Totally Unofficial: Raphael Lemkin and the Genocide Convention
This resource challenges students to consider how individuals, groups, and nations can take up Raphael Lemkin’s challenge to eliminate genocide.
![Totally Unofficial: Raphael Lemkin and the Genocide Convention Cover](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/TotallyUnofficialcover.jpg?h=07cdb8c0&itok=fwNBRG_P)
Witness to a Massacre
Barbara Turkeltaub, a Jewish girl who was hidden by Catholic nuns during the war, describes witnessing a Nazi massacre.
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Edith Cavell Propaganda Poster
A British propaganda poster depicting the execution of Edith Cavell in 1915.
![Illustration of a German soldier holding a gun stands over a dead woman. The text reads, "Miss Edith Cavell murdered October 12th, 1915. Remember!"](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Edith%20Cavell%20Propaganda%20Poster.jpg?h=c4842d71&itok=60RifXb-)
United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Crime of Genocide
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, or the Genocide Convention, is an international treaty that criminalizes genocide and obligates state parties to pursue the enforcement of its prohibition.
![A photograph of several delegates who signed the UN Genocide Convention Credit: US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of United Nations](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/Lemkin_Ratification_Of_Genocide_Convention_FH131485.jpg?h=6db1c67f&itok=hEICVT3F)
Negotiating the Convention on the Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide
Lemkin proved himself a relentless activist. He worked tirelessly as a lobbyist, a strategist, and an agitator, in order to establish the Genocide Convention with the help of the United Nations on December 9, 1948.
![A photograph of several delegates who signed the UN Genocide Convention Credit: US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of United Nations](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/Lemkin_Ratification_Of_Genocide_Convention_FH131485.jpg?h=6db1c67f&itok=hEICVT3F)
International Law in the Age of Genocide
While Lemkin was able to convince diplomats at the United Nations to pass the Genocide Convention, his work was not complete upon his death. The job of lobbying governments across the world to ratify the convention was left to ordinary people.
![A photograph of several delegates who signed the UN Genocide Convention Credit: US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of United Nations](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/Lemkin_Ratification_Of_Genocide_Convention_FH131485.jpg?h=6db1c67f&itok=hEICVT3F)
France, Great Britain, and Russia Joint Declaration, 1915
In 1915, France, Great Britain, and Russia, issued a declaration condemning the ongoing Armenian genocide carried out in the Ottoman Empire and threatening to hold the perpetrators accountable.
![A photograph of several delegates who signed the UN Genocide Convention Credit: US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of United Nations](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/Lemkin_Ratification_Of_Genocide_Convention_FH131485.jpg?h=6db1c67f&itok=hEICVT3F)
Excerpt from Axis Rule in Occupied Europe by Raphael Lemkin
This reading contains an excerpt from Axis Rule in Occupied Europe by Raphael Lemkin, where he coins the term genocide.
![A photograph of several delegates who signed the UN Genocide Convention Credit: US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of United Nations](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/Lemkin_Ratification_Of_Genocide_Convention_FH131485.jpg?h=6db1c67f&itok=hEICVT3F)
“Sovereignty cannot be conceived as the right to kill millions”
Raphael Lemkin was outraged when he heard that the mass murder of the Armenians went unpunished. He was haunted by the case of Soghomon Tehlirian—an Armenian survivor of the genocide who killed Mehmed Talaat, minister of the interior of the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey).
![A photograph of several delegates who signed the UN Genocide Convention Credit: US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of United Nations](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/Lemkin_Ratification_Of_Genocide_Convention_FH131485.jpg?h=6db1c67f&itok=hEICVT3F)
Empires before World War I
Map showing empires in existence pre-WWI in 1914
In 1914, much of the world was dominated by a handful of empires. When fighting broke out that year, the global reach of warring empires ensured a World War. See full-sized image for analysis.
![Map showing empires in existence pre-WWI in 1914.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Map_31_Empires_pre_WWI_1914.jpg?h=38e4958f&itok=YYGlpfQy)