Defining an Unimaginable Crime: The Story of Raphael Lemkin

Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jewish lawyer, escaped the Nazis but lost 49 members of his family in the Holocaust. He coined the word "genocide" in 1944 to describe the deliberate attempt to wipe out a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Lemkin devoted the last 15 years of his life to lobbying governments to recognize genocide as an international crime and changed the legal landscape. Despite his impact, he died alone and penniless in 1959. Learn about Lemkin's contributions in this discussion with a researcher and Museum historian, recorded on April 7, 2021 and rebroadcast on April 3, 2023.
Speaker
Dr. Bridget Conley, Research Director, World Peace Foundation, and Associate Research Professor, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Moderator
Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

[@georgebrown8312]

Very well said, Dr. Friedman. Indeed, the whole world, including the U.S., must be ever vigilant in regards to taking action against the genocides that are already occurring throughout the world, and preventing further genocides. Thank you for this video and for making your viewers fully aware of the problem of genocide.

[@lyricalaska]

Superb presentation. Thank you so very much!!

[@maryschaefer1618]

Really glad with presentation.

[@arsenchach4477]

Thank you for posting this kind of amazing interview as I have opened a new human for me. It is very important for me to understand and recognize Lemkin's human being as I am Armenian. And I know that word "Genocide" was created by Rafael Lemkin and I assume that he found resemblings between himself and Soghomon Tehleryan. I can explain all his actions in this way that he found that Tehleryan did something for his mother and he did nothing. So all he is dedicated work to gain the approval of convention was like an action for his mother's or for his mother's legacy. An action similar to Soghomon Tehleryan's action towords turk Enver Pasha killing that murderer or that "turk's lamuk".

[@creatingcommonmemories]

Article 9 pressure now

[@tiny1424]

I hope one day you will also remember the nearly one and half million Roma people who perished in the death camps. Why can't the Jewish people acknowledge that the Roma also faced genocide at the hands of the Nazis

[@fromeveryting29]

I can't speak for others, but I here in Norway have heard about the fates of Roma people both in death camps and at the hands of my own country and others. But seems they are often forgotten, sadly. They shouldn't be. Many do get forgotten because of continued oppression. Trans and gay people have also often been forgotten. And currently there is escalating anti-trans rhetoric, stripping of rights and genocidal talking points in many parta of the west. My point is: Nobody should be forgotten, and the fight for recognition and love continues today. Peoples right, gay rights, trans rights, animal rights are all constant and never-ending fights against fascism, discrimination and hate. Thank you for bringing Roma people up!

[@user-qr9uh1fd8g]

The Roma who perished from the Nazis are not forgotten.