Genocide: A History

Genocide: A History. Genocide is a word many assume they understand, but often use loosely to describe any horrific mass murder of a portion of humanity.  Actually, the word is a very specific legal term coined by Raphael Lemkin to describe the atrocities of the Turkish government against its own Armenian citizens in the early years of the 20th century and the horrors of the Holocaust in which he lived.  Associate Professor Gerry Adair of BCTC examines the history of this word through the unknown tragedies of the early 20th century, and the efforts by several brave souls to get the word to the outside world of what was happening inside German-held territories in the 1930s and 1940s.  

This lecture is part of the supporting programming for "Americans and the Holocaust," a traveling exhibit from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the American Library Association.