Perpetrators, victims, and bystanders

In Holocaust and 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]

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.

In this photograph showing the deportation of Jews from Kitzingen, Jewish victims are shown with local non-Jewish bystanders and policemen (perpetrators).

See also

• Génocidaires

References

1. "1915: The Crumbling of an Empire, and the Massacre That Ensued".
2. Hilberg, Raul (1993). Perpetrators Victims Bystanders: Jewish Catastrophe 1933-1945. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-099507-2.
3. "What is left of the Hilberg's triad "Perpetrators-Victims-Bystanders "? - Jewish Historical Institute". www.jhi.pl. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
4. Ehrenreich, Robert M.; Cole, Tim (September 2005). "The Perpetrator-Bystander-Victim Constellation: Rethinking Genocidal Relationships". Human Organization. 64 (3): 213–224. doi:10.17730/humo.64.3.2y2n9ughb1wc7qq2.
5. Vollhardt, Johanna Ray; Bilewicz, Michal (March 2013). "After the Genocide: Psychological Perspectives on Victim, Bystander, and Perpetrator Groups". Journal of Social Issues. 69 (1): 1–15. doi:10.1111/josi.12000.
6. Staub, Ervin (June 1993). "The psychology of bystanders, perpetrators, and heroic helpers". International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 17 (3): 315–341. doi:10.1016/0147-1767(93)90037-9.
7. Bar-On, Dan (1 June 2001). "The Bystander in Relation to the Victim and the Perpetrator: Today and During the Holocaust". Social Justice Research. 14 (2): 125–148. doi:10.1023/A:1012836918635. ISSN 1573-6725.

Further reading

• Baum, Steven K. (2008). The Psychology of Genocide: Perpetrators, Bystanders, and Rescuers. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-71392-4.
• Horowitz, Sara R., ed. (2012). Back to the Sources: Reexamining Perpetrators, Victims, and Bystanders. Lessons and Legacies. X. Northwestern University Press. ISBN 978-0-8101-2862-0.
• King, Régine Uwibereyeho; Sakamoto, Izumi (August 2015). "Disengaging from genocide harm-doing and healing together between perpetrators, bystanders, and victims in Rwanda". Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology. 21 (3): 378–394. doi:10.1037/pac0000078.
• Ionescu, Stefan (2011). "Perpetrators, Bystanders, and Rescuers. Popular Attitudes Towards Ottoman Christians During the Armenian Genocide". Studia Politica. Romanian Political Science Review. 11 (2): 328–344. ISSN 1582-4551. CEEOL 167447.
• Morina, Christina; Thijs, Krijn, eds. (2018). Probing the Limits of Categorization: The Bystander in Holocaust History. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-78920-093-5.