--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Could anything justify the extermination…" description: "\"Could anything justify the extermination of civilians on such a scale?\" — Wilfred Burchett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/wilfred-burchett-29571_anything_could-anything-justify-the-extermination_2619874.jpg" --- # Could anything justify the extermination of civilians on… ![“Could anything justify the extermination of civilians on such a scale?” quote by Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/wilfred-burchett-29571_anything_could-anything-justify-the-extermination_2619874.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/wilfred-burchett-29571_anything_could-anything-justify-the-extermination_2619874.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/wilfred-burchett-29571_anything_could-anything-justify-the-extermination_2619874.jpg) > “Could anything justify the extermination of civilians on such a scale?” [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Questioning whether any justification can legitimize mass civilian extermination. **In simple terms:** No justification for killing civilians. Key Takeaway Uphold moral standards against atrocities. Themes ethics war human rights Mood somber critical Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - conflict zones - policy debates - humanitarian work Key Concepts genocide moral philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How to balance security and humanity? A Different Perspective Some argue extreme threats justify extreme measures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilians/) ## Related quotes > [“If philosophy and intelligence are invoked to proclaim the equality of men, they have also been employed to justify the extermination of men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/if-philosophy-and-intelligence-are-invoked-to-proclaim-the-equality/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [The world is going mad in mutual extermination, and murder, considered as a crime when committed individually, becomes a virtue when it is committed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyprian/the-world-is-going-mad-in-mutual-extermination-and-murder-considered/) [Cyprian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyprian/) > [Only the power of unbounded love practiced in regard to all human beings can defeat the forces of interhuman strife, and can prevent the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pitirim-sorokin/only-the-power-of-unbounded-love-practiced-in-regard-to-all-human/) [Pitirim Sorokin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pitirim-sorokin/) > [I hate the poor and look forward eagerly to their extermination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-hate-the-poor-and-look-forward-eagerly-to-their-extermination/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [If the German nation wants to end a state of affairs that threatens its extermination in Europe, it must not fall into the error…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/if-the-german-nation-wants-to-end-a-state-of-affairs-that-threatens/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [If one looks into the genealogies of many 'old families,' one discovers episodes of slave trafficking, bootlegging, gun running, opium trading, falsified land claims,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-parenti/if-one-looks-into-the-genealogies-of-many-old-families-one-discovers/) [Michael Parenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-parenti/) > [I have given orders to my Death units to exterminate without mercy or pity men, women and children belonging to the Polish speaking race...After…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/i-have-given-orders-to-my-death-units-to-exterminate-without-mercy-or/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [MAN, n. An animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/man-n-an-animal-so-lost-in-rapturous-contemplation-of-what-he-thinks/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [ The text \[The Skeptical Environmentalist\] employs the strategy of those who, for example, argue ...that Jews weren't singled out by the Nazis for extermination. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-l-pimm/the-text-the-skeptical-environmentalist-employs-the-strategy-of-those/) Stuart L. Pimm > [I really wanted to take the viewer to the 'here and now' regarding the exterminations, and communicate directly in a visceral way. The art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laszlo-nemes/i-really-wanted-to-take-the-viewer-to-the-here-and-now-regarding-the/) [Laszlo Nemes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laszlo-nemes/) > [And now the forces marshaled around the concept of the group have declared a war of extermination on that preciousness, the mind of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/and-now-the-forces-marshaled-around-the-concept-of-the-group-have/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Jews were segregated from 1933 on. We could only play against other Jewish teams. This wasn't just social segregation; this was the beginning of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/jews-were-segregated-from-1933-on-we-could-only-play-against-other/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [The Indian is but a sketch in red crayon of a rudimental manhood. To the problem of his relation to the white race, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-indian-is-but-a-sketch-in-red-crayon-of-a-rudimental-manhood-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We need not fear the judgement of history. Who, after all, speaks today of the extermination of the Armenians?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/we-need-not-fear-the-judgement-of-history-who-after-all-speaks-today/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [In the name of Jerusalem. If I forget the extermination of the Jews, may my right hand wither, may my tongue stick to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/menachem-begin/in-the-name-of-jerusalem-if-i-forget-the-extermination-of-the-jews/) [Menachem Begin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/menachem-begin/) ## More by Wilfred Burchett > [Hiroshima does not look like a bombed city. It looks as if a monster steamroller had passed over it and squashed it out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/hiroshima-does-not-look-like-a-bombed-city-it-looks-as-if-a-monster/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [My emotional and intellectual response to Hiroshima was that the question of the social responsibility of a journalist was posed with greater urgency than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/my-emotional-and-intellectual-response-to-hiroshima-was-that-the/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [Ho joined the French socialist party, the first Vietnamese to be a member of a French political party.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/ho-joined-the-french-socialist-party-the-first-vietnamese-to-be-a/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [In this first testing ground of the atomic bomb I have seen the most terrible and frightening desolation in four years of war. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/in-this-first-testing-ground-of-the-atomic-bomb-i-have-seen-the-most/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [Hiroshima had a profound effect upon me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/hiroshima-had-a-profound-effect-upon-me/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [And just as there was something of every Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh so there is something of Ho Chi Minh in almost every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/and-just-as-there-was-something-of-every-vietnamese-in-ho-chi-minh-so/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [When you arrive in Hiroshima you can look around and for 25 and perhaps 30 square miles you can see hardly a building. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/when-you-arrive-in-hiroshima-you-can-look-around-and-for-25-and/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [As in all his subsequent dealings with France, Ho Chi Minh's demands were a model of modesty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/as-in-all-his-subsequent-dealings-with-france-ho-chi-minh-s-demands/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [Hundreds and hundreds of the dead were so badly burned in the terrific heat generated by the bomb that it was not even possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/hundreds-and-hundreds-of-the-dead-were-so-badly-burned-in-the/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [Vietnamese must be made to feel that they are racial inferiors with no right to national identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/vietnamese-must-be-made-to-feel-that-they-are-racial-inferiors-with/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [Of thousands of others, nearer the centre of the explosion, there was no trace. They vanished. The theory in Hiroshima is that the atomic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/of-thousands-of-others-nearer-the-centre-of-the-explosion-there-was/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [Ho, or Nguyen Ai Quoc, thus became the first Vietnamese communist and a founding member of the French Communist party, born out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/ho-or-nguyen-ai-quoc-thus-became-the-first-vietnamese-communist-and-a/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [The police chief of Hiroshima welcomed me eagerly as the first Allied correspondent to reach the city.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/the-police-chief-of-hiroshima-welcomed-me-eagerly-as-the-first-allied/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [In Hiroshima, thirty days after the first atomic bomb destroyed the city and shook the world, people are still dying, mysteriously and horribly-people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/in-hiroshima-thirty-days-after-the-first-atomic-bomb-destroyed-the/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [It was necessary to bluff the Japanese camp commanders, with whatever authority I could muster, that I had come officially to ensure that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/it-was-necessary-to-bluff-the-japanese-camp-commanders-with-whatever/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) [Explore all 18 Wilfred Burchett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) ## More Anything quotes > [I guess I've never really wanted to be anything else. 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That said, I really love Naple-style pizza.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-zakarian/comfort-food-is-really-anything-you-want-at-that-time-that-said-i/) [Geoffrey Zakarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-zakarian/) > [I haven't shut any doors, and I'm really open to anything, so I think it's just about the material and what is going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-panabaker/i-haven-t-shut-any-doors-and-i-m-really-open-to-anything-so-i-think/) [Danielle Panabaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-panabaker/) > [When it really comes down to it, the job you do is more important and is more representative of who you are than your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cudlitz/when-it-really-comes-down-to-it-the-job-you-do-is-more-important-and/) [Michael Cudlitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cudlitz/) > [The reason I'm drawn to it is - both the off road racing and the motorcycles on the track - it takes a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dax-shepard/the-reason-i-m-drawn-to-it-is-both-the-off-road-racing-and-the/) [Dax Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dax-shepard/) > [I never did drama at school. I did it for one term, when it was compulsory, and I hated it. Tennis was the main…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-mitchell/i-never-did-drama-at-school-i-did-it-for-one-term-when-it-was/) [Luke Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-mitchell/) > [We live in such a special time when literally anything we can think of is possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-willey/we-live-in-such-a-special-time-when-literally-anything-we-can-think/) [Daniel Willey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-willey/) > [You know, I'm from Baltimore; nobody has anything. When somebody had talent, I was hiring my uncle, my cousin, you know? Getting people that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sisqo/you-know-i-m-from-baltimore-nobody-has-anything-when-somebody-had/) [Sisqo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sisqo/) > [I said to my agent, 'I want short, sharp, well-paid jobs because I haven't got time for anything else.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billie-whitelaw/i-said-to-my-agent-i-want-short-sharp-well-paid-jobs-because-i-haven/) [Billie Whitelaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billie-whitelaw/) > [I think anything that anyone writes thats any good is going to have a lot of autobiography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-adly-guirgis/i-think-anything-that-anyone-writes-thats-any-good-is-going-to-have-a/) [Stephen Adly Guirgis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-adly-guirgis/) > [If the Bible is correct, and the Earth is only 6,000 years old, that means there were no dinosaurs, and museum curators have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-shock/if-the-bible-is-correct-and-the-earth-is-only-6-000-years-old-that/) [Ron Shock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-shock/) > [Don't do anything drastic like getting your eyebrows tattooed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-lee/don-t-do-anything-drastic-like-getting-your-eyebrows-tattooed/) [Greta Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-lee/) > [Whenever you define family as anything other than a man and a woman married together, you have just introduced an ethical nightmare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-evans/whenever-you-define-family-as-anything-other-than-a-man-and-a-woman/) [Tony Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-evans/) > [No lusting after your neighbor's house - or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. 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