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**Welcome to Mrs. Fegan's Human Rights Literature Class!**

In 1944, Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, used the word “genocide” to describe the Nazi policy of systematic murder, the aim of which was to annihilate all European Jews. When the International Military Tribunal held at Nuremberg, Germany, charged top Nazis with //crimes against humanity//, the term “genocide” was included in the indictment. Since that time, many cases of group-targeted extermination have occurred. Even today, over 60 years later, preventing genocide remains a challenge that nations and individuals continue to face.

__ Throughout our study of 20th and 21st : century genocides we will: __ 1. Examine the nature of evil and its impact on perpetrators, collaborators, victims, bystanders, upstanders, and rescuers. 2. Examine and understand the psychological, sociological, cultural, and/or political roots of evil, human cruelty, mass violence, and genocide. 3. Examine the role of the bystander on the perpetration of violence in its many forms. 4. Examine the role of technology in mass violence and genocide 5. Examine the legal, moral, and personal responsibility for mass murder. 6. Understand what is means to be a responsible citizen and that democratic principles and values must be protected and nurtured. 7. Determine what preventative measures one can take individually or collectively to prevent cruelty, mass violence, and/or genocide. 8. Honor the memory of the millions of innocent people who were murdered in genocides 9. Honor the resisters and rescuers who risked their lives to save others. **"If you really want to do something, you'll find a way; if you do not, you'll find an excuse." ~Jim Rohn~**