Hitler's Evil Plan

In class we read the book Fires of Hatred: Ethnic Cleansing in the Twentieth-Century Europe by Norman M. Naimark. In the book the author talks about ethnic cleansing and genocide through history. During the first days of our class discussions we all had similar questions about “the difference between ethnic cleansing and genocide. According to Naimark genocide is defined as “the intentional killing off of part or all of an ethnic, religious, or national group; the murder of a people or peoples is the objective” (3). He defines ethnic cleansing as getting “rid of the “alien” nationality, ethnic, or religious group and to seize control of the territory they had formerly inhabited” (3). 

In chapter two of his book, Naimark talks about the holocaust and how it ties into genocide/ethnic cleansing.  The Holocaust was the atrocious acts performed by the Nazis where millions of innocent Jews were tortured and killed. Hitler was the Nazi leader and his plan was to wipe out the whole Jewish race from the Germany society. His reason for doing that was because he believed Jews to be “disease-carrying lice, vermin, bedbugs, or fleas that had to be exterminated” (59). Hitler put his plan of ethnic cleansing into effect and made Jews think they were hated by all society and forced to leave Germany. The removal of the Jews from Germany soon later turned into genocide and spread across Eastern Europe.  Hitler's plans turned for the worst, and many Jews were also sent to concentration camps where many suffered or were killed. One way Hitler had innocent Jews killed was by tricking them into the gas chambers.  At these camps women were raped, people were killed with no warning, or starved to death.

Being of Mexican descent, if I would relate that terrible era to a recent real-life experience it would be all the stories I hear from my family members in Mexico about the drug cartels.  Although it is not an ethnic cleansing, the power that Cartels have over people and the violence they use can be compared to the Holocaust.  We regularly hear stories about family and friends being kidnaped from cartels and held for ransom or killed.  It ties into the chapter because the cartels will take a vast majority of people where they will threaten, kill, and torture innocent people.  One particular story is about thousands of women being missing or found killed in the Mexican town of Juarez.  The fact that all the victims are women and the violent nature of the killings make this akin to genocide.

Here is an article that talks more about the disappearances and murders of those women in Mexico-
 http://www.marxist.com/mexico-genocide-women-workers.htm

Along with another article that talks more about Hitler-
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERhitler.htm