Dictionary of Genocide - D Ank Unlimited

MÉNDEZ, JUAN E.
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through omissions and falsifications for political ends. It basically presents Hitler’s philosophy
in three thematic areas: (1) the superiority of the German people and the Aryan
“race,” and thus the latter’s right to conquest; (2) his agenda for world domination, including
the right to move eastward into Soviet Russia; and (3) the Jews as the root cause, both
historically and contemporarily, of all that is wrong with civilization and what must be
done to correct the problem. (The text does, however, stop short of openly calling for mass
annihilation/extermination of the Jews, though gassing is mentioned.)
The text also spells out his political agenda of initial alliances with Italy and Britain, war
with France, conquest of Poland, and expansion into lands occupied by Soviet Russia.
Scholars remain somewhat divided whether Mein Kampf was to be understood as merely
propaganda or, truly, a statement of his political philosophy. The autobiographical material
presented has long been deemed inaccurate, designed to manipulate his readers into
believing that his philosophy grew out of his personal experiences.
Méndez, Juan E. (b. 1944). The first special adviser on the prevention of genocide to
the UN secretary-general. Méndez, an Argentinian, served as a lawyer for Argentine
political prisoners in the 1970s before Argentina’s military junta jailed him twice for his
activities. During his incarceration, Amnesty International, the noted international
human rights organization, adopted him as a “Prisoner of Conscience.” Following his
release from prison, Méndez moved to the United States, where he worked for Human
Rights Watch for fifteen years, specializing in Western Hemisphere issues. Later he served
with other nongovernmental organizations and also taught law at the University of Notre
Dame in South Bend, Indiana. At the University of Notre Dame he also served as the
director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights. Prior to his move to the United
Nations, Méndez served as president of the International Centre for Transitional Justice,
a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that helps countries emerging from conflict or
misrule hold human rights violators accountable for their crimes. On July 12, 2004, UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan (b. 1938) named Méndez as his first Special Adviser on
the Prevention of Genocide. Méndez’s main responsibility is to act as an early warning
mechanism for the secretary-general and the Security Council vis-à-vis potential situations
that could develop into genocide, and to make recommendations to the Council
about how the UN can prevent such events. Based on the genocidal actions against the
black Africans of Darfur (2003 through today, late 2007) by Government of Sudan troops
and the Janjaweed (Arab militia) and the lack of an adequate international response, some
have mused whether there is any point in even having a UN Special Adviser on the Prevention
of Genocide.
Mengele, Josef (1911–1979). A German physician and SS officer in the Nazi concentration
camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He is best known as one of the SS doctors who supervised
the selection of arriving transports of prisoners into Auschwitz, determining who
was to be killed and who was to become a slave laborer; and, for performing human experiments
of doubtful scientific value on camp inmates (for this, Mengele became known in
the camp as “the Angel of Death”).
Mengele was born in Bavaria. At the University of Munich he earned a doctorate
(PhD) in Anthropology, and, in 1938, a second doctorate (MD) in medicine. He applied
for Nazi party membership in 1937, and in 1938 joined the SS. In 1940, he was sent to
serve in the reserve medical corps, following which he served with a Waffen-SS unit on
the Russian front, where he was wounded in action. On May 24, 1943, Mengele became