Syria

I don't believe that the conflict in Syria is legally considered a genocide.  The government in Syria is mostly concerned with protesters and rebels in Syria.  Though civilians ave been killed by Syrian soldiers, they are mostly protesters and anti-Assad rebels.  In most cases, the killing of a specific group would be considered to be a genocide.  However, the killing of political groups is not legally considered to be a genocide.  Since the majority of people killed in Syria are protestors, defectors, and anti-Assad rebels, the murders are being committed for political reasons, and cannot be considered an act of genocide.

Who's Responsible

I believe that the Hutus, the Tutsis, Belgium, the U.S. government, and the U.N. are to blame for the Rwandan Genocide.  Belgium is responsible for giving the Tutsi minority special privileges, which further increased the hatred from the Hutus.  The Tutsis are responsible for using the special privileges, also adding to Hutu hatred.  The U.N is responsible for failing to prevent the genocide when they had information about what was going to happen but refusing to act.  The Hutus are responsible for resorting to violence in response to the discrimination.  The U.N. and U.S. are then responsible for refusing to act in order to end the genocide, despite having plenty of resources that they could have used. 

Assessing Responsibility

I believe the proper response of one of the people who was marked guilty, i.e. the man who pulled the lever for the gas chamber, should have refused to pull the lever and tried to free some of the Jewish prisoners.  The U.S. should have acknowledged what was happening in Europe and do what ever they could to help Jewish refugees enter the United States.  Today, the international community should do whatever they are capable of to halt the progress of a genocide whenever the possibility is present or has already begun.

"Defiance" Reflection # 3

A. The group kills the scout and gets on with their
lives afterwards
B. The group starts to beat him, and then stops
itself before it is too late
C. The group starts to beat the scout, and then
Tuvia stops them
D. The group kills the scout and then can't believe
what it has done
E. The group kills the scout, and when Tuvia walks
by they are angry at him for not stopping them
F. Another alternative

If I was the editor of the movie "Defiance", I would choose option D.  This is because I would want to display the anger the Jews would feel towards the Germans for forcing them into the situation they are in and for the murder of their families.  I would want them to regret their decision in order to further drive the message Tuvia made about being better then their oppressors.  I also chose this option because if I were in the same situation, I would more then likely kill the scout without hesitation, but I know that my moral conscience would cause me to regret my choices.

"Defiance Reflection # 2

In the movie "Defiance", the partisan groups use guerrilla tactics, similar to the ones we used during the Revolutionary War to gain our independence.  These actions are justified because the Jewish partisans are fighting for more than just their freedom, they are fighting for their right to live.

"Defiance" Reflection # 1

After the death of Tuvia and Zus's family and the hunting of Jews, Tuvia hides in a village with a small group of Jews.  Tuvia and Zus chose to leave the group for one night so they could enact revenge on people who helped hunt the Jews.  In my opinion this was a bad choice because it brought them down to the level of those who hunted them.  In a group the would steel food to survive which I believe is justifiable because it was necessary for their survival.

Field Trip Reflection

The speaker Felix Weil said that signs on stores and shops would say "No Dogs, No Jews."  This is a prime example of dehumanization because it is comparing Jews to dogs.  This makes it easier to kill Jews because you would see them as being no better then an animal.

Photo Comparison

 Life for the Jewish citizens of Europe was normal before World War II.  Many of the photos I saw involved children going to school, families spending time together, and Jewish shop owners.  Many pictures my family has taken are similar, us spending time together, me and my brother's first day of school, and the company my dad used to run.  The pictures I chose to use are similar; both are male children around the same age, both are wearing their backpack, and they are both even standing in a similar position.  The differences between the two are the background, the style of clothing they are wearing, and that one has a cone of candy.

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia was a European country surrounded by Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, and Romania.  The country was a functioning parliamentary democracy with a diverse population, 50% Czech, 22.3% German, 16% Slovak, 3.79% Ukrainian, and 1.29% (356,830) Jewish, from its formation in 1918 until the Munich crises in 1938.  During this time, all of the different ethnic groups lived in peace with one another.  After the crisis, Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia was handed over to Germany in 1938.  The image shows both the great architecture of a city in Czechoslovakia and the German soldiers in the country.  In 1939, Germany began to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia, beginning with the provinces Bohemia and Moravia.  263,000 of the 356,830 Jews in Czechoslovakia were killed by Germany and their collaborators during the war.