🔹 Understanding Genocide: A Word Born from Humanity’s Darkest Hours

Have you ever wondered where the word genocide came from? It's a powerful term, yet it’s only been part of our vocabulary since the horrors of the 20th century.

The term was coined by Rafael Lemkin, a Jewish lawyer from Poland, who witnessed the mass slaughter of Armenians during WWI and later, the Holocaust during WWII. Shocked by the global silence, he gave a name to what had previously been unthinkable — the deliberate attempt to destroy an entire group of people based on race, religion, nationality, or ethnicity.

👉 Genocide = “Genus” (race/tribe) + “-cide” (killing)

This concept later became part of international law through the Genocide Convention of 1948, which outlined not just mass killings, but also acts like cutting off essentials (food, water, medicine) or preventing births within a community as forms of genocide.

In today’s world, such atrocities sadly continue. The conflict in Gaza, for example, has led many to question whether what’s happening constitutes genocide. Cutting off essential supplies, disproportionate use of force, and killing of civilians — especially children — echo the very definitions laid out by Lemkin.

What struck me most was this: genocide doesn't always come from "evil people." Sometimes, it’s ordinary individuals who, without questioning, follow orders blindly—just as many did under Nazi Germany. That’s why the article stresses the need for critical thinking.

We must always question:

✅ Is this right or wrong?

✅ Are we just following orders or thinking for ourselves?

✅ Are we standing up for humanity?

No ideology or conflict can justify the killing of innocent children. If we don’t speak up, learn, and think critically, history might just repeat itself.

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