metonymy4u

The concentration camps of the early 20th century were not a specifically Nazi phenomenon. Two of the major Allied nations also built concentration camps for ethnic and political segregation: Russia under Stalin and the USA under Roosevelt. More recently of course nations like the USA, South Africa, Israel, Mauritania, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Colombia, Yugoslavia have all recently practiced or are still practicing policies of active segregation based on ethnicity, gender or ideological alliance. (Did you know that slavery was not officially declared a crime in Mauritania until 2007, and 20% of the population may still live in slavery?) We are still very much living in the world of the concentration camp. Just look outside your door.