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Four Corners: Identifying Genocide
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Activity Directions
Let’s begin…
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During World War II, the Nazi government of Germany systematically identified, rounded up, and killed approximately six million Jewish people, alongside Roma, disabled people, and others. Nazi leaders documented their intent to exterminate Jewish people in speeches and written orders.
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What do you think this is? Why?
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This scenario is considered genocide.
Why? What makes this identification so clear?
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A government wages a military campaign in a region where an ethnic minority lives. Government forces have killed thousands of civilians from that group, burned their villages, and forcibly displaced survivors. Government officials say the campaign is a counterterrorism operation, not an attack on the group as a group. No written orders targeting the group as a group have been found.
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What do you think is? Why?
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This scenario is considered not genocide - but still a serious international crime.
Why? What factors prevent this case from being formally labelled “genocide?”
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A government passes laws requiring members of a religious minority to send their children to state-run boarding schools, where children are forbidden from speaking their language, practicing their religion, or maintaining contact with their families. No one is physically killed.
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What do you think this is? Why?
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This scenario could be considered genocide.
Why? What is missing to definitively identify this scenario as genocide?
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One country accuses another country of committing genocide against an ethnic group that shares the first country’s ethnicity. The first country uses this accusation to justify military intervention. Independent investigators find evidence of mass killings in the accused country but disagree on whether the legal threshold for genocide — including proven intent — has been met.
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What do you think this is? Why?
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This scenario could fit into any of our four corners.
Why? What factors make it so complicated?
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Remember:
Countries use the genocide label strategically. Political motivation often complicates legal determination.
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Every scenario we just worked through came from patterns in the reading. What do all four scenarios have in common? What does that tell you about why genocide is so difficult to identify?
Debrief: Full-Class Discussion
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