GENERAL INFORMATION
Authoritarianism – a form of political regime in which political power is exercised by a particular person (class, party, elite group, etc.) with minimal participation of the people. Totalitarianism and authoritarianism differ significantly. Thus, totalitarianism is a dictatorship of the state, authoritarianism is a dictatorship of an individual or a group.
Genocide – large-scale, systematic and state-sponsored long-term massacres based on ethnic, racial or religious identity.
Ethnocide – policies aimed at the deliberate destruction of ethnic communities by destroying the basic features of the ethnic group (ethnic territory, language, culture, historical memory and identity).
UN Convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide – resolution №260 by UN General Assembly, adopted on December 9, 1948. It established the legal definition of genocide proposed by lawyer Rafael Lemkin and recognized the crimes punishable under the Convention.
Xenophobia means irrational fear, and sometimes genuine hatred of strangers or foreigners who speak a language incomprehensible to xenophobes. In some cases, such a phobia is attempted to be part of a worldview, then a confrontation based on national, religious, or social divisions is likely.
Raphael Lemkin (1900−1959) – Polish lawyer of Jewish origin, author of the term “genocide” and the UN Convention on “prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide”. Classic examples for him were the Armenian Genocide (1915−1923), the Holodomor in Ukraine (1932−1933), and the Holocaust (1939−1945).
Totalitarianism – form of political regime, which is characterized by comprehensive state control over all spheres of public life. It is determined by the domination of the political force that monopolized power and thus turned the ideology of the confession into an official one, neutralization of any opposition, mass terror, propaganda, the task of fighting real / imaginary enemies.
Chauvinism – it is an ideology that promotes the national superiority of one nation over another and justifies the “right” to discriminate and oppress other nations. Chauvinism is the prerogative of the dominant nation and is manifested in contempt for all other peoples, in the pursuit of suppression, assimilation of oppressed peoples.
Armenian Genocide (1915 −1923)
Ahmed Djemal (1872 −1922) – Turkish military and political figure, plenipotentiary military and civilian administrator of Syria (1915-1917), one of the organizers of the Armenian Genocide. In 1919, he was sentenced in absentia by the military tribunal in Constantinople to death. Killed as part of Operation Nemesis in 1922.
Bahaeddin Şakir (1874−1922) – Turkish statesman, founder and head of the Special Organization (Teshkilyat-i Mahsusa, a unit of the Ottoman Armed Forces responsible for counterintelligence), one of the organizers of the Armenian Genocide. He was killed in 1922, as part of Operation Nemesis.
Henry Morgenthau (1856−1946) – American diplomat, US Ambassador to Turkey (1913 −1916). Condemned Armenian genocide and ethnic cleansing against Greeks as “campaign of racial extermination”. He officially informed the US authorities about the activities of the Ottoman Port and asked it to intervene. Morgenthau was one of the founders of the Public Fund for Assistance to Armenians of the Ottoman Empire (later - the Committee for Aid to the Middle East). Author of the book “Tragedy of the Armenian people. The story of Ambassador Morgenthau.”
“Dashnaktsutyun” / Armenian Revolutionary Federation – one of the oldest Armenian socialist parties, founded in 1890. In 1918-1922, it organized and carried out Operation Nemesis.
Enver Pasha / Ismail Enver (1881−1922) – Turkish military and political figure, Minister of War, ideologue and practitioner of Pan-Turkism, commander of the Basmachi detachment in Central Asia, one of the organizers of the Armenian Genocide. He died in battle with units of the Red Army in the territory of the Emirate of Bukhara in 1922.
Mehmed Talaat Pasha (1874 −1921) – Turkish statesman, one of the main organizers of mass deportations and genocide of Armenians in 1915. He was killed by a member of the “Dashnaktsutyun” organization as part of Operation Nemesis in 1921.
Young Turks – political movement in Ottoman Turkey, who tried to create a constitutional system of government. The most famous was for the so-called ‘radical” wing of this movement, led by Enver Pasha, Talaat Pasha and Jemal Pasha, who in 1914 concentrated power in Turkey. They used brutal terror inside the country – so, from 1915 to 1923, killed about 1.5 million Armenians, from 350 thousand to 500 thousand Greeks in Asia Minor, about 300 thousand Assyrians and others. peoples.
Operation Nemesis− Dashnaktsutyun's action to assassinate leaders organized in 1920-1922 Османської імперії, involved in the Armenian genocide. The action got its name from the Greek goddess of revenge Nemesis. Influential statesmen directly or indirectly connected with the Armenian genocide were killed during this operation.
Pan-Turkism – cultural and political movement of the late XIX - early XX centuries., widespread in the states inhabited by Turkic peoples. It is based on the idea of the need for political consolidation on the basis of ethnic, cultural and linguistic community.
Soghomon Tehlirian (1896−1960) – victim of the Armenian Genocide, a member of the Dashnaktsutyun party. As part of Operation Nemesis, on March 15, 1921, he shot dead one of the organizers of the genocide, Talaat Pasha. According to the court, Tehlirian was found acquitted and released.
Ukrainian-Polish war / Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia (1943−1944)
Home Army – one of the underground organizations of the Polish Resistance, operated in 1942−1945. They were subordinated to the Polish government-in-exile in London. The main task is to resist the Nazis and prepare for the Polish uprising (Operation Thunderstorm). This uprising broke out in 1944 (Warsaw Uprising) and was suppressed by the Nazis. In 1943−1944, Home Army units took part in the Ukrainian-Polish war. After World War II, armed Home Army units were liquidated by the security forces of the Provisional Government of Poland and the USSR.
Volhynia − historical region in the northwest of modern Ukraine. Covers modern Volyn and Rivne regions, as well as part of Zhytomyr, Ternopil and Khmelnytsky regions. In 1939, it was annexed to the USSR. During the German occupation of 1941-1944, it was part of the Volyn-Podillya Commissariat General.
OUN / Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists – Ukrainian socio-political movement established in 1929 to establish and develop the Ukrainian Conciliar Independent State. Dmitry Dontsov's idea of integral nationalism was accepted as an ideological basis. It split in 1940 into 2 wings: moderate (OUN-m, leader Andriy Melnyk) and radical (OUN-b, leader Stepan Bandera). OUN leaders tried to use the Soviet-German war to establish an independent Ukrainian state. In 1941, the Act of Restoration of the Ukrainian State was proclaimed in Lviv. However, in December 1941, many Ukrainian activists were arrested and many of them were killed. After the war, the OUN continued its activities both in Soviet Ukraine, where it met resistance from the Soviet authorities, and in exile.
UPA / Ukrainian Insurgent Army – armed forces to protect the local population from the occupiers. Founded in October 1942. The first commander was Colonel D. Klyachkivsky (pseudonym – Klim Savur), at the end of 1943, the UPA detachment was headed by General Roman Shukhevych. The number of UPA at the turn of 1943-1944 was about 40 thousand soldiers. UPA units operated until 1953, but some resistance groups operated during the 1950s and 1960s.
Deportation of the Crimean Tatars (1944)
Abdul Teyfuq (1915 −1945) – officer, Crimean Tatar by origin, Hero of the Soviet Union. The battalion commanded by Teyfuq in 1943, forced and captured a bridgehead in Verkhn'odniprovs'k region. He died in 1945 and was buried in Lviv.
Abdraim Reshidov (1912 −1984) – pilot, Crimean Tatar by origin, Hero of the Soviet Union. He has 18 downed enemy planes.
Amet-khan Sultan (1920 −1971) – pilot, Crimean Tatar by origin, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. He has 19 enemy planes shot down.
Deportation − forced relocation, expulsion from the place of residence or from the state of individuals or peoples. In 1944, various peoples living in the Crimea were deported: Crimean Tatars, Greeks, Bulgarians.
Emir Chalbash (1918 −2005) – pilot, deputy commander of the air division, Hero of the Soviet Union. He has 17 downed enemy planes.
Cambodian genocide (1975−1979)
Ieng Sary / Kim Tschang (1925−2013) – one of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime and the organizer of the genocide, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Democratic Kampuchea, one of the main organizers of the genocide. Arrested and convicted “for genocide and crimes against humanity” (2009). He died in 2013 before the verdict.
Ieng Tirith (was born in 1932) – one of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime, Minister of Social Protection (1975-1979), wife of Ieng Sary. She was arrested in 2007. No final sentence has been handed down yet.
Kampuchea, or Democratic Kampuchea – the name of Cambodia since 1975 (de jure – since April 1976) to 1979, which was given by the Khmer Rouge regime during their rule.
Khieu Samphan (народ. у 1931 р.) – one of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime (“brother number five”) and organizer of the genocide, chairman of the Presidium of Democratic Kampuchea in 1976-1979s. After the overthrow of the regime, he temporarily headed the “government in exile.” In 2014, he was sentenced by a special court to life imprisonment.
Khmer people − ethnic group that makes up the main population of Cambodia. They speaks Khmer (Cambodian) in the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austroasian family. The total number is 16 million people.
Nuon Chea / Long Bunruot (was born in 1926) – one of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime (“brother number two”) and organizer of the genocide, for 1 month in 1976 he was the Prime Minister of Cambodia instead of Pol Pot. After the overthrow of the regime he fled to Thailand, in 1998 he surrendered to the authorities. He was arrested on genocide charges and sentenced to life in prison in 2014.
Pol Pot / Saloth Sâr (1925−1998) – one of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime (“brother number one”) and organizer of the genocide, Prime Minister of Cambodia (1976-1979), Secretary General of the Communist Party of Cambodia. During the Cambodian-Vietnamese conflict (1975-1989), Pol Pot's political regime was overthrown and he fled the country.
The Killing Fields − places of extermination and burial of large numbers of people in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975−1979).
Sarong – traditional men's and women's clothing in the peoples of Southeast Asia. It is a large piece of fabric that is wrapped around the body and tied up.
Son Sen (1930−1997) – one of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime and organizer of the genocide, the Minister of Defense of Democratic Kampuchea. He supervised the activities of S-21 Prison and participated in the introduction of torture. After the overthrow of the regime, he fled to Thailand. In 1997, as a result of internal party struggle, on the orders of Pol Pot, Son Sen was killed.
Ta Mok (1926−2006) – one of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime (“brother number four”) and organizer of the genocide. He was nicknamed as “Butcher” for his cruelty. He died in prison pending trial in 2006.
“Khmer Rouge” − the communist regime of 1975-1979 in Cambodia, whose ideology was borrowed from Maoism. The main ideas: “the doctrine of social revolution” in peasant society, the prohibition of money, writing, use of foreign languages. As a result of this regime, the country has effectively become an agricultural commune with an 18-20 hour working day. The regime relied heavily on children aged 12-15.
S-21 (Tuol Svay Pray High School) – “Security prison”, where during the Khmer Rouge regime there were prisoners (about 20,000 people). Various tortures were used against prisoners, killing hundreds and even thousands. Since 1980, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum has been located on the territory of the former school.
Rwandan genocide (1994)
“Hutu Ten Commandments” − a manifesto calling for incitement to hatred between the Tutsis and the Hutus. It was published in December 1990, in the Kangaroo newspaper and further aggravated the situation in Rwanda. The essence of the manifesto was to prohibit any contact between the Hutus and the Tutsis; the Hutu who did not follow these rules were declared enemies and traitors.
“Don Bosco” – a technical school in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, where about 2,000 local Tutsis were killed in massacres in April 1994.
Juvénal Habyarimana (1937 −1994) – Rwandan politician, President of Rwanda (1978-1994), Hutu by birth. He died in 1994: his plane was shot down by unknown individuals. Gabiarimana's death triggered the genocide of the Tutsi people in Rwanda.
Impuzamugambi – Hutu militia during the genocide in Rwanda. J. Habyarimana 's Presidential Guard and Rwandan Armed Forces trained. After the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) came to power, Impuzamugambi's troops retreated to Zaire. Militia leaders were convicted by the International Tribunal for Rwanda in 2003.
Interahamwe – an armed 30,000 Hutu militia during the genocide in Rwanda. After the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) came to power, Interahamwe retreated to Zaire (modern-day Congo), where they formed various groups. One of the organizers of the militia was former Rwandan Army Colonel Théoneste Bagosora, who was sentenced to life in prison by the International Tribunal for Rwanda in 2008.
Paul Kagame (was born in 1957) − politician, founder of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which stopped the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, president of Rwanda (since 2000), a native of Tutsi.
The Gacaca courts – Rwandan people's courts against those accused of organizing the genocide in 1994. Initially, such courts were a tool for resolving minor disputes among the rural population. In 1994, they were reinstated in a new capacity to expedite the resolution of genocide claims. According to official estimates, about 1.8 million cases have passed through the Gacaca tribunals. About 65% of the accused were convicted.
Théoneste Bagosora (was born in 1941) – former Rwandan Army colonel sentenced by the International Tribunal for Rwanda to life imprisonment for genocide in 1994.
Tutsi – ethnic community, the second largest ethnic group in Rwanda. Tutsi's main occupation is animal husbandry. Since the XV century. known conflict from the Hutu, who were subordinate to the Tutsi until 1962. As a result of the genocide in 1994 in Rwanda, killed about 800,000 thousand Tutsi.
Hutu – ethnic community, the main population of Rwanda and Burundi. Historically, the main occupation of the Hutu was agriculture. In the XV century. Hutus were conquered by the Tutsis, whose rule lasted until 1962, when the region was divided into Rwanda and Burundi. The Hutus gained power, leading to the Tutsi genocide in 1994 (1994).