#Top10GenocidesInTheHistory #Top5GenocidesInTheHistory

In the history of war crimes, #genocide has been regarded as one of the most acute crimes against humanity.

The word, ‘genocide’ was coined in the aftermath of the Holocaust by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, with the combination of the Greek word ‘geno’ meaning race or tribe and the Latin word, ‘-cide’ which means killing.

5. #RwandanGenocide

The Rwandan genocide occurred due to prevailing tensions between the majority Hutu community and the minority Tutsi community.

Before achieving independence in 1962, Rwanda was a Belgian colony where the Tutsis were more influential committed atrocities against the Hutus.

But when the Hutus came to power post-independence, they began carrying out mass atrocities against the minority Tutsi population of the country with a vengeance.

In April and July, 1994, systematic persecution of the Tutsis took place in the country which was supported by the Rwandan army and the government in power back then.

Over 1 million Tutsis were allegedly killed and millions of others were displaced.

4. #armeniangenocide

The Armenian genocide began in 1915 by the Turkish government to eliminate the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians living in the Ottoman Empire.

After the Young Turks were elected to power in Turkey, they started a methodical execution of intellectual Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians followed by sending them on death marches in the Mesopotamian desert without food or water.

It is estimated that 1.5 million Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians lost their lives in this organised annihilation.

3. #cambodiangenocide

The South East Asian nation of Cambodia in a bid to impose a radical agrarian reform on the lines of Mao Zedong’s communist ideologies persecuted 2 million people from 1975 to 1979.

People were made to continuously work on collective farms nonstop irrespective of age, gender and health.

Religion was outlawed; factories, schools and universities were shut down and anyone educated was killed by the Khmer Rouge regime under the aegis of brutal leader Pol Pot.

2. #holodomor

The Holodomor or the silent genocide occurred in the region of Ukraine from 1932-33.

Many believe it was a systematic starvation of the peasants of Ukraine by the Stalin regime in the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Certain historians place the number of casualties in the Holodomor at 3.3 million.

1. #holocaust

The Holocaust was an organised, state-sponsored annihilation of 6 million Jews by the #Naziregime in Germany under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.

Besides Jews, victims of Holocaust include 200,000 Roma, 2-3 million Soviet prisoners of war, Polish intelligentsia, homosexuals, mentally and physically disabled, communists, socialists and trade unionists.

The years from 1942-1945 are painted black in the history of humanity due to this act of cruelty.

#genocidesinhistory

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