Why Lemkin? | debate - Instytut Pileckiego

The debate „Why Lemkin” is intended to bring to the attention of wide audiences the significance of the concept of genocide – a new crime under international law.

In the context of the tragic experiences of the Second World War and in the present world, 70 years after the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization (which happened on 9 December 1948). The author of the concept and the driving force behind its codification was Rafał Lemkin, a Polish lawyer of Jewish ethnicity.

Why is Lemkin’s thought still relevant in numerous countries on various continents? What are the values with which it has been associated? Why does it continue to have a bearing on contemporary societies?

These and other questions will be a starting point for a discussion held as part of an international academic conference “Witness to the Age of Genocide. Rafał Lemkin and the Convention of 1948” and featuring the following speakers: dr Donna-Lee Frieze, dr Christhardt Henschel, prof. Joaquín González Ibáñez, dr Wojciech Kozłowski.

PARTNER: Faculty of Political Science and International Studies

The conference was co-financed under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education’s “Szlakami Polski Niepodległej” Program for the years 2018–2023, project no. 01SPN1705318, amount of funding: 985,110 PLN.