Genocide and ethnic cleansing

On August 22, 1939, Nazi Germany's troops, tanks, and aircraft stood poised and prepared to attack Poland, its neighbor to the east, and on that day the Nazi's dictator, Adolf Hitler, spoke.

"Our strength," he said, "consists in our speed and in our brutality." Already he had instructed his generals "to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language." And the reason for his assault upon the Polish people? "Only then," he said, "shall we gain the living space (Lebensraum) which we need."

Tyrants will excuse their brutality because...