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Perpetrators, victims, and bystanders

Classification of those involved in a genocide / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In genocide studies, perpetrators, victims, and bystanders is a typology for classifying the participants and observers of a genocide, first proposed by Raul Hilberg in the 1992 book Perpetrators Victims Bystanders: Jewish Catastrophe 1933–1945.[2][3] Although considered a key element of scholarship on genocide,[4] the typology has also been criticized for vagueness and leading to overgeneralization. Jan Gross proposed that helpers and beneficiaries be added to the classification.[3] Robert Ehrenreich proposed that being a perpetrator, bystander, or victim is on a sliding scale rather than a discrete classification.[4] The triad is also used in studying the psychology of genocide.[5][6][7]

Marcharmenians.jpg
Ottoman soldiers (perpetrators) march Armenian civilians (victims) through Harput (Kharpert) to a prison in nearby Mezireh (Elazığ), April 1915, during the Armenian genocide.[1] Bystanders can also be seen in the photograph.
Jews_rounded_up_at_Fr%C3%A4nkischen_Hof_assembly_center_in_Kitzingen.jpg
In this photograph showing the deportation of Jews from Kitzingen, Jewish victims are shown with local non-Jewish bystanders and policemen (perpetrators).