Genocide throughout historyThroughout human history, horrific acts of genocide have been committed. The Crusades, the murder of Native Americans by Europeans, forced starvation in Ukraine, and the killing fields of Cambodia are all examples of genocide (Altman, 55). The word genocide comes from the Greek expression genos meaning race or tribe and the Latin root cide meaning to kill (Altman, 13). Genocide can be defined as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, religious group by killing members of the group, causing serious bodily injury to members of the group, by deliberately subjecting the group to conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, by imposing measures intended to prevent birth within the group, and by forcibly transferring children from the group to another group (Altman, 14). When a planned genocide occurs, ethnic cleansing usually goes hand in hand. Ethnic cleansing is the systematic destruction of cultural heritage (Sells 1). Genocides and acts of ethnic cleansing are usually carried out by an organized group of people with a clear goal: the annihilation of their chosen victims. One of the most horrific genocides of all time was committed by the Nazis against the Jews during World War II. After the Holocaust, the nations of the world vowed to prevent another genocide. However, ethnic cleansing and genocide still occurs today in places like Bosnia and Kosovo. The depiction of genocide in Elie Wiesel's Night demonstrates the Nazis' goal of annihilation, which parallels the goal of the Serbs in Kosovo. The Holocaust in Germany during World War II was one of the most horrific moments in human history...... middle of paper ...... available http://www. nato.intl, 02/19/00. Michael Sells. Human Rights Archives on the Bosnian Genocide: Reports on War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia. Available http://www.haverford.edu/relg/sells/reports.html, 02/19/00. Pritt J. Vesilind. National Geographic crisis in Kososvo: meetings with refugees. Available http://www.nationalgeographic.ngnews.com/Kosovo/Kosovo_2672.asp, 02/19/00.Nuremberg. Smithsonian Magazine: Judicial Everst of This Century. Available http:www.smithsonianmagazine.si.edu/smithsonian/Issues 96/oct96/nuremberg html, 02/19/00.Mick Davie. The crisis is Kosovo: glimpses of grace. Available http:www.nationalgeographic.ngnews.com/Kosovo/Kosovo0510.asp, 02/19/00. Pritt J.Vesilind. Crisis in Kosovo: a nurse forced to leave her patients. Available http://www.nationalgeographic.ngnews.com/Kosovo/Kosovo0428.asp, 2/19/00.