genocide

The word “genocide” was created in 1944 by Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin to describe Nazi  actions against Jews during the Holocaust. According to Lemkin, genocide signifies “a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. Genocide is directed against the national group as an entity, and the actions involved are directed against individuals, not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group.”