Raphael Lemkin
Lemkin was mainly concerned about genocide during and after World War II. He devoted all his time and energy to trying to persuade the new delegates of the United Nations of the importance of the fight against genocide. Lemkin tried to use the United Nations as an avenue to fight genocide. The United Nation was a new international body; therefore, it attracted a lot of interest from the media. It was not until 1946 that the United Nations General assembly declared that genocide was a crime (Lemkin 56).
To outlaw genocide, the United Nations committee was tasked with the responsibility of drafting a full United Nations treaty. The Convention described genocide as a physical and cultural phenomenon. Genocide was a result of differences in ethnic, religious, and racial. However, despite all efforts, a number of countries in Europe supported genocide. The U.S Committee for the United Nations Genocide supported Lemkin’s work against genocide.
The other group that supported Lemkin’s work was a Non-Governmental Organization formed after Christians and Jews came together. Through the hard work of a United Nations Committee, Lemkin managed to rally a large number of supporters. Lemkin used the supporters to convince the committee to draft a petition that would stand for a large number of people. In December 1948, the United Nations Convention for Prevention and Punishment of Genocide came as a law (Karpinski 1).
Lemkin was proud of all the achievements he had accomplished. He continued with his work against genocide until his death. He was a lecturer at various universities where he lectured on the issue. This man-made a great contribution to preserving peace in the world while fighting against genocide through theory and persuading the United Nation to come up with policies that outlawed this crime against humanity. Unfortunately, Lemkin had to depend on donations in his old age, but Jewish donated a lot to show their respect to this great person.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt is among many highly respected women who lived in the twentieth century. She was born in October 1884. Despite the fact that she was born to an influential family, Eleanor had a difficult childhood. She was married to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was the president at the time. As a first lady, she was involved actively in her husband’s work. After the death of her husband Franklin, she got a job as a delegate to the United Nations. The most memorable thing she did was to help in the formation of the Universal Declaration of Human rights.
In December 1941, the Japanese bombed the naval base and this led to the start of World War II in the USA. During the world war, Eleonata Rusvelt was actively involved in the fight for human rights and advocated for the women’s rights and the minorities’ rights. Her key argument was that every American citizen had a right to medical care as well as employment. She also traveled a lot all over the world during World War II helping people.
The public referred to her as the Public Energy Number One. In 1945 up to 1959, she was a member of the NAACP board. Later on, Eleanor became a lecture on politics and human rights at Brandeis University (Ryskamp 1). The public loved her because she dedicated her life to fighting for basic human rights and efforts against the war. She was also a goodwill world ambassador. Many people respected, loved, and admired Roosevelt. As she grew older, Eleanor did not waiver from the good things that she was doing. However, she also had time for her family and friends.
Works Cited
Karpinski, Franziska. “Raphael Lemkin.” Transatlantic Perspectives. 2013. Web.
Lemkin, Raphael. Lemkin on Genocide. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books, 2012. Print.
Ryskamp, A. “Eleanor Roosevelt.” About.com 20th Century History. 2014. Web.