Abstract
The first part of this chapter gives a very short overview of the historiography of the concept of genocide. Some of the problems and controversies caused both by the term and by the definition of victim groups are put into a historical perspective. The second part deals with the consequences for the research on victims of genocide and crimes against humanity. In the third part, the question is discussed whether the concept of genocide is still useful for the analysis of mass violence in the 20th century, because a considerable gap exists between the expectations of victim groups and the need to find clear and scientific definitions for mass violence.
The author is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Konstanz, Germany.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
See Levene 1998.
- 3.
Gilbert 2003, p. 22.
- 4.
Washington Post, 3 December 1944. See also the letters to the editor in the following days.
- 5.
For details see Schabas 2000.
- 6.
Anderson 2006.
- 7.
Fein 1999, pp. 13, 14.
- 8.
FIDH 2012, p. 5.
- 9.
- 10.
Bloxham 2010.
- 11.
See Tatz 2003, p. 69.
- 12.
See the documents in Augstein 1987.
- 13.
Fein 1994, p. 95.
- 14.
Valentino 2004, pp. 23, 31, 32.
- 15.
See Öhman 2003.
- 16.
- 17.
Semelin 2007.
- 18.
Barth 2006, p. 48.
- 19.
See Barth 2006, pp. 208, 209.
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Barth, B. (2013). Victims of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. In: Bonacker, T., Safferling, C. (eds) Victims of International Crimes: An Interdisciplinary Discourse. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague, The Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-912-2_15
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