The Debate about the Role of the Holocaust in the Post-War Human Rights Revival

The debate I discuss here revolves around the question of whether the Holocaust played a pivotal role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Convention. The widely shared assumption is that it did indeed. Since 2010, however, some have raised doubts about this...

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Main Author: Antoon De Baets
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Nova de Lisboa 2021-12-01
Series:Práticas da História
Online Access:https://praticasdahistoria.pt/article/view/26477
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author Antoon De Baets
author_facet Antoon De Baets
author_sort Antoon De Baets
collection DOAJ
description The debate I discuss here revolves around the question of whether the Holocaust played a pivotal role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Convention. The widely shared assumption is that it did indeed. Since 2010, however, some have raised doubts about this view. Who is right in this debate? I try to throw fresh light on it, using new sources and reevaluating old arguments to tackle three questions: what did the drafters of these early human rights instruments know about the Holocaust in 1946–48? What traces of the Holocaust can be found in the travaux préparatoires of these instruments? And who spoke about the Holocaust during the final debates? I argue that the fact that the term “Holocaust” was not used in 1946–48 does not mean that the realities behind it were absent from the minds of the drafters.
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spelling doaj-art-b8ae77b0a92c44e999dfe4e819ce3c732025-08-20T02:13:47ZengUniversidade Nova de LisboaPráticas da História2183-590X2021-12-011310.48487/pdh.2021.n13.26477The Debate about the Role of the Holocaust in the Post-War Human Rights RevivalAntoon De Baets0Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen The debate I discuss here revolves around the question of whether the Holocaust played a pivotal role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Convention. The widely shared assumption is that it did indeed. Since 2010, however, some have raised doubts about this view. Who is right in this debate? I try to throw fresh light on it, using new sources and reevaluating old arguments to tackle three questions: what did the drafters of these early human rights instruments know about the Holocaust in 1946–48? What traces of the Holocaust can be found in the travaux préparatoires of these instruments? And who spoke about the Holocaust during the final debates? I argue that the fact that the term “Holocaust” was not used in 1946–48 does not mean that the realities behind it were absent from the minds of the drafters. https://praticasdahistoria.pt/article/view/26477
spellingShingle Antoon De Baets
The Debate about the Role of the Holocaust in the Post-War Human Rights Revival
Práticas da História
title The Debate about the Role of the Holocaust in the Post-War Human Rights Revival
title_full The Debate about the Role of the Holocaust in the Post-War Human Rights Revival
title_fullStr The Debate about the Role of the Holocaust in the Post-War Human Rights Revival
title_full_unstemmed The Debate about the Role of the Holocaust in the Post-War Human Rights Revival
title_short The Debate about the Role of the Holocaust in the Post-War Human Rights Revival
title_sort debate about the role of the holocaust in the post war human rights revival
url https://praticasdahistoria.pt/article/view/26477
work_keys_str_mv AT antoondebaets thedebateabouttheroleoftheholocaustinthepostwarhumanrightsrevival
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