Who's To Blame?

I would blame the UN for Rwanda because even though they “tried” to “intervene” with the Rwandan genocide; they didn’t quite do all they could do to stop it. In all honesty, the UN could have tried a lot harder to stop the killing, but the countries had no true connection with Rwanda so no country belonging to the UN really wanted to stick their neck out for a country they didn’t really need. With all the killing, the effort the UN put forth to stop the genocide is very small and because the UN didn’t really have a need for Rwanda, they let it fall.

Defiance 12-01-11

If i were the editor of Defiance I would have the scene just about how it went in the movie. In my ethics i don't think they should have killed them but if i were in their position i probably wouldn't have killed him too. Letting him go free would be too risky for him to reveal their place and if i were in their position i would have a lot of anger built up towards Germans in general that i would probably kill him too.Obviously i don't think killing is right but in the moment, in my mind, i would probably have done what then did in the scene. I think the scene is a good representation of what i think would happen. They showed how the man was scared and how he had a family too but it also showed how they had families too but they were killed.My ethics now are i definitely don;t think killing is right or just in any situation, however if i were in their position, i can't guarantee that i wouldn't kill the man too. In the way i think now, i probably would kill him, just because of the way i handle anger and how it would come out all at once. Overall i would keep the scene how it is now because in my mind, that's how it would happened when it actually happened.

Defiance 11-30-11

The actions of Tuvia and the Jewish partisans are different than Zus and the Russian partisans. Tuvia and the Jewish partisans send out food scouts to go to a village and take food from people but they only steal from those who can afford to give it and not from those unable to. Zus and the Russian partisans ambush Germans and kill them. I believe both are understandable but i only believe Tuvia's actions are justifiable. Tuvia's actions are reasonable and are not as drastic as Zus's. As i said before, i don;t think killing is ever justifiable. I do believe the anger and hurt behind the actions of Zus are understandable but not justified. However Tuvia does what he needs to do to provide for his community. What Tuvia and Zus do are both against what the Germans want, they just go about it in different ways. The U.S. used some of the same tactics during the revolutionary war, but neither the U.S. or Tuvia/Zus's actions are justified. I think if what we do is justifiable depends on how you go about it. For example Tuvia goes about it in a peaceful, undercover, merciful way as opposed to Zus who kills everyone possible that is against him. In war time, circumstances do change but whether actions are justifiable or not does not change. Actions can be unjust but understandable. So even in war time, killing is not just.

Defiance 11-29-11

The actions of Tuvia of killing the man responsible for killing his parents i think are not justifiable. I believe his actions are understandable and with what he did in mind, most people would want to have revenge and kill him but i don't think killing anybody no matter what he or she has done, killing them is not justifiable.I once heard something that was something like  "When humans turn on humans is when we loose our humanity" which to me makes sense in this situation. Even in war time no human should kill one another. Killing may be the only other option than being killed so its definitely understandable and is different when being hunted but i still think killing is unjust.

Examples of Genocide at USAF Museum

One example of the steps to genocide i heard at the USAF Museum was when the speaker was talking about his past. He was talking about how there was a sign he saw in a public place that read, "No dogs or Jews." This is and example of Dehumanization. This was dehumanization because it implys that Jews are of the same status as dogs and they were not allowed the same rights as humans/others. It also implyed that Jews were under humans and could not revieve the rights and privledges of a human.

Pre-War Picture Project

Chelm, Poland


Before the war the Jewish population in Chelm Poland was about 18,000. The Jewish population had been in Chelm Poland since around the 12th century. Life for the Jews in Chelm Poland before the war was as normal as it would be. Germany had a nonaggression treaty with Poland so the people of Poland weren't very much effected by the issues surrounding them until germane broke the treat. Chelm is located in Poland. Germany had invaded Poland in 1939. This was against a nonaggression pact between Poland and Germany.The Jews of Chelm during the invasion of the Nazis in 1939, the Nazi's would come through and do this march which was basically a massacre of Jews. They soldiers would lay them down and shoot them. Survivors would be starved because no body would supply them with food. Survivors after htat would be sent to the Sobibor Death Camp.By the time the war was over, over 2/3 of the Jewish population of Chelm have been killed.


Comparing the Past to the Present

3 Girls at school

http://resources.ushmm.org/inquery/uia_doc.php/photos/6178?hr=null

Me with Olivia and Shelby at school

In this picture life seemed pretty normal for these 3 girls at school before the war. Showed in the picture above, these 3 girls are harmlessly smiling for a picture at school. Looking through pictures at home from my life, I found many pictures of me with friends doing normal life activities like going to school, shopping at the mall, and going to the movies. With many pictures to choose from I chose the picture above because it was very similar to the one of the 3 girls that seem just like Olivia, Shelby, and I. This picture is of Olivia, Shelby and I is at school together because we simply wanted to take a picture, which is very similar to why I image the other 3 girls took their picture. Even our pose was similar which is actually very cool. Our pictures are very similar in many ways, 3 friends taking a picture at school, smiling. There are actually not really any differences excluding the color of the older picture and the style "back then." These pictures both show normal life of going to school and getting an education while having fun with friends.

Genocide

How does genocide come to be?

I think genocide is caused by a group of people that organize a way to kill a group of people. I think it occurs when people turn on certain people and begin to kill them. When i hear genocide i think of the holocaust and killing.

Changing views

After studying the Armenian genocide, describe how your views on genocide and how and why it happens have changed.

Genocide in general obviously i still thing it is wrong however i now know that there are many steps that lead up to genocide. Also at some point in the history of even america we have done at least one step of genocide. Also i was not aware that genocide could be denied by an entire country. However genocide is more than just killing  a bunch of people and it effects more than just the ones killed. The harm inflicted on some people during the Armenian genocide was in some ways worse than being killed.

The Story of Edward Bedikian

Edward Bedikian was a very caring man who wanted to help a girl in the same situation as himself. His picture shows himself as a solemn man with a serious face. He looks like a private guy who is protective of the things he cares about but may have a hard time opening up to people. Based on the picture of Edward, he seems the type to have a hard life (obviously since he was in a genocide.) You can seem to ell that he has been through a lot and can still recall the images and situations he was involved in during the genocide.  After Edward's story i think he felt very sad, he just watched a girl who seemed to be very nice, just weak, get dragged away and most likely killed. He probably was thinking about what was going to happen to her and hoping she would be okay (even though she probably wouldn't be.) He would probably also be hoping the same thing wouldn't happen to him. 

A question Edward left unanswered was: Did you ever find out what happened to the girl? Did you ever see her again?

Classification/Symbolization

If these are considered the 1st and 2nd stages of genocide, when do you think they become a problem?

- When the classification of a group of people effects how people of other groups treat them

- when people are discriminated against because of their classification

- when symbolization changes the way people treat anyone with a certain symbol

- when people treat people of certain classification/symbolization badly/under themselves/inhuman because of their classification/symbolization