly, but did occur in a short time period in a smaller area, making it a good case study to answer this question.
This genocide contains aspects that are common to most genocide, said Alicia Decker, assistant professor of history. She studies Africa and the genocide of the region.
Rwanda was a Belgian territory after Germany lost their colonies in World War I. The Belgian government worked with the minority Tutsi of Rwanda and in doing so promoted their status above the majority Hutu, causing racial tensions. These tensions led to the genocide that followed.
The Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference this year will discuss this and other genocide in history. At a similar conference in California, the Holocaust Studies and Critical Thinking program at the Silicon Valley Conference for Community and Justice created a list of aspects that are central to most genocide.
One of these factors is creating myths about the minority to create mistrust. In Rwanda, the majority Hutu spread myths and fears about minority Tutsi taking over the country and stealing the wealth, Decker said. Hutu were told they would be enslaved if Tutsi were able to do so.
She said the media was a large element in creating mistrust in Rwanda. The media disseminated inflammatory articles and hateful political cartoons and printed jokes such as “a good Tutsi is a dead Tutsi.”
The next aspect of a genocide involves fabricating a threat to the general public. The target group is portrayed to be an entity capable and willing to harm the public.
On April 6, 1994, the plane carrying the Hutu president of Rwanda and the Hutu president of Burundi was shot down, Decker said. The Hutu blamed the Tutsi for the act and used it as evidence that they were a real threat.
Dehumanization is another element of a genocide. The targets are not worthy to be considered human and usually are compared to rats, pigs and other vermin. Decker said the people would talk about “exterminating the cockroaches,” meaning the Tutsi people.
To eliminate the targets, isolation and concentration are needed. She said there was no formal concentration program in the Rwandan genocide because it happened too quickly, but when the Tutsi were forced into exile, some sought protection in churches. These would take the refugees in, only to lock the doors shut and burn them down.
The final element of genocide are the atrocities. Since the target group is no longer seen as human and the public doesn’t see the contained people, there isn’t any restraint in actions toward the targets. Torture, abuse, exploitation, experimentation and genocide all become acceptable.
In the 100 days that followed the Rwandan plane crash, a call to arms was pushed through the Hutu people to retaliate against the Tutsi. They went in search of Tutsi with machetes and garden tools, which were used to “hack them to death,” said Decker. The estimate for the dead is 800,000 to one million people over that short time.
Sexual violence and rape were common in these attacks. Decker said the Hutu are known for their mass rapes of Tutsi women, which were done in order to contaminate the Tutsi bloodline.
“When you see all the numbers and the dead, you become numb,” said Rebekah Klein-Pejsova, assistant professor of history. “It’s easy to become overwhelmed and desensitized.” She teaches the “Holocaust and Genocide” course at Purdue and how people can become complicit with genocide.
“To understand genocide, we have to understand human nature.”
Klein-Pejsova studies comparative genocide to “figure out how to find risk factors, warning signs to prevent future genocide.”
The Holocaust has been called a “handbook for genocide” and an increase in genocide frequency in the post-war period has led to a theory that genocide has been modeled after the Holocaust by leaders for their destructive abilities, said Klein-Pejsova.
A panel discussion on the state of the region including a Rwanda survivor, studying at Tufts University, will be held at 8 p.m. on Thursday in Lawson 1142.
For a map of genocide sites worldwide, click here.
Related Materials:
THE MEDIA AND THE RWANDA GENOCIDE
Interview with Aloys Ngurumbe on the origin of the terminology "inyenzi"
The Acronym IN.YE.NZI: A Symbol of Bravery
Rwanda: Research sheds new light on Rwanda killings
Coming to a New Understanding of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide
What Really Happened in Rwanda?
What they don’t tell you about Rwanda
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