New Study Guide on Raphael Lemkin and the Creation of the Genocide Convention Released

Facing History and Ourselves introduces their newest study guide, Totally Unofficial: Raphael Lemkin and the Genocide Convention (68 pp, paperback, $11.95). Created for classroom use, this groundbreaking volume highlights the story of Raphael Lemkin, a lawyer of Polish-Jewish decent who, driven by a sense of moral duty and outraged by injustice, helped to facilitate the establishment of the Genocide Convention, and set out guidelines for the international prevention and punishment for the crime of genocide. After studying the massacres of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Lemkin struggled to find a way to use the law to prevent collective violence. To support his legal arguments, Lemkin coined the word ‘genocide' in 1943. How did a new word change the way that people thought about a problem? Totally Unofficial explores the spectacular history of one man's work, and an international community's need to continue in his footsteps.

Born in 1900, Raphael Lemkin devoted most of his life to helping the world understand and recognize a crime so horrific that, before his work, it had no name. Offering the extraordinary chronicle of one man's struggle, as well as a history of international human rights law, Totally Unofficial is a thorough introduction to understanding genocide into the 21st century. This concise and valuable resource offers an account that goes beyond the facts by challenging readers to think deeply about what it takes for individuals, groups, and nations to take up Lemkin's challenge, and why it is important.

Samantha Power, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for her book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, calls this study guide "...an impressive introduction to one of our generation's most pressing moral and political challenges-the prevention of genocide."

In order to make the material accessible for classroom use, this study guide includes several informative components, including: an introduction by Genocide scholar Omer Bartov; a historical case study on Lemkin and the legacy of his work; questions for student reflections; a series of lesson plans; a suggested resources for further learning; and a selection of primary source documents. Written by Dan Eshet, Curriculum Writer & Historian for Facing History and Ourselves, with a forward by the editor, Adam Strom, Director of Research and Development, Totally Unofficial: Raphael Lemkin and the Genocide Convention will be available online at amazon.com on December 17, 2007. 10% - 20% bulk discounts for classrooms or organizational use are available.

Totally Unofficial: Raphael Lemkin and the Genocide Convention is the first book in Facing History's new Making History Series. The Making History Series is a part of the Choosing to Participate initiative at Facing History and Ourselves and illustrates how citizens as individuals and groups across the world can choose to make a positive difference in society. While civic education is often limited to instruction about the basic foundations of democratic governance, these case studies will reveal how individuals and groups can use the structures of civil society in their efforts to create positive change.

For more information on Totally Unofficial: Raphael Lemkin and the Genocide Convention (ISBN 978-0-9798440-0-3) or to learn more about the Making History Series, please contact Nicole Breaux at 617-735-1672 or nicole_breaux@facing.org. For media inquires, please contact Caitlin Meyer at 617-735-1641 or caitlin_meyer@facing.org.