Genocide: The Rape of Nanking and the Holocaust

Amy Polizzano
20th Century Studies
Mrs. Horvath
17 February 2003
Genocide: The Rape of Nanking and the Holocaust
The term genocide was not coined until 1943 when Raphael Lamkin used it to describe the Nazi reign in Europe (ROD notes). Genocide refers to the systematic destruction of a racial or cultural group. Two examples of this are the Holocaust and the Rape of Nanking. The Holocaust deals with the Nazi’s takeover of Europe during World War II, and the Rape of Nanking is the Japanese invasion of China in the late 1930’s. These events in history serve a painful reminder of the cruelest depths of human nature, but also of the possibilities that lie within every catastrophe.
Bystanders always play a key role in any event, whether they have a positive or negative effect on the outcome of the situation at hand. Most, if not all, of the bystanders during the Rape of Nanking were western missionaries that happened to be in China at that time. Among them were doctors, a ...