Genocide, Holocaust, or Dehumanization: Causes and Consequences

Genocide, Holocaust, or Dehumanization are all methods that are deliberately aimed to erase a mass number of people on the basis of their caste, color, race, or Religion, usually carried out by a superior and stronger group of people. The method of genocide was popular before the modern era when people were divided on the basis of their race and color and the reasons for carrying out the genocide were mostly religious and historical reasons. But in the recent modern years, we have seen a mass number of genocides in the 20th century, especially during World War 1 and World War 2. The reasons for the genocides carried out in the 20th century were not only caused due to religious or racial reasons but also due to colonialism. During the period of the World Wars, there were various methods of carrying out a genocide which varied from the simple use of a machete to a state-of-the-art atom bomb that is capable of taking 100,000 lives just in a few minutes and can disrupt the civilization of a particular place for generations. The lives that were lost in carrying out a holocaust during the 20th Century could possibly reach to the millions. The access to powerful weapons, artillery, and modern technologies to the countries has made the process of genocide pretty simple for them, which is often considered as a tool of war that can wipe out an entire race. “Germany’s outstanding progress in science, industry, and administration gave Hitler the tools to carry out the most thorough and pervasive genocide in history”. Today, we have various organizations all around the world to educate the masses and politicians that war only leads to the loss of lives and has no positive outcome to it. In spite of the masses of people being educated about war, there are still a few countries that are still facing problems regarding genocides and Holocausts like the Darfurs in Sudan, Rohingyas in Myanmar, and multiple genocides in the Middle Eastern countries like Syria and Iraq.

Two of the most well-known holocausts that ever took place were during World War 2, carried out by Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany and the United States of America. According to various historians and philosophers, the motives and intentions to carry out a genocide seemed to be mixed, mainly because it was a time of extreme colonialism which existed all around the world. Both the holocausts used their own methods of executing the intended group of people. Nazi Germany with Hitler focused on eliminating the Jews from Europe, who had been a target of discrimination in Europe for generations. Hitler believed in a concept called anti-Semitism, which today is described as prejudice or hostility against Jews, the concept of anti-Semitism existed in Europe since 1000 A.D which had its primary motive of eliminating the Jews and mainly consisted of Christians. The methods used by Hitler to eliminate the Jewish Community from Germany are described as an extremely inhumane way of eliminating a human being. The Nazis set up Concentration Camps, which were camps in Germany that detained the Jews and kept them in harsh conditions. Apart from that, the anti-Semitism Hitler followed had reached extreme levels because of the introduction of gas chambers, which were small rooms in which the Jews were locked, and a chemical gas called asphyxiant was released which slowly poisoned the Jews and ultimately killed them. These events came to be known as ‘The Holocaust’ or ‘The Shoah’ which wiped out over two-thirds of the Jewish Population in Europe and the death toll reached close to 6 Million people and is regarded as one of the deadliest holocausts in the history of humanity. Although the Holocaust took place decades ago, it still imposes its effects in the modern world in terms of the families who lost their lives or survivors are still being provided aid by multinational institutions. “Did you know? Even in the early 21st century, the legacy of the Holocaust endures. Swiss government and banking institutions have in recent years acknowledged their complicity with the Nazis and established funds to aid Holocaust survivors and other victims of human rights abuses, genocide or other catastrophes”.

The other significant genocide or an act of dehumanization that actually changed the world forever in almost every aspect was the Nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States of America which marked the end of World War 2. On 6th August 1945, a modified B-29 bomber dropped ‘Little Boy’, the uranium gun-type bomb which killed about 140,000 people in Nagasaki alone. The bomb was dropped by the allies in Japan to force them to surrender and accept defeat, which Japan refused to even after the first Hiroshima bombing. Nevertheless, Japan had no idea what the bomb was made up of and did not expect any further damage from any external power after refusing to surrender and Japan believed it had enough confidence and resources to fight back. On 9th August 1945, three days after ‘Little Boy’ was dropped, another B-29 carrying a plutonium implosion bomb called ‘Fat Man’ was dropped over Nagasaki, which wiped out about 40000 people at an instant. On the Eastern hemisphere, the Japanese were left in a shock as they did not see it coming again and were devastated and were still being forced to surrender. While on the Western Front, the allied countries were celebrating their victory over the death of well above 250,000 people.

What gave the feeling of victory and joy to the allies seemed to mix. According to the United States, the reason for dropping the bomb was that it could potentially end World War 2, and would result in fewer deaths and disasters if the war had continued. While on the other hand, according to historians, it was a planned strategy by the United States of America which made them a major superpower after World War 2. “That the atomic bomb was the ultimate demonstration of American military power and technology was all too clear from President Harry S. Truman's statements right after the bombing of Hiroshima. As the Cold War intensified, the United States devoted itself to enhancing this awesome power; the Soviets followed suit, and then Great Britain, China, and France. All these nuclear powers created nuclear arsenals that vastly exceeded the destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb.

As Kanai lamented, 'the nations of the world tend to ignore or forget the great human misery caused by the 'smaller' bomb'.

In today’s world, we have organizations that help prevent wars to break out. In spite of the organizations, if a war breaks out, it might wipe out an entire country from the map of the world, mainly because of the nuclear race that had started after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. During every war that breaks out, the countries use the best technologies that are available to them and some might be unknown to most people. During World War 1, for the first time, we saw the use of tanks, fighter planes, and other newly invented weapons which were built to serve that purpose. Whereas for World War 2, we were introduced to Chemical Gas and Nuclear Weapons which are capable of eliminating an entire generation. The worst part is that the arms race is still silently on and if a war breaks out, we might be introduced to even deadlier weapons, for which wars like the first and second World Wars should not be repeated.