In 1944, Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, used the word “genocide” to describe the Nazi policy of systematic murder, the aim of which was to annihilate all European Jews. When the International Military Tribunal held at Nuremberg, Germany, charged top Nazis with crimes against humanity, the term “genocide” was included in the indictment. Since that time, many cases of group-targeted extermination have occurred. Even today, over 60 years later, preventing genocide remains a challenge that nations and individuals continue to face.
