Who Was Raphael Lempkin?

You probably have never heard of Raphael Lempkin, but he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize seven times.  He never won, but when you hear about the work this Polish born Jew, born in 1900, you'll understand why he was considered so many times for this prize.

Around 1933 Lempkin realized he had to escape from Europe to survive.  He knew the Nazis were on the way, but he could not convince his family to leave with him.  In the end, 49 members of his family were killed in concentration camps, the Warsaw ghetto and death marches.   He reached the U.S. safely, where he took a teaching position at Duke University.  In 1942 he moved to Washington, D.C, where he worked tirelessly for the rest of his life to document Nazi atrocities, to define genocide, and is responsible for coining the word "genocide." 

The defendants in the Nuremberg Trials were being tried, among other things, for crimes against humanity.  Lempkin felt that there should be a word to describe the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group.  He coined the word "genocide,", from the ancient Greek word genos (race, tribe) and the Latin cide (killing).  Today, the word genocide is part of international law.  In 1948, the United Nations approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.  Lempkin committed the rest of his life to urging nations to pass legislation supporting the Convention.

Since the word genocide was officially coined and became part of international law, genocide has continued to wreak havoc around the world.  Rwanda, Darfur, Yugoslavia and most recently, Syria come to mind.  Although President Omar al Bashir of Darfur has been indicted by the United Nations for genocide, he has not been arrested or captured.  He committed horrendous crimes while the whole world watched, yet has not been punished.

I just watched a most moving documentary, Watchers of the Sky.  Lempkin was one of the four men featured in the film, all fighting for justice for victims of genocide.  It was an inspiring film.  Lempkin himself is inspiring.  He devoted his life to urging nations to pass legislation supporting the Convention.  He died in 1959, impoverished and exhausted by his efforts.