Preventing Another Holocaust
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Dartmouth College created the Early Warning Project as a tool to alert important policy makers and the public about places around the world where the risk of genocidal atrocities are the greatest. The need to maintain close contact with members of the United Nations Security Council is important so there can be a call to action before it’s too late. By doing this you are setting off the alarm and making government leaders choose the right way to deal and prevent atrocities. Next, the governments and corporations supporting the perpetrators of the atrocities and genocide need to be pressured by the government and the public to halt their support of the offending country or business. Any country caught aiding can be threatened with sanctions by the United Nations. Finally, make human rights and genocide prevention an important part of U.S. foreign policy. After years of pressure from activists and organizations, President Barrack Obama advised a number of actions to make sure the United States is able to stop and respond to genocide and mass atrocities. ("United To End Genocide", 2016)
Unfortunately, these steps were not available during World War II because the United Nations was not established until 1945, after World War II. The predecessor to the United Nations was the League of Nations but it did not have the strength or muscle to enforce any sanctions if it needed to. In addition, Germany kept the systematic killing of the Jews in Europe a secret and did not need other governments supporting their quest to destroy the Jewish race in Europe.
References
- Lyons, M. J. (2010). World War II: A Short History (5th ed.). Retrieved from https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781323281376/cfi/8/4!/4/2/6/14/2@0:100.
- Image credit: Imagno/Getty Image, retrieved from http://www.helenthomson.co.uk/blog/2015/9/11/study-of-holocaust-survivors-finds-trauma-passed-on-to-childrens-genes
Credit: Harold