The Psychology of Genocide and Violent Oppression: A Study of Mass Cruelty from Nazi Germany to Rwanda

The twentieth century was one of the most violent periods in all of human history, with over 100 million people killed in acts of war and persecution ranging from the Herero and Namaqua Genocide in present-day Namibia during the early 1900s to the ongoing conflict in Darfur. This book provides a tightly focused view into the root causes of genocide, looking far beyond the surface into the underlying psychology of violence and oppression. The author argues that genocide does not simply occur at the hands of dictators or tyrannical despots, but rather at the hands of ordinary citizens whose unresolved pain and oppression forces them to follow a leader whose demagogy best expresses their own long-developed prejudices, emotions, and fears. Thus, the book explains how birth trauma, childhood trauma, and authoritarian education can be seen as the true root causes of genocidal periods in recent history.